How often do you use your towels?

I have 2 favorite towels I use. They both get washed together after a couple uses. I used to go way longer At least a week, then I started reading this sub. I felt kinda gross.

Body and Hair Towels - 3-4 uses

Hand Towels - 3 days

Face Towels - 2 days

Bunch of redditors constantly crying about climate change and they wash and dry 10 towels a week lmao

I had a school friend whose family used one towel per shower with 5 to 6 people in the house. Blew my fucking mind. I use mine for a week.

Every couple of showers or so. Could definitely go longer since we have a good drying system (stair banister with a fan) but I like grabbing a fresh one. I’d say a week at most, but I’m not a weekly person because I hate the idea of washing towels/wash cloths with my or my partners work clothes. Separate wash loads, usually clean/sanitize the washer before a towel load, but we have a tonnn of towels.

All week

Fresh towel every time.

Once a week.

I don’t have a set schedule, but more than a day less than a week. I’m big on sniff checks. As soon as it starts to smell musty, I swap. Timing can change with how humid the weather is, and how carefully I hang them up to dry.

Also I have a pretty sensitive nose, so this works for me. Seems like lots of people around me don’t smell as well.

Once a week and we all have our own, color coded. Well, the children like to use whatever and then yell at a sibling for using their towel but...

good question!

Next question.

honestly idk, until I feel like it. usually a few days, sometimes a week. I have never had any acne issues or odor issues so I never paid much attention to it.

About a week.  

Once a week I change my towel. I leave them up to hang dry between uses

Body towel once a week. Hair towel probably week and a half because I only wash my hair every other day. Hand towel once a week

This is making me self conscious but I only do laundry about once a month. I have a bunch of work uniforms as well as underwear and socks. When I get home, I'm naked until I have to work or the rare times I do need to go out for groceries or something.

Have a towel for my hair, towel for body, and towel for floor. It's about 3-4 weeks. I have extras for all but I pretty much stand in the shower drip drying before even grabbing the towels. Really just use them to pat the droplets.

So I'm not rich and live in apt so can't wash everyday (bcs tmthey charge us for laundry) and tend to wash whenever I have leftover or need clothing. So I use the towel at least for a week it even 2 (or if it starts smelling weird ) yes it might not be the most hygienic but what can we do? ( but we do have different towels, at least 3-4 each even if again the above we still use them between 1-2 weeks ngl sometimes even longer especially if we don't have money to wash )

honestly sometimes we are such in shambles, we dont even count.

Body & Hair Towels (twice) Hand Towels (daily) Kitchen Towels & Washcloths (daily)

I only use 100% cotton, and I do not care for the super thick ones. I like them to dry quickly after use, so they do not get that musty smell.

I only do laundry when I have the time to wash, dry, fold, and put away all in the same day/night.

I love scented laundry detergent, but do not use fabric softener on the towels (whites). It cuts down on their absorbancy.

Sometimes a few days, sometimes a week. No more than a week.

I do it once a week. I call that the community laundry. My wife and now to grown sons. Since the kids were In middle school We talk to them do their own laundry. So each of us did our own laundry, and I also took on the community laundry. Beginning of each week I would watch the beddings , towels etc All they had to do was take the beddings off I do all the washer and drying put them back on Put chip the regular schedule once a week. I have WFH office so I could be washing and drying a couple of loads throughout the day.

Once a week I do laundry and that's when I towel swap.

Body towels: About once a week. Hand towels: not often enough.

I do have a couple favorite towels. But I cycle through all of them. My bf won't let us get rid of the terrible ones (even though there are only 2 of us and we don't need 10 body towels...).

Once a week. I've started showering at work to save money/time.laundry and the towels I use at home rarely get wet as I tend to dab and air dry

My father grew up poor in a large family, living in a very small house. They had to take turns in the bath, and only had one bath towel to dry off with. By the time it was my Dad's turn, the towel was sopping wet and gross, so he learned to squeegee himself off with a washcloth and ring it out instead. In his 80's now and no longer poor, my parents have a large amount of nice bath towels in their large house, and yet he STILL dries himself off with a washcloth after he showers. I love him. He's a quirky dude.

• Body/hair/face towel - once - it gets covered in hair product and…. Womanly juices.
• hand/dish towls - one week

My husband washes his body-towel once a week, which i think is acceptable because the towel doesnt get any hair products or … juices… on it at all.

Mind you, my body-towels are the smaller thin type that dry quickly. Eight of them can fit in a washing machine with room to spare.

We wash our towels once a week. If they’re dirty or smell weird we will switch them out sooner! Living in a very very dry climate means my towels dry pretty fast after use and usually are okay with a weekly washing.

