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 feel for you: I also hate my towel being used by others in the family. Only solution was to keep it in my bedroom. He clearly knew he shouldn't have used it as he wasn't straight with you from the outset. Tell him you pat your fanny dry with yours plus your butt crack and you think it's a bit weird he doesn't mind wiping the same towel that's been in your genitals over his body. If he gets stuck, he can use his dad's towel as he doesn't care, but not yours.

All of the "ooh he's just a teenager, poor kid, not his fault," excuses excuse make it very clear how so many boys are raised into such shitty, selfish men.

Zero standards, just pat them on the head and coddle them, no matter what they do to others.

If the household custom is that towels are not shared, he's well old enough to seek out an unused towel before showering. Not just grab whatever is most convenient to him. Everyone else be damned.

Hardly anyone on here is committed to helping the planet, let alone saving it.

Not if it means going on a foreign holiday once every 2 years or walking somewhere instead of driving. Or washing towels or bedding less because it's basically not necessary.

The reaction to that is 'ewww - you're gross' from a lot of posters.

As someone who grew up in a house of 4 without designated towels, we just grabbed the dryest one off the landing rail of the couple on the go, it's weird to me that people find towel sharing a no-go, and thats with germphobic OCD!

Presumably you need the towel as you've just bathed, so you're clean, they're not going to make the towel dirty, just wet. I really don't understand the disgust, if i'm close enough to be living with someone/sharing shower facilities, we're close enough to share a towel.

I wouldn't like it, but I don't want to use my own towel twice. I change them after every shower, like every other member of my family does.

I think towel sharing as adults is rank especially teenagers as they have notoriously dubious hygiene. It would probably have made me wander off in a fury (because I'm non confrontational) but I get your anger. I also had a stepson who had no respect for anyone, anything and never lifted a finger around the house whilst tossing used tissues on the floor. 🤢 Perhaps I'm just reliving my own disgust

Well, of course you'd think that. You're a dog. You lick your own ass. 😉

😂😂😂😂😂. Just how dirty and smelly are the members of your family that you all need to change towels after every use? And how many towels do you wash in a week? 😮😮😮

Your poor step son. You sound highly strung.

No wonder your husband laughed it off. There really is no other reaction to be had after seeing you blow a fuse over this non-event.

All of the above.

Skin cells, bacteria and god knows what else rub onto the towel. Teens are not known for fastidious hygiene; I wouldn't bet that they've thoroughly washed.

Certainly we've seen enough threads here of husbands emerging still grim from the shower.

OP, calm ya tits.

We have a stack of face flannels and they are used once and dropped in the laudry basket to was after each wash if the hands instead of a hand towel. I wash towels after every use so this would clearly gross me out. I think blowing a fuse is what most posters have the issue with - you could have spoken to him in a calm manner.

YANBU.

He should not have used anyone else's towel.

He should have gone to the airing cupboard and found a fresh one if his was in the basket waiting for a wash.

Ask him not to do that ever again, and to remember this life lesson when he heads off to university or any other communal situation where other people's towels are left hanging.

No designated towels here (currently two adults & two male teens, previously 3) though I tend not to use the towels any of the manthings have used most recently cos they seem to have more water on them after a shower than I do? Or they start the drying process IN the shower whilst the water is still running cos I've no clue how they make them so sodding wet! But if everything is dry I've no idea who's used what & don't care tbh.

Apart from the usual rotation for washing, the only towels I actively remove after use is whatever I have used when on my period - for obv reasons.

Yes, I agree.

We set the bar way too low for teenage boys.

Whether he shares her sentiments or not, undermining her by laughing off her concerns is obnoxious.

I realize this thread has become a gleeful race to the bottom (waiting for "our family of six shares one towel changed every three weeks, and it also does double duty lining the dog's bed at night") by people with low or no standards, but some of us prefer a more elevated aesthetic.

Someone else's skin cells and bacteria on a damp towel is a turn-off.

You forgot to log this with 101.

Honestly OP, what are you going to do when sone thing serious happens?

@Poppins21

That's what we do, too.

This is another version of Boys Will Be Boys, isn't it?

And we wonder why men are inconsiderate and undomesticated.

We reap what we sow. Or rather, many of our daughters reap what other women sow.

There are 6 people in my house and WE ALL SHARE THE SAME TOWELS.

Didn’t occur to me that it was gross!

I guess I should join you in SlatternVille.

WTF is wrong with people? Someone who is freshly washed dried themselves on your towel. Assuming no one has Legionnaires Disease, so what?

@BettyBardMacDonald

Bingo!