# Share that towel! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095 "2009-05-02T16:43:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/81 "2009-05-05T14:31:03Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I’m jealous of **Shot From Guns** up there with the helicopter joints. 😉 Sometimes they’re more trouble than they’re worth–I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost fallen on people in buses and commuter trains because the angle I was holding the bar or strap caused my shoulder to pop out (i.e., I couldn’t stabilitze myself with the arm until it was back in its proper place) and the vehicle took a sudden turn. 😃 **Alice** , I personally have to wash my back and lower legs because the skin doesn’t want to shed normally on its own. If I don’t scrub like crazy, I break out on my back and get all flaky on my legs. Trade skin with me and I’ll be more than happy to switch to a washcloth. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/82 "2009-05-05T19:36:42Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > The derms I work for would all ask you why you feel the need to wash your back and lower legs. They say that all you really need to wash are the stinky/sweaty spots- face, pits, butt, groin, and feet- unless you work in the coal mines or something. Any more soaping and scrubbing than that is unnecessary, wasteful on the soap, and drying on your skin. My back gets sweaty, especially in the summer. I live in Texas, and two of my grandparents were Sicilian immigrants. We are greaseballs. I do need to soap and scrub my back, or I’ll be Stinky, and my back will break out. I need to wash my lower legs because I have a mild case of lymphedema and I need to take extra precautions, plus my skin doesn’t slough off very well in those areas, so I need to scrub. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/83 "2009-05-06T10:15:45Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The Mrs. and I share a _hell_ of a lot, but not towels. > > Don’t share your towels, it’s a definite vector in spreading staph aureus infections, including the rather virulent strain of CA-MRSA, community acquired methicillin resistant staph aureus. > > This mutant strain on average causes more, and nastier infections than either tradition staph or the hospital acquired MRSA version. [MRSA](http://scmsociety.typepad.com/mrsa/files/mrsanejm.pdf) (caution: PDF!) So, does that mean hubby and I shouldn’t be sleeping naked in the same sheets? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/84 "2009-05-06T11:23:44Z")
Wow. You could have bought a couple of more towels, installed another towel rack, and you marriage could have been saved. Who knew how simple it could have been. My husband likes to put on a terrycloth robe after the shower. It kind of dries him. He also uses a towel. We have a plethora of towels in our house. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/85 "2009-05-06T12:41:59Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > So, does that mean hubby and I shouldn’t be sleeping naked in the same sheets? :eek: see post #10. Keeping the sheets relatively dry and laundering them regularly should minimize risk from such behavior as you describe. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/86 "2009-05-06T12:43:11Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > So, does that mean hubby and I shouldn’t be sleeping naked in the same sheets? :eek: Yeah, you’re gonna have to stop that. ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/87 "2009-05-06T15:23:03Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Please wash your hands before emptying the dishwasher. And yes, that’s my toothbrush in the flatware basket, are you seriously telling me you _don’t_ wash yours?!? You’re letting your toothbrush get all covered with food particles from your dishes in the dishwasher?? :eek: 😛 We each have our own towels. My husband likes the bath sheet type so his are bigger. I like the regular size ones that are a bit thicker, and I have a smaller hair towel as well. He has accidentally grabbed mine before (although I really don’t understand how since his is on the outside of the shower door and mine’s on the wall), so I rearranged mine so the white hair towel is closer to the shower so it’s obviously different from his black towel. That seems to work so I don’t find a used towel when I go to take a shower. We wash them once a week. You don’t want to know how long we tend to go between sheet washings. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/88 "2009-05-11T01:31:29Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Get the old soap and the new one nice and sudsy, and stick them together. Let them dry, and thereafter treat them as one bar of soap. This is especially amusing when you have two different colors of soap. Some people have or make special little terry bags that they put their soap slivers in. It takes all of five seconds to stick the two bars together, so that’s what I do. I did that, and it works very good, once the two bars “marry” well, which is no big thing. Thanks. I’ve got a new trick. Only thing is, the results aren’t nearly as much as fun as the soap of many colors my lover made for me. I’m not sure what I miss most, the soap or the sharing thereof. That’s a lie. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/89 "2009-05-11T06:25:50Z")
I guess if you’re desperate for a soap of many colors, you can save your soap bits, chop them into pieces, and get some glycerine “melt’n’pour” soap. [http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/melt\_and\_pour.html](http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/melt_and_pour.html) [http://www.goplanetearth.com/bases\_melt\_pour\_soap.html](http://www.goplanetearth.com/bases_melt_pour_soap.html) are a couple of the soap bases available online. I know I’ve seen similar products in B&M craft stores. I have resisted buying them, because, as I said, I already have more than enough projects to last me the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/90 "2013-12-23T13:25:24Z")
