# Using the same towel more than once? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621 "2003-04-05T03:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/21 "2003-04-05T15:14:53Z")
As an avowed Oscar Madison, I hereby declare that towels are self washing every time you use them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Margo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Margo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/22 "2003-04-05T15:32:02Z")
My dh does the smell test…as in “honey, my towel stinks, do you mind washing it…” sure if I can wrestle the stiff little critter into the washing machine…Margo ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/23 "2003-04-05T15:42:51Z")
I have four towels, two bigger and two smaller. The bigger ones are for my body, the smaller ones are for my hair. I wash the two in use after two weeks, after which they get a two-week vacation in the linen closet. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/24 "2003-04-05T15:48:32Z")
I use the same towel for about four showers. After that I get a clean one. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/25 "2003-04-05T16:01:02Z")
Am I really suuposed to touch my clean body with a used, crunchy towel?, I don’t think so!. Towels MUST be washed after every use!. unclviny ---
**Author:** ![DrLizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DrLizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLizardo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/26 "2003-04-05T16:14:16Z")
3-4 uses, then wash. unclviny: what’re ya’ doin’ that makes ‘em crunchy after one use? That’s WEIRD. I use it, hang it immediately, use it again next day, repeat. No crunchiness ever involved through a few days’ usage. The ONLY time I get “crunchy” is if it happens to fall on the floor in a wad… ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/27 "2003-04-05T16:19:54Z")
Pffft…I have three kids…two are teenagers that shower every two and a half hours. You can bet you ass I make everyone use their towels more than once. (of course The Girl, who is 16, protests loudly until I invite her to take over the towel laundry.) If they only used their towels once, I’d do little else other than laundry, and it already feels like that anyway. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/28 "2003-04-05T17:37:40Z")
I knew a guy who had a ‘special’ towel. This special towel was around to facilitate cleanup if he had to take matters into his own hands, if you follow me. This towel - we’ll call it The Towel - was not kept with the other towels. The Towel was hung on the back of the chair in front of his computer, ready for action at a moments notice. The gentleman in question washed The Towel, shall we say, infrequently, particularly when one considers it’s Purpose. Being male, he and his room mate (my brother) sometimes get behind on the laundry. So, the my dear brother takes a shower and finds himself without a clean towel. The poor fool spies what is apparently, to the untrained observer, a towel ready for use hanging on a chair. He picks up The Towel and begins to vigorously apply it to his hair and face. He began to suspect something was horribly wrong shortly thereafter as eau de spunk filled his nostrils. The moral of the story? I don’t know, but it seemed like a good place to tell it. Being married, I know where most of my towels have been. But I prefer one that’s clean and folded on the towel rack. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/29 "2003-04-05T17:57:15Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Beelzebubba \* **He began to suspect something …** /QUOTE] :eek: TMI! Where is the TMI warning? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/30 "2003-04-05T18:12:05Z")
JuanitaTech - maybe this is a Latina thing - meaning of course, the only right and correct way. 😉 Four showers is about right. In the winter, with the heat on, they may last longer. Sometimes, though, I change the man’s towel more often. Many hotels now allow you the option of NOT having towels changed every day, so I assume science has proven that you don’t die of cooties the second a twice-used towel touches your body. TMI warning! I do not have a problem getting blood on a towel after coming out of the shower. But I am now afraid that every man I know MIGHt have a “special” towel in his home. Ick. Ick and Ick and Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/31 "2003-04-05T18:16:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > However, I don’t re-use a towel after bathing. For drying hands, yes, that’ll get re-used, but not bathing. The logic (taught by my mom) is that your dry skin is always flaking off, and who wants to keep drying yourself with a towel full of dry skin flakes? Ick! So do you change your bed sheets daily, too? Otherwise you are sleeping in your bed _full of dry skin flakes_ as well as the **dust mites that eat your dried skin flakes!** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/32 "2003-04-05T18:52:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duckster \* > \*\*(snip) > you are sleeping in your bed _full of dry skin flakes_ as well as the **dust mites that eat your dried skin flakes!** > 😃 \*\* Right, that does it. I’m not going to wash or sleep anymore. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/33 "2003-04-05T19:20:29Z")
Wait a minute! You’re supposed to _wash_ the towels?!?!?!? I truth my answer is pretty much what **DeVena** said. Except _every_ Saturday would be an exageration in my house. Whenever I remember to pry the sheets off the bed I grab the towels, too. It would really be once a week, which is how my mom always did it, if the laundry got done in my own house. Someday soon! ---
**Author:** ![Kithara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8491ac/32.png) [@Kithara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kithara)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/34 "2003-04-05T21:55:38Z")
Every Sunday for me. Both my sheets and towels from the week. I have several sets of towels, so they spend a week or so in the linen closet between uses, but I use each set for a week. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/35 "2003-04-05T22:37:37Z")
In my household, it’s an approximately weekly towel change. – From the very first episode of **The League of Gentlemen** , transcripted [here](http://www.leagueofgentlemen.co.uk/newepisodelists1ep1.htm), “Val” explains to a houseguest how the bath towel system works: > [@](#): > > VAL: > Then there’s the towels…white for hands, brown for feet, green for torso, thighs and seat. And in the cupboard ‘neath the stair… > > HARVEY ENTERS THE BATHROOM CARRYING A RED TOWEL AND WEARING A DRESSING GOWN. > > HARVEY: > …You’ll find the red for pubic hair! -AmbushBug [sub]Welcome to Royston Vasey[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/36 "2003-04-05T22:52:19Z")
I only own three towels, so hell yes, they get used more than once. I generally use them 'til it occurs to me, “Hm, how long have I been using this?” Then I switch. ---
**Author:** ![kirk280980](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c77e96/32.png) [@kirk280980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk280980)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/37 "2003-04-05T23:51:36Z")
Use once, then wash. That’s how it was always done in our family as I was growing up, and the habit has stuck with me ever since. My towels only add up to one washer load per week though, as I’m single. Hardly what I’d consider to be making extra work for myself, and besides, towels are the easiest thing on earth to launder anyway. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/38 "2003-04-06T03:24:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrLizardo \* > \*\*3-4 uses, then wash. > > unclviny: what’re ya’ doin’ that makes ‘em crunchy after one use? That’s WEIRD. I use it, hang it immediately, use it again next day, repeat. No crunchiness ever involved through a few days’ usage. The ONLY time I get “crunchy” is if it happens to fall on the floor in a wad… \*\* By “crunchy” I mean stiff, a towel should be soft and a stiff (or “crunchy” towel) just does not feel right, BTW, I am single and I wash my own towels. unclviny ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/39 "2003-04-06T06:03:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kirk280980 \* > \*\*My towels only add up to one washer load per week though, as I’m single. Hardly what I’d consider to be making extra work for myself, and besides, towels are the easiest thing on earth to launder anyway. \*\* I wonder if you’d feel the same way if the laudromat was five blocks away and you lived in a six-floor walk-up. That’s an extra trip to and from the laundromat, meaning walking an extra 20 blocks and up and down five flights of stairs twice, while carrying a heavy load of laundy. Not fun. On the bright side, you wouldn’t need a gym membership! ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621/40 "2003-04-06T06:55:25Z")
As an adult, even when I had to wash all my laundry in the tub, by hand, and hang it up to dry, I refused to reuse towels. My step mother made us reuse towels for a week. My brother always used my towel to wipe any nasty stuff off. with long hair i did not exactly have the choice to drip dry either. NO WAY am I going to reuse towels as an adult. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-same-towel-more-than-once/166621.md?page=3)