how many times do you use yr bath towel before you wash it?

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on another board i was reading yesterday, a startling number of people claimed that they used a fresh towel each time they bathed/showered. is this not insanity? i only own like two towels!

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:19 (twenty-one years ago)

so how often do you do laundry? i predict this thread will run and run and probably correlate nicely with the 'Europeans: How often do you bathe?' thread at times. (My answer: 3 or 4 times)

― teh pow! (blueski), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

every two days. my friend was training for the boston marathon some years ago and didn't change his towel every day or so after showering and ended up getting ringworm.

i do laundry pretty much everyday, because its free and about 10 feet from my bathroom. when i lived in boston laundry was a weekly or bi-weekly chore.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

You don't want to know.

― Huk-L, Friday, 24 September 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i like to do laundry its the putting it away which drives me nuts.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i do laundry about once a week because that's when i run out of boxers/socks. i wash my towel when it starts to smell--i mean, i only use it to dry my clean, supple body.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i'll use the same towel for drying after a shower about twice, i hang it out to dry straight after and it is used for drying hands on.

i have loads of towels though and could probly get away with using a fresh one each time.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I think if you hang out your towel to air and dry properly after each shower/bath it's fine to reuse it for a few days straight. But I wouldn't go as far as one of my friends, who only washed his towel once a term when he was at university, using the logic that you only use it when you're clean so how can it get dirty?

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

so he doesnt dry the nooks and crannies ?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Dastoor to thread!

Weekly, but, as Archel says, if you air it properly it lasts much longer. If/when it starts to have any smell other than freshness, into the washing bin it goes.

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I do not have a W&D so doing laundry is a major chore. Let's just say I have about 100 pairs of underwear and 12 towels so I can avoid doing it as long as possible.

― Towelette Pettatucci (Homosexual II), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't want to answer this. Joe used to forcibly remove my towels and wash them while I was at work. I hate when towels are washed, they go all hard and nasty.

― Danger Whore (kate), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:38 (twenty-one years ago)

use more conditioner

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:38 (twenty-one years ago)

What? I use a separate towel for my hair.

― Danger Whore (kate), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

no i mean for washing the towels in the washing machine

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Do all my laundry once a week, including towels. No problems to report and the towels air dry well after daily use, so hey.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Conditioner? In the washing machine? Are you MAD?

― Danger Whore (kate), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

twice

― oops (Oops), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i may be mad but i have nice soft towels.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

i like to do laundry its the putting it away which drives me nuts.

I just knew I wasn't alone in this.

― Michael White (Hereward), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

What, you put, like, Fructis Strengthening Conditioner in your washing machine? And that makes your towels soft? I've never heard anything so crazy!

― Danger Whore (kate), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Lenor or Comfort

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

(Kate are you winding me up?)

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

No. I honestly don't know what you're talking about. Are you talking about putting hair conditioner in the washing machine, or some mysterious stuff I've never heard of?

(Or is that what they call fabric softener in this country?)

― Danger Whore (kate), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, softener, also known as conditioner in the UK tho

― teh pow! (blueski), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

ah yes, it might be called fabric softener. people call it diff things, everyone in this office calls it conditioner btw.

xpost

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

fabric conditioner even - oh the possibilities are endless (threefold)

― teh pow! (blueski), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Are towels supposed to bend?

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

i use a chamois.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought you just basked in the glory of yourself to get dry.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 September 2004 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I just smell it regularly, and when it starts to smell anything but completely fresh, I get a clean one. It seems to last pretty well.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 24 September 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i also like to buff myself down with some turtle wax when im dry.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 24 September 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i may be mad but i have nice soft towels.

Quote of the day.

my answer = about twice.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 24 September 2004 15:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Martin on point, use your nose people. Just like with pants!

― TOMBOT, Friday, 24 September 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Drip dry.

― Taxi Dancing in the Soft Prison (Ben Boyer), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

probably every three days, maybe four but only if it's only been used once a day. yes use fabric softener. there is no reason a towel should be hard and nasty after being washed.

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

martin and tom OTM. washing machines ruin clothes/fabric. ideally you should avoid washing clothes/fabric as much as possible.

i use imported turkish cotton bath towels which are very soft and fluffy and all my houseguests always compliment them me on them. great wedding gifts too if you have the $$$ to spend.

