How many sheet, towels etc should I have?

[RunningOutOfIdeas]

I am about to declare war on cluttered tip that I call home. DH and I have accumulated too much junk and the cupboards are all full. I am going to tackle one area at a time, so this will probably be the first of many questions.

When DH and I moved in together we both owned sets of bedding and various random towels. When we got married we were given a lot more. So now I think we have enough for half the town.

We have one double bed and one single bed. How many sheets, duvets, duvet covers, pillows and pillowcases do you think are necessary for each bed?

How many hand towels and bath towels do you think 2 adults, 1 child (and occasional visitors) need?

[Cies]

It depends how often you like to change and wash them.

But in the whole I'd say 2 towels per person, plus a couple for guests, and 2 sets of bedding per bed would be enough.

[AMumInScotland]

We could manage just fine on two complete sets of bedding for each bed - one in use and one in the wash/cupboard. In reality we have more than that, but the others hardly ever get used and stay at the bottom of the drawer till I decide they need freshened up!

Duvets - I suppose two per bed would let you take one to be washed while still having a spare, and a different weight can be useful. So one lighter and one heavier per bed would be plenty.

Occasional visitors on the sofa could use the spare set, so you don't need any extra for them.

Towels - well, that comes to the thorny (on MN) question of how often you wash them, but personally I find 2 bathtowels per person per bathroom is enough. Handtowels - we go with 2 per bathroom and 2 for the kitchen.

We also keep 3 sets of spare towels (bath and hand) for visitors, though again the spare ordinary onew would do fine.

HTH!

[Geocentric]

We have pretty much what AMIS describes. But with two spare sets of single sheets because the children occasionally have a couple of cousins over at the same time to sleep. And some old towels used for swimming pool, beach...

[MrsBadger]

double bed: mattress protector, 4 pillows, 2 sets linen, winter duvet, summer duvet

single bed (assuming small child and possibility of wee / puke): 2 mattress protectors, 2 pillows, 3 sets linen, winter duvet, summer duvet

adults - 2 bath towels + 2 small towels (hairdrying, shaving) each
child - 2 bath towels

guests: one set bedlinen, one duvet (any weight, they can tough it out), 2 large towels, 2 small towels

handtowels and teatowels need changing an awful lot - 3 for each location at least.

swimming towels (1 each)
beach towels (1 each)
old towels for emergencies eg leaks, vomit, muddy bikes

[BeenBeta]

We have all white bedding and all white towels. That is important because it means we can wash them all together and get them back on the bed and towel rail within one day.

If you want to truely minmise. I suggest you go to John Lewis and get one good set of white cotton bed linen and a hand towel and bath towel for each person. Get matress and pillow protectors too. At most, get one extra spare set of towels and one spare set of sheets and pillow cases.

Throw everything else away. Dont get themed or colored bed linens or towels.

[RunningOutOfIdeas]

Thank you everyone. I feel a small car load to Oxfam coming on...

[4plus1]

Im obsessed with towels, linens etc. No matter where i go i'll come home with some. Nothing like lovely piles organised in your press!

[peachybums]

DS and DD1 have 2 sets of bedding each one on one in wash/cupboard. DD2 has 4 sets of bedding but shes a small baby who dribbles and is sick EVERYWHERE lol, we have about 3 sets of bedding but i think wed be fine with 2.

As for towels, me and dp have 2 bath sheets each and two bath towels. DS and DD1 have two bath towels each and DD2 has 2 baby towels. We have a large one that is used for if kids have water outside or to sit on outside and one towel for dying hair. We have about 5 tea towels.

The thing that bulks out our cuboard is throws for the sofa. When i bought our its was buy one get one free so i added 2 to the basket, when they came there was 4 as they automatically add it on , we also have various throws we have collected and also a heap of random blankets.

[mousymouse]

we have 3 sets of bedding each (one on the bed, one in the drawer, one in the wash).
towels- 3 sets of fine shower towels, 2 baby towels, about 10 hand towels, about 20 flannels.