Step son used my bath towel

[Green0911]

Want to gauge if IABU here.

My and my husband's towels are in the bathroom. Teenage SS keeps his in his room. We each have a hand towel and a bath towel. They all get changed every 3-4 days. When it came to changing them, I realised SS didn't have his towels in his room. He said he'd put them to be laundered a few days before. When I asked him which towels he'd been using in the meantime (he'd showered at least twice during this period), initially he claimed none, then admitted he'd used mine.

I blew a fuse. Couldn't believe he thought this was acceptable. Husband has laughed it off and is accusing me of being dramatic/blowing things out of proportion.

AIBU?

I wonder if he's ever used your toothbrush...

Sharing towels is up there with sharing a toothbrush for me.

I wouldn’t lose my temper over it but I’d be clear that it wasn’t to happen again.

Get a grip

It's not a matter of getting ill. Some of us don't care to rub others' sweat, oils, skin cells, other bodily excretions and bacteria around on our clean bodies and faces.

So is the case here hes lazy as u said u have clean spares available. That would be annoying i wouldn't blow a fuse though just say please use the spares provided thats what they are there for. To be honest when drying he is presumably clean I could understand more if he had been wiping his sweat unwashed with ur towel I dont see a big issue we have towels hanging up all the same colour I dont know whose is who but I just wash them every 2-3 days. No one has caught any outrageous skin diseases or bugs so seems to work okay

This is very League Of Gentlemen's Uncle Harvey & Auntie Val I have to say 😆

I only live with my 7 year old so I'm aware my situation is different but I have house shared over the years & I wouldn't be happy with my towels of any size being used by others but that's way different IMO to a family member being lazy & using them here & there

I think the towelling dressing gown on the back of his door/the bathroom door is a good idea though

Well, yeah - you won't manage to gain the approval of everyone over subjective matters. The trick is not to care too much what others think of you. You do you and be happy with your own choices. That's a win.

So he forgot to get a clean towel on the way to the bathroom. Then when he got out of the shower there were towels to hand, so he presumably took one rather than walking dripping through the house to wherever the spare towels are kept. This happened a couple of times.

At least he will know to own up to using his dad’s towel rather than yours next time!

My DS would do the same. Either keep your towel in your room too, or put some spare clean towels in the bathroom.

YABVVVU.

Your poor stepson 😔

Really can’t get upset over this. If people drive / fly / eat out in restaurants where little is recycled (I know because I’ve worked in restaurants all my life) / etc etc I’m not going to feel bad over washing my towels.

Why didn’t he use his Dad’s towel? Did he think using his Dad’s towel would be gross 🤮. The irony if this is the case 😂

I feel sorry for the boy, it's quite obvious even on this thread you heartily dislike him and he will have picked up on this throughout his childhood

Would you be perfectly happy to dry your face on a towel that a teenage boy has potentially just dried his knob and arse on, then?

Hahah this

You sound a nightmare to live with. Its a bit annoying, not worth turning into a massive drama. Keep your powder dry for issues that matter. Your family must have to walk on eggshells around you if you blow a fuse over such a trivial irritant. It does not sound the recipe for a happy home.

Seriously pick your battles, I can't believe you have blown a fuse because he used a towel! Get a grip!

People have specific towels for individual people? 🤯🤯🤯
You only use them when you’re clean, that’s the whole point of them.

I read this thinking it’s a troll that the night shift have missed and that everyone would be laughing at it, but fuck me if there are people in real life who do this.

I'm no eco warrior but I'm genuinely appalled at some of the posts on this thread. Washing bath towels after every use, disposable single use towels (wtaf), using kitchen roll every single time you wash your hands in the kitchen. How do people not know better than this in 2025?

Obviously sharing a towel is sub-optimal and I'd firmly make it clear he needs to do better about remembering his own towel but good grief, it's not a disaster and really not enough of a big deal to be blowing your fuse about. That is unhinged behaviour.

Too much drama. Just wash it. 🙄

This is so funny. Why is it disgusting? Presumably he's clean if he's just showered. Unless you think he's wanked on it.

Fgs who cares honestly ? I feel sorry for him if you are blowing a fuse over something so silly. Yes everyone should be using their own towel for hygiene reasons . But he is a teenager seriously cut him some slack. Gosh the stuff I used to get up to when I was a teen.

Shared as in you had used it, it was still dirty (as in unwashed) and he used it then unknowingly you used it again?

That's totally gross. We don't have our own towels but if you use one it's yours until it goes in the wash.

We do have communal hand towels that are washed every few days but we have three bathrooms so dh and I share one, ds and dd the other and them then the downstairs toilet is used for guests

Sorry if this is sexist but I don’t think a teenage boy would give much thought to which towel he is using when he gets up bleary eyed in the morning. I am basing this on experience of my own stepson! I just tried to make it as obvious as possible. It was always over the banister nearest his room so he had to walk past it to get to the bathroom.