One a day. If I shower twice that day then I just use the same bath towel but a new washcloth.

once a week or earlier if they have smell

When washing towels, I like to use white vinegar in place of fabric softener. It makes the towels fluffy and gets out any smells. Also works well on my dog's towels at removing dog smell and hair.

I use the same towel for everything, change it out once a week. It really doesn’t get dirty since I only use it after a shower

A week. Hand towels, no idea.

Bath towel 1x week Wash cloth 1 x Face towel 1x week

I live in apartment with a laundry room instead of the machines in my unit so once a week for cost reasons 😅

Once a week

I only reuse towels I use to dry off after a shower. I use them for about a week.

I don’t reuse washcloths. I use them first on my face then on my body and use a new one each time. I have about 10 of them and do laundry once a week.

Once then wash them.

It’s weird because growing up we had a “community towel” essentially 😂 There would be a fresh towel hung on the rod, and if it was dry by the time it was your turn to shower, it was expected to be reused. Otherwise, if it was wet, it would go in the hamper and we’d be able to use a fresh towel. The towel was replaced every morning at least with a fresh one. My mom and dad still do that.

But now, I’ll use a towel for up to a week before replacing it with a fresh one. Some factors change this. Like if I didn’t hang it properly and it dried smelling musty, it goes straight to the hamper. If I use it to wipe down the sink or a wet spot on the floor, it goes to the hamper. I have a set of hair towels I use and replace less frequently, simply because I don’t wash my hair every time I shower. So those might go 2-3 weeks between swapping them out, but still only see about 5 uses for drying within those few weeks. I don’t use washcloths because I hate the feeling of wet towel on skin. The only other towel would be the hand towels in the bathroom, which get replaced probably once a week.

We change all of the towels in our bathroom every weekend. I have extras of course in case something actually gets dirty or has any kind of smell but it's rarely an issue. I'm not wasting my time or 500 gallons of water to use a fresh one every day lol.

We have to go to the laundro, so the bath towels are once a week BUT! We have a cubby of 'privates' towels, wash cloths for drying the delicate areas that are used once and put in the laundry. Face towels and pillow cases are changed daily, hand towels 2x a week

If I had a washer, It's do them every day

A week with one bath towel. I used to change towels every time before college. After college I've been a one towel person.

Once a week, usually Wednesday’s. I’ll do linens and towels then. Rest of the laundry is on Sunday.

Well I apply a body oil directly out of the shower while I'm still wet (I do shake off excess water first), and then air dry...so my body towel can last for months cause it's basically just decoration. My hair/face towel, on the other hand, is changed out more regularly (every 4 or 5 uses) because it sees regular use.

One towel per week because it’s already more washing for my parents to do when I’m at home and when I’m uni, I have to pay for the laundry and it’s super expensive, plus there aren’t that many washing machines and dryers. I always make sure to dry my towel properly after each use though.

We each have our own towels for after shower, and those get washed weekly. Hand towels in bathroom weekly. I have my own towel for after washing my makeup off, so my husband doesn't use it for anything else he has his own towel.

I also have to wash my daughters towels from swim-she practices 5-7 times a week, and I am pretty sure she has 10 towels we cycle through. Those get stinkier than our bath towels for some reason.

I use a towel and a hairwrap towel. I change them based off smell. I smell them before I go in the shower. If they smell at all, new towel. If the smell is still pleasant, I'm OK for another use.

Grew up and towels were changed once a week. You are drying a clean body with it so unless it doesn’t dry well and the towel has odor problems. I change wash clothes approx every 4 days, mostly because of soapy buildup. I live in FL so it would be different if no a/c.

Once a week.

When I wash clothes, I throw my towel in. About one load a week not counting bed linens. Shower 4-5 times a week.

Once a week, on laundry day. I do have one towel that I only use for my face because I found when I had one for face and hands I often got breakouts despite washing my hands very thoroughly (COVID habit that stuck)

1 body towel, 1 face/hand towel per person and I have a hair towel used for a week

I hate that they go about a week but they always look so fresh just hanging there all dry!

Depends on the towels and their uses. Hand towels, wash cloths, and kitchen towels get changed for washing twice a week, and body and hair towels get washed once a week. I try to remember to wash my bathroom rug and shower curtain once a month (ADHD brain permitting) and let some hella strong bathtub cleaner soak into the tub while that's happening, which gets wiped and rinsed after I move everything into the dryer.

