Stop Washing Your Bath Towels - Page 3

[yaM yaM]

Originally Posted by Snowy Owl

I've never posted about towels before.
I'm sad that I couldn't bring any dry humour to the discussion.

It's ok, don't worry . . . .


You won't go to hell in a hand towel.

[yaM yaM]

: *















*TOWEL

[chellemarie]

This whole discussion makes me think just how strange the word "towel" is.

Towel
towel
t o w e l

MayMay-Good one.

[HappyNewMama]

So after I showered today I dried off with two washcloths (no clean hand towels ... and I'm 5'11" so 1 washcloth just wasn't enough). Not so bad! When I read the first post on this I thought -what, is she crazy?!?!??- but it's really not bad, I actually felt like it was easier because there was no excess towel area to deal with while I was drying off body parts. (I may be the only one who has that problem, I don't know!)
Solution for the 'hair-towel dilemma': twist and wrap the end of your hair inside a small towel (I used one of the washclothes I'd dried off with) like they way you normally do, but instead of at the top of your head do it from the bottom and wrap an elastic around the towel. I have past-shoulder length hair and it worked for me--don't know if I explained it correctly here though! Anyhow, it helped dry my hair and kept it from dripping on me- just like a bigger towel but with less weight. Yay! After drying off I just put my robe on like I normally do after a shower. Thanks OP!

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by judybean

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?

Us, too. I mean like 4-6 weeks!

I suspect if I had main floor laundry it'd be more frequent. But that's kind of the schedule I grew up with - mom worked also and we had basement laundry there, too. I've ocaisionally been camping and had to use a small hand towel. It just feels like deprivation to me. I like to wrap myself in something warm and snuggly after the shower. Robe's feel TOO heavy though.

[theresa88]

I tried to do this without DH knowing. I just took all the towels, except the hand towel. That's right one hand towel for my DH. He came out and asked me where the towel was and I told him it was in the bathroom. He looked for awhile until he saw the hand towel. Then he said,"If you think I am using this napkin to dry off with you are crazy"
Needless to say I was hysterical laughing at him, but we still use our towels. :LOL

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by HappyNewMama

So after I showered today I dried off with two washcloths (no clean hand towels ... and I'm 5'11" so 1 washcloth just wasn't enough). Not so bad! When I read the first post on this I thought -what, is she crazy?!?!??- but it's really not bad, I actually felt like it was easier because there was no excess towel area to deal with while I was drying off body parts. Thanks OP!

You're welcome!

[USAmma]

I think that would work great in the summer, but I would get kinda cold in the winter. Our bathroom is very open and doesn't hold any heat or steam in it, so I like to be wrapped up before I step out. However we only wash our towels once a week b/c in our climate they dry so fast after a shower.

In India my MIL (and many other people there) use a towel that's very long and narrow and thin, like cheesecloth almost. She uses one for her body and one for her hair. They dry very fast.

[Naughty Dingo]

That is a great idea. I will try it out on my family.

[Sherra]

This convo has got me to think how weird myself and my hubby are.

I refuse to use a used towel, yet I will wear my clothes several times before washing them.

My husband will reuse a towel until I confiscate it to wash it, yet he refuses to wear any of his clothes more than once.




On a side note, I got one of those dealies that hangs over the door where you can hang 5 extra towels. That has helped our towel situation with our small storage.


Sherra

[Cinnamon]

I love that idea!

We are going to move in January. I have been decluttering drastically for months now. Our towles are starting to look worn out anyway.

Thanks for the idea


Cinnamon

[Spring Sun]

I don't think I could do that! I love a big luxurius towel to wrap up in after a bath. But, on the bright side, I do use my towels for a long time before washing!

[clothdipemomof2boy]

I am going to try this with the hand towels but how do you find the cheese cloth type towels or do they have that material over here that maybe i can make the towels we live in an extremly humid climate.:

[MeghansDad]

i use a larger bath towel to dry with but it is only laundered maybe every 2-3 weeks. After use it is hung to air dry. To me that makes sense and is not as wasteful as it could be.

[Ygle]

I used to use a hand towel to dry off with when I lived in a drier climate. The humidity here, while not unbearable as in some areas, is enough that no matter how much I dry myself immediately after the shower I still have to dry off again a few minutes later, so the hand towel just doesn't work for me and I have to wrap myself in a bath towel until I'm fully air dry (that sounds really odd, lol). I just use a cotton t-shirt for my hair, a big bath towel is just too heavy -I have long hair. My girls use one of those hair wrap microfiber towels. I end up getting all muggy and sweaty and icky if I put a bathrobe on immediately after the shower.

[MelanieMC]

Originally Posted by momto l&a

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

I use a turbie twist to wrap my hair - works much better than a towel and is way less bulky and stays in place. I go straight from the shower into a thin terry cloth robe and it's perfect. It's only knee length, so it doesn't feel bulky and is very soft and comfy! I hang it after I'm dry and re-use it at least 5 days before washing. I also use the Turbie twist at least 4 or 5 times before washing (and I only wash my hair every other day, sometimes I skip 2 days before washing). I don't miss towels at all. I still have a small set, but I don't use them at all.

[USAmma]

We don't have very many towels in our family. We live in a dry climate and they dry so well after use that we use the same towels for several days before washing.

[MamaKalena]

Originally Posted by AngelBee

I always use a bath towel to wrap my head.....but I use it for a week or two between washings. :

Great tip though! I should start with the kids...they will like the idea.

Me too, : Got a lot of thick hair on my head. I guess the energy-efficient thing to do would be to cut it all off? Hmmm. Since I only wash my hair once every 2-3 days then I suppose I can use small towels on those days.

Very interesting idea -- never thought about it and I bet now that you posted it, a lot of people will consider doing it .

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Jachut

We only use average size towels but a hand towel wont fit round your hair! I always wrap my hair in a towel for half an hour or so after a shower. We never use bathsheets, they're too big and heavy.

But I do wash towels after every use. Despite having adequate towel rails and a well ventilated modern house, the towels dont dry in either bathroom and get whiffy and are cold and damp the next day.

I have one of those hair towel things like this. If I were going to go to the hand towel method, I'd get more of those for my hair.

As it is, I do a load a week, so not much point.

[oneKnight]

We just wash 2-4 towels every two weeks so we usually just use them to fill up partially full loads. It makes better sense to run the washer totally full than half ful.
We DO have kinda smallish bath towels, they are bigger than hand towels but not huge. They are hotel towels, we got them in an 8-pack from Sam's and they come in plain white or blue.

On the Turbie Towels for hair, I know a lady that makes them or it's pretty easy to make your own. http://www.tlc-pads.com/services.htm She sews a regular towel into a head-shape with a tail at the end and puts an elastic loop on there to twist the tail back into.