AIBU to say the washing sheets/towels and toilet brushes argument may have been solved...?

[WineAndTiramisu]

Saw this today and immediately thought of all the arguments on here over the years about washing towels, bed sheets and the horror of toilet brushes!

amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/21/self.html

I'm definitely more dirty than the cleaners verdicts!

@Lweji 'A bath towel is about 1/3 of a washing load.'

Your washing machine must be minuscule! I can do a wash of half bath towels (usually 3 or 4) and half clothes easily!

1 bath towel does not equate to 1/3 of a wash. I can wash 2 king size duvets and pillow cases with potentially 1 under sheet in my washing machine. (With plenty of space for the washing to go round)

Like MaxiBondi, most of our family use hand towels instead of bath towels. (For the person who asked, yes, hand towels, the size of two A4 sheets of paper. I've even used a flannel in a pinch, having forgotten to bring a hand towel into the bathroom, but that wasn't really up to the job.) They are nothing special - not even lovely fluffy towels, because we have hard water and don't use fabric softener or a tumble dryer. They get us dry though.

I expect this wouldn't work for someone with long hair: we all have short or medium-length hair. If you haven't tried it, have a go. Don't just assume it's difficult. It simply results in a towel which is rather wet after use rather than barely damp as a bath towel would be.

My teen prefers bath towels, so that's what she uses. She reuses them several times between washes.

I’m pretty sure I win the minger award. All 4 of us share a towel, I dry my hands after washing on the clean laundry hanging to dry, we’ve had the same loo brush for months and no plans to change, rarely wash bedsheets. We’re all alive! The only thing I can’t abide is my toothbrush kept in the bathroom, I keep it covered and put away in a separate room. I can’t stand the thought of poo particles getting on it 😄

Coper I do think my dd changes her bedsheets at uni. Apparently the launderette in halls is so bloody expensive and she's not wasting money on washing

If we're as dirty as these people say we are why aren't we rolling around on the floor puking and gripping our guts in agony? We aren't, are we? This is another impractical theory.

The same goes for our chopping boards being dirtier than toilets. I consider myself to be reasonably hygienic and (touch wood) can say that I've never actually suffered from gastroenteritis since I was a six-week old baby, when according to my dad, "I was coming out both ends." He had a charming way with words. I shall continue as before.

@lillighters85 I do have a very complex anxiety disorder as well as PTSD due to the recent passing of my mum.

I go to therapy and am also on medication and while we are trying to get to the root of the problem my therapist suggested to continue doing whatever it was that was helping me. Since washing my sheets daily isn't anywhere self-destructive in the way the alcohol and cigarettes would be, they're quite happy for me to continue.

It's not ideal and to an outsider it's probably quite neurotic but it's how I cope.

It's heartbreaking that there are so many people out there who clearly don't give a single shit about the environment.

Oh please!! I guarantee there are environmentally damaging things you do all the time for fun or convenience or comfort.

I presume most of these daily-washed towels are also tumble-dried for hours?!

No I don’t have a tumble drier.

they're called hand towels for a reason!

Because they’re for drying your hands, right? So bath towels are for drying your bath?

The only person I know who thinks towels need washing after one use is my DD. She uses about 45 towels for one shower, then leaves them on the floor "to be washed"

I find this is less about needing towels washed after one use, but more about can’t be arsed to pick up the wet towels from the floor and put them on the heated towel rail to dry.

So when I say ask dd to pick up the towels, rather than get up and do so, it is easier to say “oh, they all need washed”, so i gather them up with the rest of the laundry.

A hand towel? As in the size down from a bath towel, which is the size down from a bath sheet?

I wrap my hair in a hand towel !!!

Oh please!! I guarantee there are environmentally damaging things you do all the time for fun or convenience or comfort.

Yy. Apparently the most damaging thing you can do environmentally is to have children so probably a lot of people on this thread have already screwed the planet

And in answer to the posters throwing my question back at me...

I have just swapped my car in for a PHEV - I unfortunately cannot give up my car due to RA, living in the middle of nowhere and public transport not being great here.

I eat locally sourced meat but rarely (butter, eggs and cheese as locally as I can). I use a milkman too.

Never shop online.

Always switch appliances off (Apart from the TV, fridge/freezer.)

So apart from washing and tumbling my bed linen, using the heating and driving a PHEV car I don't think I'm doing too badly.

They are nothing special - not even lovely fluffy towels, because we have hard water and don't use fabric softener or a tumble dryer. They get us dry though.

I find “rough” towels far more efficient at getting you dry. Also, fabric softener reduces absorbency so I never use it. Perhaps that’s why people would struggle to dry themselves with a hand towel if they’re all clogged with fabric softener and super fluffy. Mine are all quite rough. Gets the job done well though.

I expect this wouldn't work for someone with long hair: we all have short or medium-length hair.

My hair is short now but when it was waist length I used a micro fibre turbie towel wrap. I still use it now but it was just as good when I had long hair.

Apparently the most damaging thing you can do environmentally is to have children so probably a lot of people on this thread have already screwed the planet grin

Ah but kids don’t count because they’re neither, fun, convenient or comfortable

Yes a hand towel. Not bath towel or bath sheet. My hand towels are not as small as 2 A4 bits of paper though

But a hand towel is a standard size...

Can we please have a picture of these hand towels that dry you?

He has a proper towel. It’s just smaller than he (and apparently you confused) would prefer he has. He doesn’t actually say anything, but if two towels are in front of him he’ll lift the bigger one
But why do you even own abything larger than a hand towel if your son isn't allowed to pick a towel size of his own preference?

Do none of you ever get, erm, bodily fluids on towels? I dry myself on it, not masturbate on it or have sex on it

Towels don't need washing every day! That's just an insane way of wasting a load of resources - most notably your own time. I do mine twice a week and that's largely because between gardening and sport they tend to be dirty within that time. If I weren't a grebby runner, I think once a week would be fine.

An A4 paper is 21x29.7cm. Two together becomes 42X29.7cm or 21X59.4cm

A hand towel is 50X70cm or 50x90cm.

So yeah, my hand towels are bigger than 2 A4 pieces of paper.

@reallyanotherone 'can't be arsed' just about covers it. We have a bit of a towel stand-off in our house. The other DC are not so unreasonable in their towel usage.

@DerelictWreck, yes, we need a diagram.

Do none of you ever get, erm, bodily fluids on towels?

No, I mainly piss and shit in the toilet bowl.. not on my towel

But why do you even own abything larger than a hand towel if your son isn't allowed to pick a towel size of his own preference?

Because I didn’t always use a hand towel. I used to be like all those selfish wasteful people and use a bath towel.

They’re also useful for drying the dog after a bath and for taking to the beach.

So the dog gets a full sized towel but your teenager doesn't priorities he he he

I do mine twice a week and that's largely because between gardening and sport they tend to be dirty within that time. If I weren't a grebby runner, I think once a week would be fine.

Surely the shower cleans you before you need the towel though? Do you not wash yourself properly in the shower?

So the dog gets a full sized towel but your teenager doesn't grin priorities he he he

Yep. When DS grows an all over double coat of thick hair he can have a big towel. But I’m still not lifting him in and out of the bath like I do the dog.

Apart from mental illness or mental health problems as mentioned by pp there is simply no need to wash towels after every single use.
It is a waste of resources (& time)

there is simply no need to wash towels after every single use.

There is no need to wash them at all. It’s personal preference. Some on This thread have said they think once a week is too much. Others have said every two weeks. Some people will say towels don’t really need washed, just aired out every day. Who is right?

It is a waste of resources (& time)

If I save resources and time in other ways can I please wash my towels miss?