I have one matching set of towels that I bought for myself in 2022 during cyber week, consisting of two bath sheets (massive body towels), two hand towels, and two wash cloths. I still rotate through them with the few other random towels (not matching in the least) that I got as gifts for my high school graduation 13 years ago. They're all in great shape though!

I bought a pair of matching, very large hair towels last year, which was a bit pricy but necessary given that my fine hair was pushing towards 3 feet in length at the time (and has since reached 36 inches); "Normal sized" hair towels are not able to hold all of it lol. I wash my hair twice a week, so it's not terrible with the towel usage. I shower daily otherwise though.

My kitchen towels are the only ones that stick with a consistent theme, courtesy of my parents. Every year, they gift each of my siblings and I a customized calendar towel for Christmas, so each one gets added to the collection after hanging as decor for the following year. I'm not sure why my mom (specifically) does the calendar towel tradition but she's always had them in the house that we grew up in, of which would eventually up as a new kitchen towel to rotate though. It's kinda sweet though since the towel design itself on each one is identical to one another (including the one at our parents' house) meaning that there's always a "piece of home" in each of our homes for us to admire throughout the year - The only difference is that they each have our own individual names on them.

As a tip for freshness, I personally recommend using laundry sanitizer along with your detergent since it helps get kill off any bacteria that your towels are hoarding. I use it in my regular laundry loads too, including bedding.

I have six face towels, one shower towel, one kitchen towel, and one hand towel. I wash my one bath robe, three mats, and all towels once a week on Sunday.

Bath towels weekly. Hand towels twice a week. If someone is ill or we have company the hand towels more often.

Weekly on Saturday or Sunday

Honestly, I mostly go by smell. As long as it smells fresh, I'm using it. But after a week if it's still around I'll wash it. The amount of times I shower a week also varies so that's a factor too.

Bath towels 6 uses Hand/face 10 uses

Never been sick. Let them dry thoroughly between uses.

I use hair and body towels for a week, hand and face towels for 2 days. I also keep a basket in the bathroom for dirty towels and I chuck them in there when done. So 1 load a week with a family of 3 sometimes 4.

I change mine out once a week. I have Lots of towels. And Downy scent booster beads. I'm allergic to most laundry soaps, and fabric softeners but weirdly I can use the scent beads..

1x/wk in the summer, less in the winter.

My Partner changes them out about once a week. Me? I just don't/care notice/care about stuff like that. Without him I'd probably be either dead or stricken with diseases up the ass.

imma be real like once a week. that’s probably gross.

I don't have a washing machine or dryer yet so I'm a once a week person.

I’m surprised to see people change their towels so often. I change it once a week just like my bed sheets. My towel isn’t stinky or gross after a week in my opinion. Now my husband has to change it every 3-4 washes because he does a lot of exercise and it’d reek if he doesn’t. Mine stays “cleaner” for longer.

Weekly

I definitely switch all my towels out once a week, but I make sure I have different washcloths for each body part so I know like my ass bacteria never touched the rest of my body to begin with, just an example.

Hand towels can be hard to remember though with roommates bc sometimes you don’t know who washed it or replaced it last. But if it’s a shitty/old hand towel or we just had a lot of people over I make sure it goes in the hamper.

Once a week or two depends. But I have three different towels in the bathroom. Daily face towel changes, body towel for the shower/bath and hand towels to wipe your hands.

Weekly

Usually I use them for a week or two then throw them in my laundry basket. I mainly air dry my body so unless blood or something gets on them they stay relatively clean. It costs $4 to do laundry here ($2 for wash, $2 for dry) so I’ve had to find ways to reduce laundry as much as possible without it being very unhygienic or unhealthy.

My towel really only touches my hair and lightly dabs my body enough that I’m not a walking wet floor sign. I’m practically bald so it doesn’t leave much hair on it. Barely even have to use it. Just one swoosh and it’s dry

A towel is fair game for either a week or until it hits the floor, whichever comes first.

I have 3 personal large towels, I wash each week. We have a dozen face cloths and I personally use around 4 each week which I wash. I also employ 2 smaller towels that I use to wrap my hair up in the mornings and I wash those each week.

I use a new face towel every time, I do towel laundry once a week and only wash it once a week If it falls on the floor though I use another towel hahaha even though the floors are clean my dogs use anything as an excuse to sit lol

I do my towels, and linens, once a week. The reason why, I don’t have a washer dryer. So I have to use the laundry room in the senior complex where I live. There are no washer dryer hook ups in the subsidize apartments. So I do everything in one day.

I use my towels for a week and then wash them unless they start to smell funky; then I’ll get a fresh one

Washcloth: every 2-3 days. Facecloth: every 1-2 days. Body towel (drying off): once a week.
Bathroom towels (for hand drying): 1-2 times a week.

