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Stop Washing Your Bath Towels - Page 2

post #21 of 83
7/16/05 at 10:38pm
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LOL! :LOL Good to hear I'm not the only one who does this. I've been using hand towels as bath towels for about a year now. Not DH, though...he still uses the big towels. It evens out, though, since he showers every day and washes his towel once a week, and I shower less often but use a new towel each time.

God bless!
icxcnika

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post #22 of 83
7/17/05 at 11:17am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boobs
Thanks for the tip. It's going to save me quite a bit of laundry.

I'm glad I could help!
post #23 of 83
7/18/05 at 3:29pm
What an interesting thread, I was just telling my DH about something I saw on another frugal living board about an older woman who had just realized that she didn't have to use a new towel after every shower, and I was flabbergasted. In my parents' house we changed towels around once a week, and here we have great ventilation in the bathroom so we go more like two weeks before I get squeamish, LOL! Of course, I don't have older kids who would leave them in their rooms or on the floors yet either.

I am definitely guilty of loving those big bath sheets, but then DH and I are...ahem...not small people And for some reason robes bug me, I don't know why, so I wear a towel after a shower instead. I can totally see how the small towel thing would work, but I think it would drive me crazy, LOL!

Melissa
post #24 of 83
7/18/05 at 4:46pm
I love my bath towel. I've had to use hand towels before, and it was awful. We only wash our towels once a week. I like to wrap up in mine after I dry myself and while I put lotion on my face. I would really, really miss that if I didn't do it. A bath robe just isn't the same.

We have two bathrooms in our house - I have two nice sets of towels for each. That's all I have. When we have company, it is enough for us and the company. Otherwise, the set that is not being used is in the linen closet.
post #25 of 83
7/18/05 at 6:21pm
I used the hand towel yesterday- not bad.
I think I will just cut down to two sets of towels and wash one time a week.
Emilie
post #26 of 83
7/19/05 at 5:42pm
Great idea! When our current towels wear out, we're definitely going to try it.

I can't believe how many towels some of you have - wow!

We just have our one towel for each of us, which we wash on hot once every 7-10 days and hang straight back up again. But we always hang them up right after showering and the bathroom is very well ventilated. Plus two extras for the baby and a set for the guest bathroom.
post #27 of 83
7/19/05 at 6:13pm
I was just thinking about this last week! How wet is a towel, anyway, after a single use? You only really need a small towel...unless you like to wrap yourself in it afterward. I don't think I'm going to part with my set of towels yet...probably just let them get old and maybe start again with hand towels.
post #28 of 83
7/19/05 at 6:53pm
My bath towel by the time I dry my body and hair is wet, I cant imagine dry myself with hand towels besides how would I wrap my hair in a hand towel

It seems to me that it would take more work folding 2 towels instead of one.

I think I'll stick to one bath towel and save the hand towel for my hands.
post #29 of 83
7/19/05 at 11:43pm
We each have a towel and we reuse it and I wash them once a week. They are smaller sized towels though.
post #30 of 83
7/20/05 at 1:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucky
More towels fit in the cabinet so there is always a fresh towels available, (I only I use towels once, for better health.)
I'm not trying to be obnoxious or anything, but how does using a fresh towel promote better health? I'm just curious, maybe there's something I'm missing...
post #31 of 83
7/20/05 at 2:17am
I scrub off my rough skin with my bath towel. I can see it peeling off as I dry. Even though I'm clean, the towel is definitely getting dirty with use. If I had a skin condition, I'd definitely change every day.

That said, I have 4 towels in rotation that I wash every two weeks or so - or sooner if they smell.
post #32 of 83
7/20/05 at 2:31am
towels pick up significant amounts of dead skin when you dry off, then they get hung in moist bathrooms.If you have an infectious conditon it could spread that way.
I use a towel for about three days. I think the suggestion to use hand towles, or even just small towels, is good. We have one huge towel and I hate using it because of how annoying it is to wash/dry.



