Towels?

[LettuceP]

Another thread about washing bedding just reminded me that I've been meaning to ask this.

What do you do about washing towels? Does each person in your family have their own towel and you wash them together? How often do you wash them?

We have clean towels in the airing cupboard and get one out as needed. For the kids I hang them on the radiator in their room after use and use them once more then put them in the washing basket. Me and DH try to do the same but usually end up slinging them in the basket after one use. Tbh it's only a few years ago that I learned you don't have to wash them after every use. They get washed with clothes, I don't seperate towels or bedding. I only seperate by colours and some things go on a hand wash. I do all washing at 40 degrees but I think I need to start separating things more and doing some washes at 30.

I'm trying to cut down on washing because I know I do way too much and we need to save money and I'd love to have less to do 😁
Also what about clothes? How many wears before you wash them. T-shirts, socks and pants are 1 wear then wash but what about jeans, trousers, jumpers, bras etc?

No wonder this planet is dying! What a waste of water, energy and time on this thread. Not to mention all the detergent, softener and the other fancy nicely smelling products that you lot are surely using as well. There soon will be no drinking water, all polluted by thoughtless people washing towels, pjs, bedding after one use!

I change the towels every 2 weeks (if I remember). Hand towel more often. Bedding every 2 weeks. Tea towels as required
I wear most clothes for more than one day except knickers.
Socks can go 2 days. Tops 2 days max, trousers up to 3 days. I do about 3 loads of washing a week.
I dry clothes on an airier in the cellar, outside in clement weather, I use the drier for bed linen (winter and wet weather only).
More worried about the environment, don’t care if folk think I’m slovenly!

Love these threads, always make me a feel like a total slattern.
Towels - about every 2 weeks, will take bathroom towels for swimming if I remember. As Pp said, they are just drying clean bodies.
Bedding - 2 -3 weeks for our bed ( weekly in summer), 3-4 weeks for Dc
Pjs - about 2 x week (if I remember)
Part worn clothing goes on a chair in our room and I have recently started putting it all in the wash on a Sunday evening. It may only have been worn once but at least it’s not been there for 3 months!

agree that all this excessive washing is terrible for the environment.
Towels - we each have our own, washed approx once a week.
Our bedding changed weekly, the DCs fortnightly.
Kids are little so their clothes and PJs need washin daily (they slop food on them). Adults wear jeans 3-4 times, tops once or twice

Question: isn't it overkill to wash anything at 60 if you then tumbledry? Isn't the heat of a tumbledrier enough to kill bacteria that survives washing and rinsing?

Yes, please stop all the wasteful washing.

We each have our own towel colour and they are washed every few weeks.

We have 2-3 changes of PJs per week, socks and pants get washed after one day, everything else once it is dirty or smelly, up to about 3 wears usually.

We don't have a tumble dryer.

no wonder machines dont last due to so many washes more than years ago

Here, towels are used twice max then washed at 60,same for bedding.
My clothes are washed after every wear as I sweat loads thanks to perimenopause
DS has a clean shirt daily for school but trousers and jumper I get 2-3days out of.obv unless dirty.

DH gets a few wears out of his clothes unless dirty from dog walking.
Pyjamas washed daily.

No wonder I have so much washing!

We each have our own towels and they are washed once a week on a 60 wash. I can’t see the reasoning in washing after one use when they have been used to dry a clean body!

Underwear/tights get washed after one wear. The kids clothes get washed either if they have a stain or after about 3 wears for my 5 year old who is pristine or 1/2 wears max for my 3 year old who is grubbier.

I used to wash all my stuff after one wash except jeans then realised that was a bit extreme. So I I’ve only worn something for a few hours and it passes the sniff test it goes back in wardrobe. If I’ve worn something all day to work I’ll wash it. But a few hours out for coffee I’ll wear it again the next day. Jumpers/cardigans/other things made of nice fabric I’ll wear 3/4 times as I think it ruins them to over wash. I wash everything at 30 except towels and bedding at 60. Bedding once a week. Kids bedding more like every 3 weeks!

I must be a minger then, as I wear my socks more than just once and my feet don't smell

I was towels with other stuff much to my DM’s horror. In over 25 years it’s been fine.

I can't remember the last time I washed my favourite jeans .
They're soft and comfortable and don't smell.
Hate the feel when they're newly washed.

I do washing about once a week, but I have a blitz and do 2 or 3 big 9kg loads. It’s weather dependent, so everything can be dried outside but I live abroad so more sun. ( my ex nicked my tumble dryer).
Towels; weekly. Bedding every 10 days or so. Underwear & socks daily. Jeans say every 4 days. Tops, may get a second wear if I only wore it for a few hours (sniff test).

