How many times do you use a towel

[Dadof2HELP]

I have 2 kids and every time they have a shower they use a towel and put it in the laundry. AIBU to suggest they hang it on a door and use it for a few days to save me time, effort, money and the planet. I keep mine going for a good 4/5 days, thoughts?

We hang ours on the towel rail in the bathroom and reuse several times

Never mind suggest. I’d be fishing them back out of the laundry basket and telling them to hang them back up and reuse. 4-5 days is completely fine for reusing their own towels. They need to hang them up so they dry before the next use. If there’s not enough hanging space add more hooks or rails.

Why are you letting your kids do that in the first place?

Until it is dirty or smells

I agree. 3-4 times if not too dirty

Ours are reused several times, hung up to dry between uses. DS who's still at home hangs his towel over the banisters.

Just tell the kids to do what you need them to do.

If just me, bath towels prob 2 weeks - I shower every other day and hand/face towels every week. If there are lots of ppl all using the same I'd do a weekly wash.

Lots and lots, until it smells- which takes a long time as I always hang it in a nice dry warm place.

Bath towels once a week, hand towels twice a week. All hung up to dry in between uses.

I don’t, as other people have suggested I dig them out and hang them on doors or the towel rail in the bathroom. Just checking I’m not wrong or mad for doing this.

I never understand this.

If I've dried myself with a towel, I won't reuse it. Bacteria and fungi can grow on a nice moist towel, then you rub it on yourself. Germs can be spread from one are of the body to another.

conversely, I'll happily leave my bedsheets on for several weeks. I sleep in pjs so I don't feel that I sweat or shed skin much on them.

You are not being unreasonable but you need hanging places where they will dry not hooks on doors. Re-using a damp towel is unpleasant, especially now it’s getting colder. You need heated towel rails or rails on radiators or free-standing rails that can be placed near radiators. Over the banisters can also work if there’s a radiator nearby.

Several times, but always hung in heated Yoel rail (even though it's not in yet or in the summer).

Kids will do as they've been brought up to do.

This

But if you shower properly there shouldn't be stale bacteria or fungi.

I wash them once a week. Hand towels more often. If we have guests i change hand towels every day.

But there are always bacteria on skin? Showering isn't sterilising it, it will wash off some bacteria only.

I would prefer to shower every 2 or 3 days than reuse a towel 3 times.

We have fresh towels on Sundays.

We each have a different colour.
The children had towel stands in their bedrooms and learnt from the year dot, that where towels went.

I change my towels twice a week.

My husb@ does this and it drives me nuts

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I don’t use yesterday’s bath towel to dry the inside of the wine glasses with. It gets used to dry my skin again. I’m sure it’s not totally bacteria free, but I don’t think anything bad is going to happen to my skin because of it. The towel dries out inbetween uses, it doesn’t smell.

Once.

I used a bath sheet/towel twice then it goes on the wash. I shower once a day. Hand towels get changed every day.

I wash our towels once a week, usually, but I do allow myself the luxury of two towels—one for hair/face/upper body and one for everything else. If a towel is used on a clean body and able to dry between uses, it's fine for at least a few days.