# Is Washing Your Towels Really Necessary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050 "2003-03-17T17:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/21 "2003-03-18T03:08:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*Yes, Wally from Dilbert actually argued that he was cleaning the towel every time he dried himself. \*\* And don’t forget his final (hilarious) question: “Are towels supposed to bend?” ---
**Author:** ![ProjectOmega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@ProjectOmega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProjectOmega)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/22 "2003-03-18T09:00:55Z")
Plus, I assume, even though you’ve just spent fifteen minutes scrubbing, oils from your skin will be transferred to the towel upon usage, which also collect bacteria and such. I’m also in the “fresh towel every shower” camp. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/23 "2003-03-18T09:10:20Z")
A friend says he will not use a towel on his face that has already been used to dry his butt. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/24 "2003-03-18T09:21:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Violet \* > \*\*A friend says he will not use a towel on his face that has already been used to dry his butt. \*\* The solution to that connundrum, I have learned, is to dry your face before you dry your ass. I had a roommate who used two towels for every shower before I gave him that tip. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/25 "2003-03-18T13:13:40Z")
I wash my towels every two years whether they need it or not. P.S. I have no girlfriend. Coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![LowerLip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/839c29/32.png) [@LowerLip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LowerLip)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/26 "2003-03-18T13:27:10Z")
I’m going to get hit on this for sure. I haven’t washed my towel for over seven months and it does not stink nor does it have any mildew or rot. It’s not ‘laundry fresh’ with the scented soap, but it’s not stale either. The towel is terry-cloth and never gets completely soaked. It’s only damp on the surface and not in the dense weave of the cloth. Maybe this has to do with climate. It’s very hot and humid here, and when the moisture combines with what is already in the towel and then evaporates, maybe that evaporation takes a lot of the bacteria with it. The towel air-dries in less than an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/27 "2003-03-18T14:05:16Z")
Bacteria do not “evaporate”. I think your inability to smell your towel may be simply because you are used to how it smells so no longer register the odor. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/28 "2003-03-18T15:38:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > Bacteria do not “evaporate”. I think your inability to smell your towel may be simply because you are used to how it smells so \*\*no longer register the odor. \*\* yucks. i’ve the sudden urge to get myself more towels tomorrow… ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/29 "2003-03-18T15:59:43Z")
I have to say, my own experience corroborates that of **LowerLip** ’s. But I don’t use just one towel, I use two, and I alternate them everyday so that they get a chance to dry out completely before I re-use them. I certainly don’t notice any usual smell. They aren’t as soft as they were when they were new, but I haven’t seen any mold or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/30 "2003-03-18T17:02:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Violet \* > \*\*A friend says he will not use a towel on his face that has already been used to dry his butt. \*\* I use 2 towels at a time; one for the top half and one for the bottom. I throw them in the laundry once a week. Sometimes I use the top towel for 3-4 days before getting a fresh one. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/31 "2003-03-18T17:17:48Z")
You people who use a towel or more per day are nuts. You’re also being irresponsible: wasting a lot of water washing them, I hope you don’t live in Arizona. As for the people who talk about “bacteria” on towels, it’s a bunch of poppycock, mostly because there’s not much for bacteria to munch on. Skin is not something most bacteria prefer to munch on anyway, because it’s made of some pretty undigestible material. If that weren’t the case, leather would fall apart in short order, and it doesn’t (tanning just removes the vestiges of stuff the bacteria _would_ eat) In order to produce the compounds that smell, there has to be a critical mass of bacteria in a moist environment coupled with stuff that bacteria eat. The skin that flakes off doesn’t provide that critical mass. Same goes for the oils on your skin (bacteria don’t gravitate to oil anyway, have you ever noticed how long it takes for oil to go rancid?) If skin flakes were smelly, your entire house would smell something terrible. Bacteria on skin flakes is not the reason your towels smell. There just isn’t enough left after you take a shower. It’s a different story if you wear clothing all day - just a matter of degree. The main reasons towels might smell is because they don’t dry off in a timely manner. When you keep something wet past a certain point in a dark enclosed space, mildew has a chance to infest. If you’ve ever left your laundry wet too long in the washing machine you know what I mean. This is the reason the poster who lived in a dry environment experienced no problems with his towels. Mildew and bacteria aren’t the same animal. Mildew is also much harder to get rid of. Mildew is also much smellier than bacteria, and it gets worse under moist conditions. Mildew doesn’t die when it dries out, for example once you get it in your shoes, you might as well throw them out, because each time you put them on and they get moist, they will stink to high heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/32 "2003-03-18T17:24:44Z")
One more thing, if you have to use two towels or are worried about something from your butt getting on your face via the towel, then you aren’t cleaning yourself well enough when you shower, or you have bigger problems. Fecal matter on the towel _is_ cause for smelliness. Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/33 "2003-03-18T17:30:24Z")
\ Towelie: You wanna get high? \ ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/34 "2003-03-18T17:42:18Z")
I have a 2-day towel cycle. Day 1, I shampoo and shave and use a clean, laundry-fresh towel. Day 2 I don’t shampoo or shave and use the same funky towel from day 1. This holds true unless there is some special event, like a wedding, job interview, etc. On rare occasions, I’ll use a towel a third time. Usually on weekends. By day 3, I can definitely smell some nastiness. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/35 "2003-03-18T17:50:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rusalka \* > **This is the reason the poster who lived in a dry environment experienced no problems with his towels.** No poster has claimed to live in a dry environment. To the contrary, the only poster who mentioned climate was **LowerLip** , who said “It’s very hot and humid here. . .” ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050/36 "2003-03-18T18:21:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rusalka \* > \*\*One more thing, if you have to use two towels or are worried about something from your butt getting on your face via the towel, then you aren’t cleaning yourself well enough when you shower, or you have bigger problems. Fecal matter on the towel _is_ cause for smelliness. Yuck! \*\* I wash myself quite well. Not wanting to dry my face with the same towel that I dried my (clean) butt and balls with is more of a psychological thing. Sue me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-washing-your-towels-really-necessary/162050.md?page=1)