Do you re-use your bath towels?

[mom2travel]

We all use our bath towels multiple times before washing. No set # of days, each of us just puts our own towel in the laundry after 3-4 showers.

We each have our own hand/face towels that get swapped out once during the week. The hand towels in the common bathroom downstairs get changed out as needed, depending on how many of us are home and using that bathroom and/or if we have guests.

Speaking of guests, I'll put out bath towels/hand towels/wash cloths for each guest for their length of stay. If anyone is staying longer than a few days, will wash the towels. I've never had anyone ask for new towels after just one use

Sheets - usually once a week or so

PJs - after 2-3 sleeps

Sweaters/sweatshirts - after a few wears since we wear something under them

Jeans - after 2 or 3 wears

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Wash it after every use.

 

[Diznygrl]

In my younger days I would use a fresh towel for every shower, but eventually I started to realize it was silly to accumulate that many towels to wash in one week when my body is perfectly clean when I dry it off. So for the past several years I've been using one towel a week.

 

[lecach]

clean washcloth every shower

towels used 3-4 times

sheets changed when I think about it - usually 2-3 weeks

 

[redrosesix]

I was just coming here to post that I do the exact same thing. One towel for my face and hair and the other for my body. I reuse them probably for about a week.

same -- but my DD and I have long hair, so it's one bath towel plus 2 each for our hair (one to wring it out and the other on my shoulders while my hair dries). If I washed all of those every day that would be 42 towels just for the 2 of us, per week.

and I've never been so dirty that the towel got dirty AFTER my shower.

having said that, washcloths get one use each and hand towels are changed at least every day.

 

[megsoro]

I shower, use a towel, and then that towel becomes the floor covering (we don't have bathmats and our landlord installed CARPET in our bathroom) for the next shower. Between three girls, it's a lot of towels, but they still fit in one load a week... so no biggy for us!

 

[DVC-Don]

Two uses then wash.

 

[rockawaybeachgirl]

Wash it after every use.

For those who responded similar to the above - do you wash your pjs and sheets (at least the pillowcases) every day too? If no, why not?

 

[Thumper_Man]

I'm laughing at how this thread has escalated.

Towels
Towels + Sheets
Towels + Sheets + PJs
Towels + Sheets + PJs + Jeans
Towels + Sheets + PJs + Jeans + Sweatshirts.

To answer the question, we change towels and sheets every weekend. As everyone mentioned, I'm clean when I get out and use it. PJs will change every 3 days or so.

Jeans will get washed depending on how long I wore them and what I did while I was wearing them. Example: Yard work = wearing once and the wash. Dinner or movie = will wear at least one more time then wash.

 

[smkohn]

I'm a self-proclaimed towel re-user! My anatomy teacher told us towels are fine as long as they're washed after a week or so. So I usually go a week between washes. I don't wash my sheets nearly enough, and I just pretend not to think about how gross they are...

 

[kate_wdw]

To me, it seems crazy to wash a bath towel after each use. Towels are so bulky. That would create a crazy amount of laundry that isn't even "dirty."

 

[4luv2cdisney]

For those who responded similar to the above - do you wash your pjs and sheets (at least the pillowcases) every day too? If no, why not?

I haven't responded yet, but I'll answer both!

Our towels - one towel gets designated as the "floor towel" for next time, rest get washed (3 towels per day) I hate to hang dry anything! I don't like a towel that is still even a little wet and I don't like the way it feels when air dried anyway. Also, I have no idea where we'd keep all those towels hanging to dry properly. Master bathroom is 10' x 12' and I have only 20" of wall space to hang a towel bar if I wanted one, but I don't have one! We put the "floor towel" over the side of the tub.

Kids towels - wash after every use (4 towels per day ~1 DD uses 1 towel, other DD uses 2, they share a floor towel Basically, same as above, though their bathroom is even smaller and their floor towel is always soaked, so we usually don't try to save it.

PJ's - usually 2 wears -I don't know, just feel ready for a change after 2 days. I don't have rules on this, but my kids tend to do the same, though I've never told them to. Back when I bathed them myself, they got new PJ's every night because they usually had spilled on them at some point

Sheets / comforter - whenever I think about it (only use 1 fitted sheet, top sheet just ends up crumpled at the end of the bed, so we don't bother with it anymore) We all bathe at night and none of us are night sweaters, so I don't really think about it much. When the laundry is open and I have the time, I wash the sheets. Usually every 7-10 days.

Pillowcases - every couple days Me and the kids have sensitive skin. I notice our skin is "better" if we change pillowcases frequently. I would do it every day if I already didn't have so much laundry to do!

We wash towels every day here. 1 load of kitchen towels / hand towels per week, kids 2 - 3 loads per week, and 2 -3 loads per week for us. I am the towel and "other" washer (other - jackets, bedding, curtains, anything not going in with the regular laundry), DH washes our laundry (mine and his) and each of the kids wash their own laundry. We average........are you ready........about 18 - 20 loads of laundry (some are delicates, so small loads) per week. I do have energy star HE appliances and the water portion of our city bill is around $25 per month (unless it is summer and my DH is watering, kids are in the sprinkler, etc). I also run the dishwasher once or twice every day. I've never really understood how the sewer portion of our bill relates to the water usage portion, but it is generally $40.

 

[Christine]

One of the reasons I use a new towel often is the body oil I use.

At night, I take a soaking bath just to relax. When I get out I dry off and hand my towel for use in the shower the next morning. At the end of my shower, I slap on a bunch of Neutrogena Body Oil. I rinse it a bit but it's still on the surface of my skin. When I step out of the shower, I dry off, so there is oil on the towel. I wouldn't feel right about using it after that second time.

Also, I change my sheets once a week but I *want* to change my pillowcase more often. Like the poster above me, I notice at the end of the week, my skin is more blotchy and bumpy. I don't wash my hair before bed and I do have a lot of product in my hair that probably dirties up the pillow case.

PJs-- I wear 2-3 times.

 

[tzolkin]

We average........are you ready........about 18 - 20 loads of laundry (some are delicates, so small loads) per week.

We are a family of 5 and we average 2-6 loads per week.

Two would be if I didn't do sheets for whatever reason and only wound up with 1. cold/darks and 2. hot/socks, underwear, towels

Six would be including all clothes, towels, and sheets (3 loads)


I cannot imagine doing 3 loads of laundry every day.

 

[ICF]

We use them 4 or 5 times before washing them....It seems silly to me to use them once and wash. That would be a lot of laundry.

 

[LBIJim]

3 or 4 uses for a bath towel.

As a teen I used a new towel each shower. While in college where we had to PAY to do laundry, I suddenly found it unnecessary to use so many towels.

Jim

 

[MamaLema]

I change towels once a week.

 

[disney1990]

I used my towel over again. Heck, I just got out of the shower.

 

[Fly4free]

Washed once a week. Shower every day. I'm clean everytime I use it.

Washing linens once a week is enough for me. I already do on average 1 load a day for 4 people.

 

[jahber]

Clean towel after every shower or bath. I was raised this way along with my siblings. My sister in law was raised to use a towel for a week before laundering. According to my bro, this was one of the biggest issues they had when they first married. They joke that when their kids date,the first they should ask is not about religious orientation, but about towel practices to insure compatibility.

We use ours for a week, sometimes less, and I can see how towel compatibility would be problematic. I would be totally fine with my DH using a fresh towel for every shower--IF HE did the laundry. Or even just his towels. But truth be told, he'd probably use the same towel until it disintegrated in a pile of Egyptian cotton dust if I didn't change it out every week. And even then he'd probably resist spending money on new towels . We still use the towels we received as wedding presents...10 years ago!!!