Change your bath towel every three to four uses. If you shower or bath daily and you're the only person using it, that works out at about twice a week.
There has long been a debate among laundry experts about how frequently people should change or clean their bathroom towels. While some believe it's healthy to change a towel once a month, others refuse to use anything other than a freshly cleaned towel each time they use a shower or bath. While there's plenty of disagreement about how many times a towel can be used before cleaning it, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.
There's no single answer that suits every household, but three or four uses is a sensible guide. It's best to consider your hygiene schedule: if you're showering or bathing every day and you're the only person using your towel, you'll want to switch towels twice per week. Odour, even if it isn't particularly strong, is a sure sign that microbes are growing in your towels and that they should be washed as soon as possible.
Flannels are more likely to be completely soaked during your hygiene routine, so wash them more often, possibly even doubling the frequency to every couple of days.
After a shower you're drying clean skin, so a towel can usually be used a few times before it goes in the wash, as long as it dries fully between uses. Hang it spread out on a heated towel rail rather than bunched up or draped over a door. If it still feels damp the next day, or smells musty, swap it for a fresh one.
Bath towels are usually used to dry somebody who is clean, most often straight after a bath or shower. This is in contrast to gym towels or beach towels, which inevitably get dirty during use. So why wash them regularly? Even clean skin leaves dead skin cells and body oils on a towel, and bacteria feed on both.
Any water absorbed by the towel will leave it moist, remaining slightly damp even after it feels dry to the touch. A damp towel provides an ideal environment for bacteria to multiply, potentially giving a home to mould, E. coli and other harmful germs. Drying towels quickly and thoroughly reduces this growth, but the only way to keep them hygienic in the long term is to wash them properly.
As a general rule, the thicker and more comfortable a towel is, the more moisture it absorbs and the longer it takes to dry. Thinner towels, such as those you take to the gym or beach, dry quite quickly.
How often you wash your towels is also influenced by circumstances within your property. Warmth encourages bacteria growth, so this is a bigger problem during the summer months (and if you keep your bathroom warm throughout the rest of the year). If your bathroom isn't properly ventilated, the humidity can also result in more rapid growth.
Gym towels are often stuffed into bags while still damp with water (and sweat), where they usually stay for hours, so it's advisable to use a clean towel for every visit. It's also best to give younger children their own towel and to wash it frequently, as they aren't always the most dependable when it comes to personal hygiene.
If you or a housemate are ill, it's best for each person to use their own towel and to wash towels more frequently. Cross contamination via towels is all too easy, especially with wet towels, which provide an ideal environment for bacteria to survive and multiply. A dirty towel can carry germs back onto clean skin, which undoes some of the benefit of washing. While a mildly dirty towel is unlikely to cause a serious health issue, shared towels can pass on skin infections such as warts and athlete's foot, and a damp, unwashed towel can aggravate eczema.
Hygiene experts generally recommend washing towels at 60°C, or at 40°C with a bleach-based laundry product, to stop germs spreading. Most of the time you'll be encouraged to turn down the temperature of your washing machine to save energy and protect colours, but a 30°C wash is too cool to kill the bacteria towels carry. Check the care label and the detergent pack before you choose, as some coloured towels are only suitable for 40°C and some bleach products can fade colours.
Your washing machine may have a built-in sanitising mode, which is ideal for eliminating germs. Hand washing won't get the water hot enough to do the same job, so use the machine for towels. As an aside, it's best not to use fabric softener, as it leaves a residue that reduces absorbency.
Dry towels fully between uses. Hang them spread out on a heated towel rail or peg them outside on a washing line. Leaving towels in a heap on the floor stops them drying properly, so find a better spot. Good ventilation helps too, whether that's an extractor fan or an open window.
A heated towel rail suits the job because air can circulate around the towel. Draping damp towels over a standard radiator, particularly in a closed room, raises humidity and can encourage damp and mould, so it's best avoided. Our article explains the risks of drying items on a radiator.
Most guidance puts the lifespan of a bath towel at around two to three years, depending on quality, how often it's used and how it's washed. Washing keeps a towel hygienic, but it can't restore one that's worn out.
Signs it's time for a new one:
Cheaper, lighter towels tend to wear out sooner than thick, good quality ones. Flannels and face cloths take more punishment, so replace them more often than bath towels.
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