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Original poster

Do you wash towels separately in their own load?

269 replies

JacknDiane · 18/01/2026 09:40

I've always bunged them in with the rest of the washing, am I doing it wrong?

OP posts:
Mirrorx · 19/01/2026 12:41

Yes but only because once the towels are in there's no room for anything else. If I just had one towel to wash I wouldn't.

Kitchenbattle · 19/01/2026 12:53

Upstartled · 19/01/2026 11:42

That's fine, you do you.

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I wasn’t trying to be smart or prove a point, it’s just how we work things.

Kitchenbattle · 19/01/2026 12:56

TheKateColumbo · 19/01/2026 12:39

If I didn’t do at least a load a day I’d be drowning in laundry. We don’t wash clean clothes- I have to wrestle one of my DCs favourite jeans off him to wash them.
We do use a lot of clothes though. Today will be swimming kit, a PE kit, two football kits and two gym kits as well as the usual socks, pants and school/work shirts and probably school trousers and blazers as they like playing football at lunch… in the mud.

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Yeah I would never have that much in one day to be fair. My ds wears a tracksuit to school most days so he will usually change one or both components of that, the polo shirt he would wear twice. I have loads of uniform so I don’t HAVE to wash through the week. No blazers here for school thank god.

ChocolateCinderToffee · 19/01/2026 14:42

I do towels and bathmats with sheets and other stuff that can go in a hot wash.

Upstartled · 19/01/2026 16:43

Kitchenbattle · 19/01/2026 12:53

I wasn’t trying to be smart or prove a point, it’s just how we work things.

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Oh okay 😁 I thought I was getting a lesson on how not to be profligate launderer. We are a family of five, four adult-sized and one pre-teen. We switch our clothes out more regularly than you describe but, on top of the usual uniforms/ clothes/ bedding/ towels, we also have a constant stream of gym clothes, muddy bike clothes, swim gear and trade work wear through the machine.

I am guilty of not completely filling the machine all of the time but it's the habit that keeps the plates spinning without it taking up too much headspace.

Redcrayons · 19/01/2026 16:49

Yes but mostly becasue they are all the same colour and make up one load. I would chuck one in with other laundry if I needed to.

Maryberrysbouffant · 19/01/2026 16:50

No, everything gets bunged in unless it’s particularly delicate.

Maryberrysbouffant · 19/01/2026 16:52

Upstartled · 19/01/2026 11:07

I think it's too demanding on the machine during the spin cycle with a load of just bath towels so I put it in the usual daily loads. I mean, were only drying clean bodies, I can't see why they need a boil wash?

I agree…

Arran2024 · 19/01/2026 17:22

Maryberrysbouffant · 19/01/2026 16:52

I agree…

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But towels get wet, unlike most clothes, and that's where germs can start to breed, especially if they are hung in moist bathrooms.

Upstartled · 19/01/2026 18:02

Arran2024 · 19/01/2026 17:22

But towels get wet, unlike most clothes, and that's where germs can start to breed, especially if they are hung in moist bathrooms.

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Meh, I don't need a towel to be sterile. The bulk of bacteria is destroyed in a usual 40 degree cycle with detergent.

I'd stick it in on a 60 degree wash if anyone had a stomach bug, along with the sheets, but I don't think that has happened for years and years.

Arran2024 · 19/01/2026 18:13

Upstartled · 19/01/2026 18:02

Meh, I don't need a towel to be sterile. The bulk of bacteria is destroyed in a usual 40 degree cycle with detergent.

I'd stick it in on a 60 degree wash if anyone had a stomach bug, along with the sheets, but I don't think that has happened for years and years.

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I have very yucky towels from drying off the dogs tbf

millymollyminging · 19/01/2026 18:37

I do because I put vinegar in the wash to get them soft.

SouthernNights59 · 19/01/2026 19:50

Arran2024 · 19/01/2026 12:23

I have a lot of towels because I have dogs. In fact, I rarely shower at home - i go to the gym most days for a swim, and i get a towel there.

But anyway, I mentioned before that I have a washer dryer and I use the was/dry function, so it goes straight to dry without me doing anything. And the towels come out lovely if I do this on the 90 degree wash. I have tried 60 degree and they are still pretty damp. And if I mistakenly forget to press the wash/dry button and just wash them, then press the 'dry' button, they are unusable - like cardboard.

Washing machines are not always straightforward. You have to work out what works for you. Btw the programme takes 5 hours! Yes, 5 hours. And with the dogs, I do it every few days.

Same with sheets. And I never mix towels and sheets because again it mucks up the drying.

5 hours!!!! Thank goodness I have a top loader and a clothes line.

ComedyGuns · 19/01/2026 21:12

CrowMate · 18/01/2026 09:42

I wash separately as wash them at a higher temperature. Plus, they’re bulky.

Agreed.

AnotherLongtimelurker · 19/01/2026 21:31

Yes a seperate load at 75 degrees with white socks! The friction of the fabric seems to be the only thing that gets the socks clean!

explanationplease · 19/01/2026 21:32

Yes, mostly, also because they’re white.

Firefly1987 · 19/01/2026 23:12

MoonWoman69 · 19/01/2026 00:08

@Firefly1987 Oh I love a rough, scratchy bath towel! I have some I won't use as they're too soft! They need a good few washes before they're rough enough for me! Funny how we all like different things!

Send a soft towel over this way and I'll swap you it for my sandpaper one! 😆

mondaytosunday · 19/01/2026 23:30

Nope.

LizzybugMeeting · 23/01/2026 13:46

ihatethewordhubby · 19/01/2026 02:50

I wash towels on a 100 degree wash for 5 days in a cauldron.

Is that all ? So you don't use the hydrochloric acid cycle you mean ? Tut, tut!

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