I change towels weekly. have a face towel at the sink, my bath towel, and another face towel for my hair after I shower.

Until it starts to smell not clean. Usually a week, maybe two.

1 a day, if I shower twice in a day I use the same one otherwise it gets washed. People are fairly unaware of how bad unwashed towels can make them smell. They smell like wet basement.

Usually for a few months.

I shower 4-5 times a week. And just like my bed sheets I switch them weekly. Same with hand towels in the bathroom and kitchen.

Usually once a week. In the summer, when it's more humid, I use quick-drying towels and probably change them more often than in the winter when the air is super dry.

Until they're stiff and smelly!

One shower, one towel. Hand towel every day to every other day.

Every week/after 2 uses I have 4 towels,so while two are drying after laundry, I use the other two and keep the cycle.

Growing up we had one towel for 4 people and my parents wouldn't allow me to get a fresh towel until THEY decided to change it....I got to where I was drying off with my tshirt and putting that into the Hamper because that towel would start smelling! I didn't want that on my clean body! Personally, as an adult, I'll use it 2 or 3 times, but it hangs in my room, and no one else can touch it lol My thoughts are, I'm clean when I use it, so it can't be that bad.... right?

face- fresh towel every time body and hair- once a week sometimes twice a week

i have a nicer set of body towels and the cheapest $3-$4 room essentials brand target towels for my hair because i dye it red and it bleeds the first couple washes, so not worth ruining anything i like! the body towels are also from target, but the hearth and hand brand. i’ve had the same set of 2 (they’re pricy for towels (to me) they’re like $15 a piece) for over a year now washing once or twice a week and they’ve held up beautifully!

I have two and I wash them with my light laundry! The thinner waffle style (mine are Onsen) are so amazing they stay fresh and dry, are easy to wash with other things, and don't produce lint.

i only use them once then they get washed but that’s bc i have a skin condition and if i have an open wound from it i don’t want any bacteria from my previous shower making my skin flare up

I change all towels in my house once a week

I'd say every 3-5 uses. Sometimes it's 5 because I haven't gotten around to washing towels yet but I try for every few uses. I think 2 or 3 times is recommended. But wash cloths I use in the shower every time.

I go a week but I use linen towels not the heavier ones with loops.

Shower towels- 2-3 showers

Bathroom hand towels- 2-3 days

Kitchen hand towels- a week…ish?

All of these are more convenience based than strict timelines

Body towl one use Hair towel one use Hand towel one to three uses Kitchen towel after drying one load of dishes

Daily for body, every couple days for face

My towels get 2 to 3 uses before I use the next one. I just hang it up on the door and it doesn't smell bad.

Once a week and I’m the only one that uses them

I wash mine after 2-3 uses, so 2-4 days depending on how often I shower.

I’m a stickler for one towel, one use. I don’t care how hard you scrub your body something always ends up on the towel. It goes straight into the wash. And yes because I’m not gonna leave a wet towel out to build god knows what bacteria on it afterwards and then use it again to wipe that bacteria all over my body after I just tried to clean it off. One towel, one use. Period. Unless you have a fetish for wiping that soggy stank all over you again well you do you. I have many towels. I wash them together en masse. It’s literally not a big deal.

I also change mine every few days. One for my face and one for my whole body. Not sure how to make it last longer, though.

Hand towel or bath towel? I use my towels maybe two or three times? And always air dry them really well after each use. Hand towels get changed once or twice a week.

Unless the towel got something other than water from my body out of the shower on it I’ll use it for about a week & then do laundry.

Idk if that’s too long or not, but I grew up poor so one of my parents things was to sift through the items in the laundry basket & smell them. If they looked fine & smelled fine you got yelled at.

I bathe hot spots twice per day. I only use a towel twice before hanging clean towels (one for my body, one for my face). I will use a dry towel for two days, but I hang it to dry out.

I used to use towels for like a week until my college roommate told me he only used them once. Made a lot more sense to me. Now I use them once and throw them in the hamper

My wife tends to wash all the towels once a week. I swap out bath towels after a couple of days of use.

I use them a single time, BUT my towels are those Turkish towels - they’re lightweight, not fluffy, and therefore you can wash like 10 of them in a single load. Otherwise I think I’d feel guilty using so many clean towels when it’s not strictly necessary. But yeah, big fluffy towels that get used repeatedly are a perfect place for fungus and bacteria to thrive, bc they never fully dry and they’re often left in steamy bathrooms

Wash cloths: 1 use; Body towels: 2 uses; Hand towels: 2-3 days

You should probably give a towel at most 3 uses before getting a new one. Kind of gross to use a towel more than that. At some point you’re just putting putting dirt back on your body

I have a towel for each different thing. Hair, arms/legs, main body, feet, and face. I wash them at different times. But all are washed within a week of last washing.