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a face/hair towel and a body towel, I guess they go a week or so between washings.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

you are fancy gygax

i have turkish towels as well. they are delightful. our washing machine at our place kind of sucks. but nothing is better than a freshly laundred towel. nothing!!!

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Blimey! These towels they are using on top of the pops are going to need a good washing!

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

jel if I were you I wouldn't touch my face with a towel that had touched my hair.

― oops (Oops), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

"It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

his name is 'jel' not "gel"

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 24 September 2004 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Turkish cotton vs. Egyptian cotton: JIHAD!

And I use the nose/laziness test too, so more times than I should is my answer.

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 24 September 2004 20:12 (twenty-one years ago)

how many times do you use yr bath before you wash it?

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Friday, 24 September 2004 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I am a dirty girl; towels three times a month; sheets, every two weeks. Bath: every time I use it, which is once a day. If you hang them up to dry after washing they smell ok.

― drrtystopout, Friday, 24 September 2004 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Tried to find a pic of Neil (Young Ones) in the multi-user bath episode. Luckily I couldn't.

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 24 September 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread is making me feel dirty.

― Towelette Pettatucci (Homosexual II), Friday, 24 September 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

In a good way?

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 24 September 2004 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

hstencil to thread!

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 24 September 2004 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 46 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I only use a bath towel once before it goes in the wash. Hand towels get washed a couple of times a week.

I hate towelling myself dry after a shower. If I were insanely wealthy I'd have my bathroom walls fitted with loads of hot air nozzles to instantly blow-dry my body instead.

― C J (C J), Sunday, 26 September 2004 07:01 (twenty-one years ago)

calm down, dee, people try not to rag on your beliefs.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 26 September 2004 11:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, I'm even skankier than I thought.

― Cathy (Cathy), Sunday, 26 September 2004 13:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, there are plenty of people who would argue that you shouldn't even be showering every day, that it's a terrible idea to be removing all those oils from your skin in the first place.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 26 September 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I am more shocked by the amount of people that do laundry so frivolously. Conserve, dudes.

― Carey (Carey), Sunday, 26 September 2004 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

that it's a terrible idea to be removing all those oils from your skin in the first place

Removing oils vs. feeling much better and less gross each day = DEATH TO OILS

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 26 September 2004 15:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Hair starts washing itself after a while anyhow, is this an old hippies tale?

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 26 September 2004 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Removing oils vs. feeling much better and less gross each day = DEATH TO OILS

But if you have dry skin removing those lesser quantities of oils makes you feel worse = HOORAY FOR OILS

― j.lu (j.lu), Sunday, 26 September 2004 17:07 (twenty-one years ago)

The idea is that after a few days your body gets used to the oils and you don't feel so bad.

Mind you, I shower every day, so I haven't really experimented with this idea personally. But I have known plenty of people who have (including one of my roommates, who I guess showers about once a week).

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 26 September 2004 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Good grief, will you people doing all this laundry please look at the news - how many hurricanes have we had this year? And we're about to lose the Maldives... Jesus. Once a week is quite enough. You do not get ringworm from dirty towels.

And if you're using fabric conditioner on your towels, it is coating all the fibres and making them less absorbent and absorbency is the point of a towel, after all.

― Madchen (Madchen), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Madchen OTM. Smell your towel. If it smells in any way bad, then it's time to wash it. If it doesn't, then it isn't. Stop wasting resources.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I wash/change my towels once a week, I really don't think it needs to be donw anymore than that.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes but say I had no nose? How would I smell then?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Bloody awful

Oldies but...

― Penelope_111 (Penelope_111), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

i ended up with three new towels from target on saturday

― kephm, Monday, 27 September 2004 13:35 (twenty-one years ago)

*applauds penelope*
x-post

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

But if you have dry skin removing those lesser quantities of oils makes you feel worse = HOORAY FOR OILS

Skin oil = beyond good and evil!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

IT PUTS TEH TOWEL ON TEH SKIN OIL

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Euw, will you stop witht that already Dan!!!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

(haha)

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

It creeps me out every time I read it!!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:01 (twenty-one years ago)

it puts the lotion in the basket (qt video)

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm still waiting for Dan to cover Silence!: The Musical

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:04 (twenty-one years ago)

*shudders*

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Jesus Horatio Christ, I didn't know my washing towels was responsible for the present sad state of the environment. (we have many, many towels, so even if I were to use a new one every other day, I don't have to wash them more than once a fortnight)
But just to get y'all to STFU, I shall now use my towels until the stink, k?

