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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About bath towels

102 replies

Sleepthiefsmum18 · 16/02/2019 15:14

Just gone to shower and discovered my bath towel is missing. It’s in DH’s gym bag. He has no concept of a towel being someone’s and just uses any he finds that’s dry. I’ve just discovered he currently has 4(!!) towels on the go. It drives me bonkers. I like to have my own towel and when it’s dirty I put it in the wash and get a clean one. Surely this is normal?!? I hate the thought of someone else using “my” towel. I don’t want to dry my face on something that’s been on someone else’s arse (my own arse is fine). AIBU? DH doesn’t see the problem.

OP posts:
llangennith · 16/02/2019 22:21

Buy yourself an expensive bright pink towel and tell him "it's mine"😈

Unicornfeathers · 16/02/2019 22:23

Different colours in this house too - I have pink and DS has black which co-ordinates with the bathroom nicely.

We also have beach towels with designs for each of us.

There is no way that I am using a towel that has been near his backside

Vulpine · 16/02/2019 22:24

Even hotels do not encourage washing after every use. All this germ/dirt phobia is ridiculous

PetuniaPetunia · 16/02/2019 22:24

Own towels, different (,matching ) colours.
Putting wet towels in the tumble dryer won't freshen them up, it'll just dry them...

80sMum · 16/02/2019 22:29

I wash my bath towels after every use so they are clean when being used. Why would you reuse a bath towel?

I'm hoping that the above is an exaggeration! Surely they're not actually washed "after every use"?!! Even hotels don't do that; it would be incredibly wasteful.

TFBundy · 16/02/2019 22:29

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

thenightsky · 16/02/2019 22:31

Own towels here. Each person keeps their towel in their own bedroom and is responsible for changing it when they feel it needs it.

Ellie56 · 16/02/2019 22:34

Eeek! @BigusBumus sharing towels with DH and 3 smelly teenage boys! Shock

Agree you do need To Take a Stand as PP said. Buy yourself some fluffy towels in the girliest colour you can find and keep them in your bedroom for YOUR USE only.

Vulpine · 16/02/2019 22:34

So washing your white company towel wouldn't have washed off the 'verucca juice'? Hmm

Bluerussian · 16/02/2019 22:36

Tell him firmly! You are in the right,

Ellie56 · 16/02/2019 22:37

OP you need to buy some girly coloured towels. I think even your DH might baulk at taking rose pink towels to the gym. Grin

Prokupatuscrakedatus · 16/02/2019 22:38

There is a passage in a YA novel - along the lines of "you could use this bathroom, but then you would have to share towels with George" and we (DD an I) wondered about that. Now we know. Smile

Dutchesss · 16/02/2019 22:40

Hold on, are we talking about a fresh out the laundry dry towel or a used and re hung towel here? Used towel is not OK, dry towel is acceptable.

prettybird · 16/02/2019 22:45

Actually one of the benefits of using white towels is that it's obvious when they need to be washed Grin

....and as long as everyone uses their own towel, athletes' foot cross-contamination doesn't happen Smile

I do keep one dark blue towel beside ds' towel. It gets used when we have been gardening to clean our hands or ds or dh have been playing/referring rugby and need to clean off the worst of the mud. The hand towel beside the sink can only take so much mud! (The hand towel, tucked into a ring holder, is pale blue and gets turned round half way through the week to clean side, and then put in the wash at the end of the week)

Pinkbells · 16/02/2019 22:48

We have different coloured towels for gym/swimming, quite a lot so that anyone can grab one when they need one, can you do that? Distinctively different colours to the house towels get left in the house. And tell him you don't like your towel used, I hate it when anyone uses mine too!

BusySnipingOnCallOfDuty · 16/02/2019 22:50

We have mostly one style of Ikea towels which I love. We are thinking of upgradina at some point so everyone has their own ones, bit to be honest I keep on top of how they smell and have a good nose for when they need a wash or if they need one of those once in a while 90° washes. Its not the germs, its when they get damp or they seem a little sweaty (I cause this issue in the summer when I swear constantly, for example) and when I can no longer get a towel fresh enough after a good wash, its out the door. Another reason I dont use expensive ones.

Just to mention, many dog rescues can use old unwanted towels so dont chuck any away without checking with your local rescue.

Pinkbells · 16/02/2019 22:54

I can't believe the amount of people on here who share towels!!
We don't colour code our house towels (only different colour for the ones we take out for sports) but we do have hooks with our initials on and everyone is good about putting them back on their hooks, so no-one needs to use anyone else's towels. A couple of times a week I scoop them all up and put them all in the wash and change them. Given that people say they change them every day makes me think I'm a bit minging for using them for 3-4 days though!

Witchend · 16/02/2019 22:56

We have our towels, as my family did growing up.

Dh's family had two (identical) towels hanging in the bathroom and they grabbed whichever felt drier.
This led to a conversation when we were first married when he wondered why I was washing the towels so often. He told me his dm washed towels only once a year, corrected to maybe every 6 months after I laughed.
Can you imagine in a house with 4 teenagers!

I had to show him the next time we went that his dm had 4 identical towels which were washed frequently. Grin

BestestBrownies · 16/02/2019 23:00

Uuuuuurrrrggghhhhh!!!!

The thought of sharing towels with ANYONE is making me feel really queasy. It's fucking grim and I can't believe so many of you are willing to do it.

Envy Envy Envy

hopeful31 · 16/02/2019 23:07

Why not share a towel with dh? U use it to dry off after a shower.... when ur clean. So ur drying water from ur clean body. We shower every day so a towel between for our morning showers then it goes in the wash.
We sleep in the same bed. Share plates, forks and cups.

Although I would absolutely not use a towel from a gym bag or anything like that

WinterHeatWave · 17/02/2019 05:45

Had a thought about this this morning.
DH ALWAYS has the first shower during the week.
So, if I shared his towel, I'd get a damp towel 5 days a week. Since we have our own towels, mine has had a decent chance to dry before each use.
Do you towel sharers use damp towels?

hopeful31 · 17/02/2019 06:05

Obviously it's going to be a judgment call. If it's too damp to use or not. But if one person uses a clean dry towel to dry off, rarely would i find it be too damp to use for the next person

HeronLanyon · 17/02/2019 06:07

Definitely have my own towel We also have our own bathroom hand towels (which I think I want even more separate). If for any reason there has been a mix up then I just wash them. Not generally fussed about others peoples ‘stuff’ being used randomly but i am with towels. I was brought up With this - the five of us all had a place our towels hung. We wouldn’t have dreamed of using someone else’s.

GreenDragon75 · 17/02/2019 06:17

We each have our own colour towels. Best thing I ever did as I hate sharing. Definitely the way forward.

WhatNow40 · 17/02/2019 06:22

I'm with you!! This always causes a fall out on holiday. I go to great lengths to keep 'my' towel clean and dry. I don't leave it on the floor, I hang it out as soon as I'm done etc. Towels are limited and with no washing machine, I can't brush this shit off like I can at home. Fuck off and keep your own god damn towel!!

I like to know the bit of the towel I'm drying my face on is not the same bit someone else has used to simultaneously scratch and dry their balls with. AIBU?