It seemed pretty obvious for me that each person had their own towel before reading this thread… ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/91 "2013-12-23T15:05:57Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > But towels act as incubators for staph, and you get a much heftier dose from the towel than you would from getting all snuggly with your SO. > > Add into that, you’ve just stepped out of a hot shower, your pores are open, your capillaries are dilated, and now you’re vigorously abrading your skin with a towel that has been incubating what previously were just a few stray colonies of the pathogen. > > Hell, some folks manage to _self-inoculate_ this way, and go from just being colonized with MRSA to giving themselves a skin infection. Merely by re-using their own towel. And being diabetic I am fairly well educated on keeping myself healthy … Married and we have a roommate as well. They both have their own sets of towels, wash clothes and so forth. We have a shared hand towel in the bathroom but I use a small hair-specific towel for my hair, and have 2 [terry cloth caftans](http://www.plus-sizeclothes8.com/images/2/7/0/mid/Ulla-Popken-Plus-Size-Terry-Knit-Caftan-1356888078803416906.jpg) I use. I don’t ‘towel’ myself dry, I shrug into the caftan, do up my hair in the [turbie towe](http://img.dooyoo.co.uk/GB_EN/orig/0/6/8/5/5/685568.jpg)l and use a small hand sized towel to thoroughly dry my feet, and do one of my daily or random foot inspections. In the shower we each have our own [scrubbie glove](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9W4AJDyYl3A/TQbF0ijEdcI/AAAAAAAAAng/scTZc0Hw73I/s320/scrubby%2Bgloves.jpg)s as well. We wash our towels after each shower. We also wash the bed linens twice a week. [and our preferred shower time is before bed, I especially hate going to bed scrungy.] ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/92 "2013-12-25T02:57:05Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Loofahs are organic, and disintegrate in the washer (and just try getting all the bits out, ugh!). > > Scrubbies are plastic and disintegrate in bleach. > > Microwaving loofahs might work, I never thought of that. But it’s also true that loofahs are a little too harsh, and actually make tiny wounds in your skin. > > All linens, napkins, towels and washcloths in my home are either white or “natural” cotton. They get bleached within an inch of their lives on a regular basis; towels at least weekly, sheets at least bi-weekly, napkins each time they are used. Then they get washed again to get the bleach out so they don’t start falling apart, or make the Celtling’s skin turn red. > > And no, I am not Howardette Hughes, I just get food poisoning really easily and have learned more than I care to know about germs and how they spread. > > Please wash your hands before emptying the dishwasher. And yes, that’s my toothbrush in the flatware basket, are you seriously telling me you _don’t_ wash yours?!? For exfoliation purposes, you can buy a Salux cloth, which is a rough textured open weave nylon cloth. It’s about the size of a rectangular scarf which means you can fold it to whatever size you want to scrub your body. You can even use it full size to scrub your back with and you can wash it with the rest of your towels. I love mine and wouldn’t be without it. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/93 "2013-12-25T04:27:30Z")
My sister and I have separate towels. Also, I have a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner. She literally has several cupboards full of body wash, soaps, shampoos, bath gels, shampoo bars, lotions, bath creams, facial cleansers, conditioners and who knows what else. I asked her why anyone needs more than a bottle of shampoos and a bottle of conditioner. She said I wouldn’t understand if she tried to explain. I never got an explanation why women always go to the bathroom together either. ---
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/94 "2014-01-01T06:28:08Z")
> [@Green\_Cymbeline](#): > > . We also will share toothbrushes. Ok, this is a little bit too much… ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/95 "2014-01-01T18:33:32Z")
He shares mine, but I won’t share his, and we use towels more than once. So if he showers first and I see the towels I used yesterday are damp, I get new ones. If I shower first I will use mine more than once. Well, I always get a new one for my hair, and yesterday’s hair towel is today’s body towel, if that makes sense. We don’t share a sink so we don’t share hand towels. Our sinks are a couple feet away from each other on different walls, and each has its own towel bar. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/96 "2014-01-01T19:26:07Z")
We share towels between the two of us. Unless someone has an infection, in which case we use separate towels. We ALWAYS use a clean washcloth. When I’ve had a skin infection the infected bit gets its own washcloth and the rest of me gets another. I have a gajillion washclothes. Both washclothes and towels get washed with chlorine bleach to disinfect them The bedsheets also get the bleach treatment. Guests get their own separate washcloth and towel for their use. I figure the spouse and I already share a lot of germs in common, but our guests and us do not and some things shouldn’t be shared, especially among friends. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/97 "2014-01-01T19:31:59Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > The derms I work for would all ask you why you feel the need to wash your back and lower legs. They say that all you really need to wash are the stinky/sweaty spots- face, pits, butt, groin, and feet- unless you work in the coal mines or something. Any more soaping and scrubbing than that is unnecessary, wasteful on the soap, and drying on your skin. I keep telling people that, but take a look at the threads where you have people going on about how they shower more than once daily and ew, you filthy people who don’t! It’s all about cultural expectations. Right now, good hygiene is defined by many as scouring yourself at least once a day, sometimes more. Many years ago, struggling with horrible skin problems, a dermatologist got me to take a much better approach for myself. Of course if I’m sweaty or did something to get filthy I should wash, but _routine_ cleansing, on days when I’m not getting sweaty/filthy, tend much more towards what you mention as the “stinky bits”. I’ve had many fewer problems since then. Really, the society has swung towards an extreme that, while more pleasantly scented than not washing for weeks at a time, is no more healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/98 "2014-01-01T19:34:19Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > I never got an explanation why women always go to the bathroom together either. In public spaces “safety in numbers” plays into it. Women do fear attack much more than men, and in a tiny stall with your clothes around your ankles you tend to feel a bit vulnerable. We are much less likely to travel to the bathroom in herds in a private residence. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095/99 "2014-01-01T20:35:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > In public spaces “safety in numbers” plays into it. Women do fear attack much more than men, and in a tiny stall with your clothes around your ankles you tend to feel a bit vulnerable. > > We are much less likely to travel to the bathroom in herds in a private residence. Yeah right! We (guys) know for sure that it’s so you can talk about us ;o). TV doesn’t lie. Peace, mangeorge [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-that-towel/495095.md?page=4)