Washcloth - a new one every morning (face/hot spots) & night (shower) Towel - a new one every 1-2 days

I change all my towels and sheets weekly and just wash them at the same time

I read some article once about researchers who looked at the growth of bacteria and mold on towels, their recommendation was 3 days so that's what I do. Sometimes less if it's been humid and my towel doesn't seem to dry fast enough. I'm sure you can find that study or a similar one

every 2-3 weeks

Bunch of idiots.

I use a towel 2-3 times before washing it. Usually I take my shower and then have it hanging off a rack in my closet to dry until I shower again.

3 days

Big bath towel, every other day. Small face and body scrub bath towel, everyday Hand drying towels, every 4 or 5 days

i have about 5 that i alternate, wash after every use

Daily. Use it and throw it out n the wash

I’m a one and done. I want a fresh towel every day.

I change mine out every two uses to keep them fresh.

I'm lucky if I get towels. I have two teenagers who never put the towels in the laundry. The blow-dryer and I are besties at this point!

I use fresh a fresh towel everyday. I dry them on the rack, and then when I swap them for a new one I put them in or by the machine and do a quick load every couple days.

This includes hand towels or whatever. May as well since I’m washing them anyways. Dirty towels give me the ick.

Daily. Use once, wash. I didn't know some people reused towels until I lived in a dorm and I was kind of horrified. Maybe it's being from a hot, humid climate but IMO that's just asking for that weird mildew smell. I'm allergic to mildew so I might be slightly more paranoid than average, but I just did not grow up with this whole reusing towels thing.

I just come here to laugh at people who seek others approval.. how many wipes on a shitty ass before the tp is done and it's ok to throw it away.. should I flush it or throw it away make dolls out of it or let my wife use them for makeup removers should I wash and reuse. This site is crazy

When I didn’t have a washer and dryer I’d go weeks with the same towel for after the shower. Hang it up and let it dry. But now that I have a washer and dryer I rarely use a towel without it going through the washer/dryer.

I only use my towel once, and then it goes in the laundry basket 🧺 this goes for all bathroom towels

2 or 3 showers at the longest. I also use a fresh washcloth every time, and use a separate one for my face and body. Also a fresh pillowcase every few days.

In the summer when the towels take longer to dry I usually have 2 on rotation. Also it's hot so I sometimes take 2 showers per day if I'm grimy at bed time. I do laundry once per week. I've never had an issue but if the towel starts smelling mildewy b4 the week I grab a new one

Not regularly,I have a bath robe.

If I remember, once a month.

Daily. I'm a bit OCD.

When showering every day I used to go a week (hang it to dry between uses). Then I read that towels don’t just dry your clean skin, they also wipe off dead skin cells that we all shed. So, ew. I use a clean towel every shower now.

Once a week I figure your drying a clean body and Noone but you uses the yowel

Usually one use for showering towels, hand towels I’ll go 3 days typically

I use a clean towel each day

I change my hand towel daily, my body towel every other day

Weekly

Every two showers

Once a week for all towels. I grab everything in the bathroom, whether it’s been recently changed out or not, and do a load of towels

I have long hair & use one for body and one for hair, I change them every other shower.

One on body, one on floor, in the wash, ready for more.

Three days at max. I live in a humid area so they do not dry well even when hung…

When my mom got married she got two sets of towels as gifts. She washed and reused the same two sets for almost 20 years 😳 and it felt like weeks would go by in between switching of the colors.

Now that I have my own home and towels, I use them 1-2x max before switching to a new one. I also keep an unlit candle in my towel cabinet to keep our linens smelling fresh.

About 50 times because it’s clean forever 👀

I wash my towel after every use. I wash my sheets every other day.

Basically twice. I shower without a hair wash and hang the towel to dry. Next night I do wash my hair, and I go to bed with my hair in a turban. Because it stays damp overnight I hang it to dry before tossing it in the basket, but don't reuse it.

These are pretty small light towels...ie I can fit about 30 in a load of laundry. Back when I used big bath sheet things I'd hang them and use them a week at a time before washing.

Usually 3-4 days. I would change it out daily if I had time to do that much laundry.

I have 14 T-shirts 14 pairs of shorts 14 pairs of socks, and 14 towels. None of those numbers are coincidental. Nor is the fact that I do laundry once every two weeks.