How many times should you reuse a towel?

Question

After you shower, you are already clean right? So you should be able to use it more than once. But im curious as to how many times?

Answer 1

we use ours 2 times ... i cant stand it after that... u may be clean but the towel is full of dead body skin and hair and i find that nasty...

Answer 2

If it's just for your hair then I say twice, but if you dried off with the towel that's it just once. Because you shed dander even when you get out of the shower. You don't want to continuously wipe yourself with that, especially once you're clean. Hope that helps!

Answer 3

Using a towel, even though you washed clean, still picks up dead skin and residue from conditioner and scented soaps. I always use a clean one. Especially if there's roommates.

Answer 4

I use mine about 3 times. I keep it out of my bathroom though.

Answer 5

I never re-use towels unless I run out by accident and have to take one out of the hamper. This same thing came up on Roseanne when Dan put a towel back for that same reason, "I'm already clean." That didn't fly with Roseanne :)

Answer 6

Thank you Xan.  Using a towel only once is horrible on the environment and a wast of water.  At my house we use them for about a week (the time between laundry days).  Your dead skin cells are everywhere, not just on your towel.  Do you wash your chair every time you sit in it?  Or your bedding daily?  They are also loaded with skin cells and body oils.  Probably more than on your towel!  

My mother in law puts the towels in the dryer on a quick dry cycle to dry them faster and be sure they don't get smelly.  But her dryer is right in her bathroom, so it is very conveinient.

Answer 7

I usually use mine twice. Even though you are clean, you still get body oils, etc. on it so you can't use it all the time. But just using it once is a waste. So two or three times max I think. Plus having it sit in your bathroom it is collecting bacteria & you don't want that :)

Answer 8

my hubby gets mad cause i throw mine in the washer right after i'm done.  i never use it more than once but he uses his 2 or 3 times before he washes his.

Answer 9

The answer to this question is dependant what you do with the towel once have used it. We all carry bacteria on our skin (staphylococcus I think and others) these are harmeless in the controlled levels of normal hygiene and in healthy people. So drying yourself with a towel results in a bacteria covered damp towel. If you just scrunch it up/ leave it on the floor or bed or whatever it will take time to dry and so the bacteria will have time to breed to potentially hazardous levels but if you carefully hang it up  preferably on a heated towel rail or radiator (or somewhere well ventilated) it will dry quickly and will not breed the bacteria and so will not be a hazard nor smell.

When you do wash it it is important to wash it at least at a 60' wash to kill bacteria (if you cant do this ironing it will kill bacteria but who wants to iron towels?) and dry it as quickly as possible from washing.

If you do this you start with a pretty bacteria free towel and you will allow minimal bacterial growth during use and it will not smell. People who wash their towels too cool will have to change them regulary as they are haven of bacteria to start with and as soon as they use them the dampness activates the bacterial growth and they start to smell fast.

If you hot wash and let them dry properly after every use you only need to do a towel wash once a week. It is good practice to wash all the towels of a set at the same time as they will all fade/ wear the same.  Doing one big hot towel wash a week is much more environmentally friendly than cooler washing towels every day or two (especially if you use a dryer to dry them) , and it save you alot of work. Doing one hot wash a week is very good for your washing machine and is recommended by the manufactures and in my experience results in a longer lasting machine. This is surely much better for the environment in the wider picture than always using a cool wash.

Answer 10

I usually use mine between 5-7 times before washing (that's when it starts to smell). You're right, you're clean when you get out of the shower.

Answer 11

I would say- stop when it feels dingy. LOL.

I wouldn't use it more than twice before washing.

I'm clean when I get out of the shower... but I'd like to stay that way

Answer 12

I will use the towel for my hair about 4-5 times.  My body towel 2 times.  I am always after my family about using it more than 1 time.  +++

Answer 13

The towel I use for my hair, I use 3 or 4 days, the towel I use to dry my body, I use for 2 or 3 days.  I usually go by the smell, smells bad, get a clean towel.