I've never posted about towels before.
I'm sad that I couldn't bring any dry humour to the discussion.
post #33 of 83
7/20/05 at 4:17pm
Hey good idea

I have 2 towels I got as a high school graduation gift that are pink, thin and slightly smaller than a regular bath towel that I use on my hair. I hate a big heavy towel on my head and a hand towel would be too small.

But I could totally use a hand towel to dry the rest of me! What a great idea!

I normally wash my towel once a week, DH twice a week (he plays disc golf weekly and is really susceptible to poison ivy so he gets home, showers and immediately throws the possibly "contaminated" towel in the laundry).

Not sure if I'll be able to convince him but we'll try. After 2 years of, um, educating, he is finally recycling!
post #34 of 83
7/20/05 at 11:22pm
I've never ever heard of using a towel only once. Like a pp said, you get 'clean' in the shower... shouldn't your towel stay that way for quite a long time?

We use towels... : *at least* two weeks before washing. Sometimes more. I'm terrible at keeping up on laundry. We use everything (towels, clothes, washcloths, sheets, etc.) until it is Absolutely Necessary to wash. Why wash when you don't have to? That's a lot of water to waste!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by BinahYeteirah
I'm not trying to be obnoxious or anything, but how does using a fresh towel promote better health? I'm just curious, maybe there's something I'm missing...
I'm curious too
post #35 of 83
7/21/05 at 9:16am
Thread Starter 
How does using fresh, clean towels promote better health?


Towels that are wet, and are exposed to the air for several hours can
start to smell musty.
Generally, warm and humid conditions are an ideal growing environment for
bacteria.


Bacteria and mildew....
post #36 of 83
7/21/05 at 9:34am
great idea, must remember to peek down the hall way when someone does the mad dash from the bathroom to their bedroom wrapped in a hand towel : I use two towels, one for my long hair and one for the bod, and I would look funny dashing from bath to bed in a hand towel.
post #37 of 83
7/21/05 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucky
How does using fresh, clean towels promote better health?


Towels that are wet, and are exposed to the air for several hours can
start to smell musty.
Generally, warm and humid conditions are an ideal growing environment for
bacteria.


Bacteria and mildew....
Well, we have the hot part here, but not the humidity (some days I swear we have *negative* humidity... it's dry in WY).
post #38 of 83
7/21/05 at 4:54pm
I agree ...my partner and I employed this while traveling. It is especially good for us in Europe...we have much smaller front loading washing machines.
post #39 of 83
7/21/05 at 6:23pm
mmm...That sounds interesting. We'll have to try it for a month to see if it works for us. Thanks for the advice.
post #40 of 83
7/21/05 at 6:52pm
Answer about using a fresh towel for those who asked:
We use fresh towels for every bath/shower too for health reasons. When you dry off you are rubbing off skin cells and bacteria. Yes, you are *clean* from your shower--but rubbing with a clean towel also removes more bacteria. You may need to dry off...err...more delicate areas (front and back) that also carry bacteria and yeast and whatever. Then, I often wrap the towel around my head and wear it as a turban for a while to dry my hair. The last thing I would do after that is hang it back up and use it again tomorrow! I know there are many people who see nothing wrong with re-using the towel, but I am just not into that. Towels can easily grow mildew and carry germs after only one use, so after a week of doing that I think you are defeating the purpose of taking a shower in the first place--and it just seems not so fresh to me. You may totally disagree with me and think I am freaky neurotic clean towel girl--I get that.

As far as using hand towels instead of bathsheets--I wonder what happened to the happy meduim? Why not just use one normal sized towel (not the super-sized sheet or beach towel) that would be big enough to use for your head and to wrap around yourself if needed? It does not take up more space in the wash to just wash a regular towel, and mine stay folded fine in the linen closet. I have never been into those bathsheets, so we don't buy them. I am not into hand towels either--so we basically have one size of normal towels, and a basket of some wash cloths if anyone needs one. There is no reason to jump to the opposite extreme, you know?

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