How old is you oldest towel?

[VanTullek]

We tend not to throw towels away- they just get relegated from bath towels to swimming towels to outdoor swimming towels to dog towels etc.

Current oldest towel is one that DH (nearly 50) had as a child and not even as a best towel but as a swimming towel. We inherited it from MIL and I keep meaning to recycle it but it’s actually quite useful. It’s probably 60 years old.

Anyone else have very old towels lurking in their cupboards?

I'm glad I'm not the only one perplexed by this!🤣

Fwiw we have some towels that are 20+ years old.

Probably around 25 years old, bought as 'best' towels and now used for hair dyeing and mopping spills. They're still perfectly usable, but not a pretty sight 😀

The oldest towel in our house is a set my mum bought for me when I went to university in 1980. They are a bit thin but still perfectly useable.

My father has some pretty ancient ones. I can well believe that people have 100 year old towels.

I have towels that I bought when I started my nurse training in 1982. Not fluffy but usable.

I've got some of my grandparents' towels, so at least 50/60 years old I reckon. Still in good condition! I'm actually not sure I've ever bought a towel myself, they've all come from somewhere else, mostly hand me downs from my mum, housewarming gifts etc.

I'm not sure how anyone can cope with just 2 towels?!

Yes, get some spares in!

A change of colour too!

John Lewis towels now 18 years old and still our nicest big bag towels.

Childhood towel which is now quite stiff so used for the dog (always gives me a nice wave of nostalgia as I use it!)

I've got some which were a set my parents were given as a wedding present. So about 56 years old? More for nostalgia than daily use but they do come out sometimes.

I think the more appropriate question is how old is my youngest towel 😳

none of mine are as old as some of yours but this thread has made me think about the answer and even my youngest towel is at least 12-15 years old. My oldest ones are probably 23 years. All of which are still in decent nick. I used to love the bath towels from a shop called rowsbies. I was sad when it closed down at least 15-20 years ago but the towels I have from there far far outweigh the ones I got from John Lewis when I thought I should be an adult and buy a proper matching set!

i have bedding though that is probably close to 35-40 years old and is still going strong!
I even have a Simpsons pillow case which I use regularly that belonged to my brother from his childhood bedding set that looks new still. He has a son that is 22 so that shows how old it is.

We've got some that my MIL was given for her wedding in the 1950s. They have a few holes but have some hand-made crocheting along the edge.

My oldest towel is about 30. A bath towel from a bed sit I stayed in as a student and someone had left it behind. I was skint so it came in handy.
It’s become a bath mat now.

40+ years still used as a bath sheet!

No, they’re much better for drying yourself, especially if you have an itch!

I bought a batch of new new about 15 years ago, but still have a promotional towel I was given on holiday in the late 90s. It’s a hideous colour, but huge and very soft.

I don't actually know, a lot of mine were my DParents' which they gave to me when I got my first flat, so at least 20 years old, maybe 30.

I swear we had the exact same towels for my whole childhood and my grandparents had towels that had lasted since my mum's.

No idea what we do to our towels in comparison, because they get ragged and holey. I guess it's because I sometimes stick them in a hot wash and dry them in the tumble dryer.

I have some 40 years old (childhood) some 25 (university) and some 20 (marriage). Practically none younger!

I don't know.

We could send a small piece of it for radio carbon dating.

Mum still uses a towelling square bought (but never used) as a nappy for me. I'm 51.

About 30yrs old. Love an old rough towel.

I’ve just replaced a lot of mine so the kids swimming towels would be 5 years old but all others less than a year

The oldest I can date is from 1984, but I definitely have older ones from primary school age - probably 1970s.

We’ve got 2 bath sheets from John Lewis that were a wedding present 30 years ago.

My bath sheet is from university, they were supplied so it wasn’t new when I got it, so its at least 18 years old.

1987 (towel for prep school, complete with name label, still used for swimming etc). Newest…2010 (wedding present).