I really don’t understand how anyone but especially people with children can have such a flippant attitude towards the environment that their children will inherit. It is totally unnecessary and environmentally unfriendly to wash towels after one use, bedding daily etc. Surely there is something more worthwhile that you could be doing?

Bedding, once a week, towels once a week - we were using the same but as I'm poorly we're using separate (they tend to go on a high wash with the bedding...) However, I go to the gym almost daily and my Daughter usually has some sort of class so we shower there, and use their towels which go straight in the wash bins at the gym. In reality my towels probably get three uses per week. I'm terrible and me and my Daughter wear two different outfits a day, plus nightwear (and I wash both - I'm trying to stop doing this...) it's my gym outfit and then my regular clothes, and her school uniform (always comes back filthy), plus her football, ballet, gymnastics, street dance kits (you get the picture). I also wash the mattress protector once a month and duvet/ pillows every few months. It's just the two of us and still I'm doing a load each day! I am a little obsessed though.

We each have our own towels which are washed once a week at 60 degrees. Hand towels in the bathrooms are changed every couple of days.

Bedding once a week at 60.

Nightwear once a week (although we take it off before actually getting into bed...we all sleep nekkid 😉)

Underwear, socks, stockings washed after one wear. Shirts, blouses, t shirts washed after one wear. Trousers, skirts, sweaters worn over something else all get washed as and when needed. Any clothes not going straight in the washed get hung up to air before being put away again.

I'm imagining having enough time, space and money (and little regard for others) to do 30+ loads of washing a week. Mumsnet is like another planet sometimes.

I recently found a non bleach disinfectant that I put in with my wash. Apparently you can wash at 20 degrees, but I stick to 40. The clothes definitely smell fresher as any bacteria is definitely being killed.

I swear by air drying in the sunshine to get all the bugs out. Big items such as sofa covers, duvets, pillows probably get an annual big wash.

I wash my towels when they smell.
Honestly.

What a shocking amount of waste on this thread. How on earth are clothes and towels so grubby that they need washing after one use?

I separate in to white/lights and brights/darks.
PJs washed after each wear or sometimes I'll push it to two.
Gym clothes every time.
Underwear/socks/tights/bras etc every time.
Anything worn on the top half gets washed after each wear.
Jeans/trousers I sometimes use two times before washing.
Bedding and towels usually weekly.

These threads always put me to shame. Towels get washed when I remember. They hang on a radiator after drying my clean body down so definitely wouldn’t do daily. Kids swim towels get washed after each use as they stand on them on the dirty floors etc. Swap home bath towels maybe weekly, longer if I forget, then wash when I have a load. Exception is usually around the time of the month when I often require additional clean towels. Kids only bath every other day and live between me and their dad’s house so some weeks their towels are only used once. They are hung to dry so changed every few weeks when they’ve actually been used. Hand towels more regularly swapped for clean ones. Face cloths when they smell as they are used twice daily.

Bedding. Oh well, only me in my giant bed. Not a frequent washer. Too much effort. I like my own smell. Maybe monthly.
Clothes vary. Kids clean uniform changed daily as they usually come home covered in food. Washing only done weekly though on a weekend. Their pjs i try to get them to wear more than once but they aren’t fans and because they eat breakfast in them and then go and wash and clean their teeth in them they often get spillages in anyway so daily changes aren’t unusual. Me I’d happily go a week in the same pjs unless I’ve had a particularly sweaty night. Underwear daily. Tops/dresses for me are daily as I have under arm sweat issues (hyper hydrossis) so anything close fitting needs changing after it’s been worn. Leggings are worn once as they stretch out of shape. Jeans last a good week if I can keep spills off them. I heard washing denim was bad anyway.
I have a washer/dryer combi. I only donwashing in a weekend. Some is tumble dried and some hung on radiators. I don’t wash during the week unless there’s been an emergency. Because my kids share living with me and their dad I don’t have as much washing for them to do. Holidays see more washes as they are with me longer.

Towels, PJ's, top & bottom sheet and pillow cases weekly. Duvet cover every other month unless visibly dirty (we have brushed cotton sheet and blanket between us and the duvet). Tops will sometimes get 2 wears, trousers washed as needed which is usually 3-4 wears. Underwear and socks changed daily.

RaininSummer depends how sweaty you are as a person! I can't wear a top more than once as sadly I struggle to regulate body temperature...which means I alternate between being sweaty betty & frosty the snowman! Also depends on what work role you do - as a carer i was regularly sicked on etc so new change of clothes every shift!

Towels when they seem dirty. Bedding the same., usually every fortnight. Clothes are usually washed after every use. My disabled son changes his pyjamas about 8 times a day so I have two washing machines on the go !