― oops (Oops), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I am now renaming "the butterfly effect" to "the wash a towel effect".

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Hrmm, I dunno... the Lorenz Attractor kinda looks a bit like a towel flapping on the line on a windy day...

― Danger Whore (kate), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Once a towel is too dirty to be used for drying it gets rotated into blocking pot smoke from getting into the hall

― Free the Bee (ex machina), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

i think the moral of the ringworm story is that if you don't wash your bath towels often, don't try and eat it, or you might get ringworm.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I am clearly the Prince of the Land of Filthy Towels as I only wash mine once a fortnight or so. Basically once it starts to smell I change it.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm demoting you to Major.

― oops (Oops), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Two weeks? Amateur!

(Honestly, I'm starting to feel like I should be on Too Posh To Wash or something, reading this thread.)

― Danger Whore (kate), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

A lot of this thread should be on Too Green To Clean, really.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm cheating, my wife is the one that changes the towels every fortnight. I have no idea how often I changed them before I was co-habiting. Once again the "smell" rule was enforced, but I may have been slightly more tolerant about the level of smell necessary...

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I have no idea how often I change towels, other than 'not very often'. In fact, the cue to change them is usually if I nick the towel off the rail for showering after football - damp towel in bag (needs washed because it doesn't get aired), no towel on rail. Apart from that, the 'how much does it smell' rule is the only one.

I think if I lived with Kate WE WOULD NEVER CHANGE THE TOWELS EVER. Well, not until they snapped when you tried to use them.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, I don't know about that, Aldo. Boy towels smell worse than girl towels. I used to shout at Joe, though, if he tried to wash my towels. But it was probably better if he washed his towels every few weeks.

I don't think I've washed my towels since I moved into the new place... well, maybe I washed the hair washing towel. My hair tends to get stinkier than I do for some reason.

― Danger Whore (kate), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:04 (twenty-one years ago)

You have spoiled our dirty towel utopia. Eventually, they would have risen up, having evolved intelligence and been able to post humourous remarks on internet boards for us!

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 27 September 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"Towels"? Dude, y'all needs to get with the DRIP DRY.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 27 September 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread cost me 6 quarters.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 27 September 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

To all these people who wash their towels after 1 or 2 uses - do you actually use any cleaning products in the shower? Or do you just stand under the water for a few minutes and get out again?

Seriously, I'm a little bit worried if your towels are smelling after so little use.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 09:43 (twenty-one years ago)

It does kind of depend where you're hanging them too. If you live in a small space, your towels might absorb kitchen smells etc.

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 09:45 (twenty-one years ago)

S'true - in the summer hang them outside or near an open window.

Anyway, found this on another message board, apparently it came from Men's Health magazine:

How many days can I use a towel before laundering it?
7
Infectious bacteria and fungi (like the one that causes athlete's foot) can't survive on a towel once it's dry, says Syed Satter, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology. Each time you towel off, however, you rub bacteria from your skin onto the towel, slowing down the fabric's drying speed. After 7 days, your towel accumulates enough organic material to actually form a barrier that protects the bad bacteria. After a week, do what Eddie Futch did in round 15 of the Rumble in the Jungle: Toss in the towel.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Hurray! Easy-going Brit pragmatism triumphs over obsessive-compulsive Yank enviro-destruction! Proven by science!

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:13 (twenty-one years ago)

After a week, do what Eddie Futch did in round 15 of the Rumble in the Jungle: Toss in the towel.

how on earth would that help its hygene?

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, it would be as stiff as the stiff it's concealing in the laundry basket.

― Penelope_111 (Penelope_111), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:18 (twenty-one years ago)

It's concealing 'stiff' in the laundry basket?

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry Pink, I make connections that I imagine everyone else will make but ultimately, make no sense whatsoever.

(It formed part of my contribution to the concealing a dead body thread)

― Penelope_111 (Penelope_111), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry hun, I was just messing!! :-)

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:51 (twenty-one years ago)

so to speak.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Ew.