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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to only wash bath towels once a month?

657 replies

starkadder · 25/11/2011 14:58

or less Blush

DH is in charge of washing his own towel and I am sure he never puts it in the wash more often than once every 2 or 3 months...

DS's goes in about once every 2 months (but it barely touches him as he likes to run around naked pretending to be a train driver straight after his bath, which dries him quite effectively).

I usually wash mine about every month but have realised that I haven't washed it since coming home from hospital with DD, who is now 5 weeks...in my defence, there is one HECK of a lot of other washing to do and it just won't ever fit in the machine....

We do wash out clothes (!) and sheets once a week. And I do the kitchen hand towel every week or two - it gets quite grubby and also fits in the machine with another wash easily.

But are we grim and disgusting when it comes to bath towels? How often do normal people wash bath towels?

OP posts:
Spermysextowel · 25/11/2011 21:59

Silver I find spreading them on the bed & sleeping on them works a treat & means you wash less sheets - tho you have to align the dry person-shaped part very carefully when you go to use the towel.

Good wishes to you & your mum. Nite.

Spermysextowel · 25/11/2011 22:02

Rhonda most excellent idea! Will race you to The Apprentice with it.

GlitterKitty · 25/11/2011 22:03

Am amazed at people who dont share towels- why? Worry about the man you are shaggings arse/penis touching the towel- but surely, sex etc...

Spermysextowel · 25/11/2011 22:04

And then there's the peripherals. Every bathroom would then need a bathroom-towel holder.

And there could be seasonal designs.

Spermysextowel · 25/11/2011 22:07

Glitter his penis mightn't touched the part of the towel that I rub my face with Grin.

Spermysextowel · 25/11/2011 22:08

might've

rhondajean · 25/11/2011 22:09

I think it could be a real income generator spermy.

Hey you manky lot - btw - just folded and put away 6 bath towels, hung up another load of washing, including 2 bath towels, and put on a further load, with 3 bath towels in it - and it all took no more than five minutes.

Right - we are going to need a cute animal endorsement spermy - although you have me thinking we could have a cartoon sperm singing a song about safe towel usage instead?

GlitterKitty · 25/11/2011 22:10

and thats...bad...?

Its...a penis. Presumably you have had intimate aquaintance with it on previous occasions? At close quarters? [wants leer emoticon]

Realisticalusualsuspect · 25/11/2011 22:10

And the housewife of the year award goes to.......

rhondajean · 25/11/2011 22:11

Not everyone does the bottom sex thing as well though do they?

Plus, yknow, wouldnt necessarily want it all rubbed all over my face (well seeing its a Friday nigth eh)

GlitterKitty · 25/11/2011 22:13

Whatever floats your boat.

GlitterKitty · 25/11/2011 22:15

Hmmm but if you have ever given your DP oral sex you cant have been a million miles away from his arse- and didnt die or get cooties?

Unless you used cake tongs to lift it to your mouth?

FredFredGeorge · 25/11/2011 22:15

Towels get washed when they're manky - which is normally only decided because they've not fully dried since the last bath/shower so I have to get a clean one out of the cupboard anyway 'cos drying yourself with a damp towel just feels icky. I'd never have a rule about it (just like other clothes, washed when manky)

Tea Towels are horrible, manky things and should be washed after every single use. However that's ludicrous so more usually you just avoid using them and only wipe up spillages and shit (*) when you really have to with the tea towel, use a kitchen cloth where you can which can be washed out quickly.

*Still not literal shit

marriedinwhite · 25/11/2011 22:19

Towels get washed weekly here. Collect all the towels up on Saturday mornings and they are all washed together at 60. Two bath towels and hand towels for dc; two bath towels and hand towels for me and dh + two bath mats. T towels go in the wash as soon as they have a mark on them - probs about 6 a week with the boys' white shirts.

madmomma · 25/11/2011 22:20

hahahaha cake tongs!

KittyFane · 25/11/2011 22:22

Unless you used cake tongs to lift it to your mouth? rhyming more of tongs used for sausages on BbQs Glitter

KittyFane · 25/11/2011 22:22

Thinking not rhyming

blondegirl1979 · 25/11/2011 22:23

I have 2 sets of gym towles, which i wash both lots every weekend cos for some reason they start to smell....no idea why though as i use the main one for drying after i have showered - maybe i should get so e new ones in the january sales now i think about it. As i shower 3 or 4 times a week at the gym my bath towles dont get used much, i live on my own but tend to have a cople on the go at a time, airing i spose. Tend to wash when i find theres a gap in the washing machine. Bedding every couple of weeks or just when i think of it, its only me so if im grubby then it doenst matter to anyone else, they used to get done weekly when my ex was around cos i used to get him to put the quilt cover on for me - he had longer arms than me !!!!

Interesting reading about other peoples habits/way of doing things.

DonkeyTeapot · 25/11/2011 22:23

Bath towels washed after two or three uses - OH and I share towels, I'm pretty confident he cleans his arse thoroughly before drying it. Tea towels are variable depending how grubby they are - at least after a couple of days, or I might get through three in a day.

I shared a house with a friend for a while, we moved in in June so no need for central heating. He always left his towel on the bathroom radiator, I always took mine back to my room. I wondered if it was the same towel that was always there, but thought he couldn't be that skanky, and assumed he must have a few the same. When it got to October we put the heating on, and a wall of stink hit me when I went into the bathroom. You could have cut slices out of the air in there. I suggested to him that perhaps his towel might be due a wash. He said "really, do you think so?" - I thought he was being sarcastic, but alas, twas genuine surprise. He was also of the "I'm clean when I use it" school of thought.

But then, this is the same guy who asked me to explain how to do shopping.

chalkiegirl · 25/11/2011 22:24

I can't believe what I'm reading.No wonder the planet needs saving!

GlitterKitty · 25/11/2011 22:27

I do feel a bit amazed at the 3 loads a day people. We prob do 4 a week. That's clothes, bedding & towels.

Curtains/cushion covers etc much less often...

IloveJudgeJudy · 25/11/2011 22:29

The reason to not share towels is that DD had very bad impetigo that she caught from her cousins. It completely ruined a holiday that we took with some friends.

After that, we made very sure that we never share towels. Impetigo is very contagious.

DonkeyTeapot · 25/11/2011 22:30

Also, I don't understand how people can do so many batches of washing - I do a batch about five days out of seven, and seem to permanently have it on airers drying in the lounge. Our house is very very well insulated because OH is too tight to pay for the electricity very environmentally aware, so the heating isn't on very often, so it takes a while to dry.

GlitterKitty · 25/11/2011 22:31

If I ever catch it, I will immediatly use my own towel.

But the other 99.9% of the time, I feel its ok.

rhondajean · 25/11/2011 22:32

How many people in your house glitter?

Im stunned that people regard washing towels with the same horror I reserve for ironing underpants!