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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:
samstown · 27/11/2011 13:19

It actually makes me a little bit cross seeing how often some people do washing on this thread - up to 7 washes a day??? What the actual fuck?! What a ridiculous waste of electricity and water - there is just no need! We will never be completely clean, even if you wash stuff every day. These programs on tv which show the disgustingness of your matress and all the creatures living in there - well yes, it is a bit minging but you are never going to completely get rid of any of it so washing stuff every day or after every use is just pointless.

Agree with the people who ask, do you disinfect your DP's penis every time you have sex, cos if you were to think about it, all that up close rubbing skin cells onto each other and exchnage of bodily fluids is pretty grim!

Everyone thinks me and my DH are wierd because after 8 years and a baby together, we still do our own separate washing (I concede it is a bit stange!)

oldenglishspangles · 27/11/2011 13:25

My towels are washed a specific way but I don't wash my towels every day. They get dried and put in the wash basket until I have my correct dry weight of washing for the machine.

Bunbaker · 27/11/2011 13:25

"Everyone thinks me and my DH are wierd because after 8 years and a baby together, we still do our own separate washing (I concede it is a bit stange!)"

Wouldn't it make more sense and more economical to wash all dark clothes together, all socks together, all whites together etc regardless of who they belong to? If OH and I washed separately I would have to wash my darks every two weeks and have to buy more socks and tights. Or I would be washing half loads and using more electricity and water.

FellatioNelson · 27/11/2011 13:28

Shock Oh please tell me you are not one of those people who wieghs their washing piles?

Can't you just guess? Like normal person?

FellatioNelson · 27/11/2011 13:28

weighs

valiumredhead · 27/11/2011 13:29

My washing is weighed...by the machine and it tells me how much powder to put in too Grin

FellatioNelson · 27/11/2011 13:31

oh, well if the machine does it I'll let you off. Grin

Ariesgirl · 27/11/2011 13:32

Weighing washing? What is this new devilry? WEIGHING washing? Should I be doing that too?

valiumredhead · 27/11/2011 13:32

Phew! Grin

naturalbaby · 27/11/2011 13:36

a washing machine that weighs the load?!? I. Want. One.

FellatioNelson · 27/11/2011 13:37

Definitely not Ariesgirl - only according to the washing machine manuals, but who ever takes any notice of those who is sane?

Someone on here once said their mother had a pair of scales next to the machine and weighed every load before she put it in. Confused Common sense has always worked for me. I know when it's too full. I don't even have a degree in laundry - I just know.

Ariesgirl · 27/11/2011 13:46

If the door won't shut then it's too full. And only then

oldenglishspangles · 27/11/2011 13:53

You had to ask.... yes Grin. More eco to wash a full wash and also means I can dose the powder so that it does not kill the machine. Over filled machine do not wash well and too much powderover time can kill the machine.

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 27/11/2011 14:12

Hang on. Don't you all just sort of...bung all of the 'roughly the same colour' washing in the machine until it's about full, and then chuck in some powder?

TheOriginalFAB · 27/11/2011 14:13

What might be useful is a factual account for how often a towel/sheet actually needs washing.

We all change beds every week though I want to change our sheet twice a week.

Bath towels are hit and miss. One towel might be used to dry 3 kids or they might all have one towel each and use it once or twice. Sometimes DH dries smallestFABBoy with a hand towel as it is plenty big enough.

Bunbaker · 27/11/2011 14:20

I don't weigh my washing - I never have. I just wash a full load every time I wash

valiumredhead · 27/11/2011 14:34

My machine weighs the washing then adjusts the amount o water that is needed according to the weight

Good job, because I just bung it all in and turn it on Grin

CoffeeInTheMorning · 27/11/2011 14:48

Depressing to read how much electricity and water is being used by ridiculous amounts of washing - unnecessary daily washing! Has no-one actually thought it might be good for the environment to limit the amount of water and detergent they use each day? Also it's a big thumbs down to eliminating bacteria as the problem with our Western society is that we're too clean and too obsessed with cleanliness.

Towels get used by all members of my family and dried quickly so get several uses. No-one gets ill and no-one gets squeamish about using a towel that someone else has used the day before. Towels get rounded up every 7-10 days. Bedding every 2-3 weeks (all family wear pyjamas/bed-clothes of some kind). Tea-towels get replaced every few days but washes only go on at the weekend, and only 3-4 of them even then.

Bonsoir · 27/11/2011 14:51

Sharing towels is not hygienic. I can concede that some people don't wash their bath towels more than once a week, but towels should never be shared.

And hand towels used by several family members in loos/kitchens really must be laundered every other day at least.

StandingAlone · 27/11/2011 14:53

Ooooh blummin heck, we wash bath/shower towels after each use. Hand/face towels every other day. Kitchen towels get washed daily, if used to dry hands after washing then they are used until wet and then washed. If used to clean/wipe around the kitchen then they are put in the wash basket after they have been used.

We also just bung washing (of similar colours) in until full and put the machine on, I don't weigh washing or anything.

GrownUpSparkler · 27/11/2011 14:54

I wash my DPs penis every time we have sex, nods. Not in bleach or disinfectant though, just water and soap. Grin

And I shower before and afterwards too.

And a sex towel gets washed after one use.

Just in case you needed to know that too. Grin

SardineQueen · 27/11/2011 15:05

Just seen the last post on active convos and was a bit

You wash your partner's penis? In a sort of ritual way? Do you do it with a flannel or dip it in the sink or what?

Original poster
starkadder · 27/11/2011 15:10

Oh my word. I've started threads on MN on various things...work problems, gender issues, miscarriage...but THIS is the one thing that gets everyone talking. The washing of towels. Who knew?! I am a bit depressed about it actually. Although of course it was me who started it.

What's a sex towel?

OP posts:
blonderedhead · 27/11/2011 15:17

I'm a right old slattern.

1Catherine1 · 27/11/2011 15:26

a sex towel? Washing a partners penis? Wow.. I thought I was walking into a discussion on laundry...

Anyway... In our family me and OH have a towel each and my DD (8mo) has several. Mine and DP towel are washed about once a month and are left on the bathroom towel rack to dry. My DD has a tendency to pee on hers so I wash it after every use. We also have a hand towel in the bathroom which is changed every couple of days so bath towels are used only after getting out of the bath or the shower. Kitchen towels are washed daily.

I also have to confess to not using a boil wash ever. Every other month I will do an empty boil wash to keep the washer clean but never with anything in it. Nothing is ever washed above 40 degrees.