How many towels should I have?

[CantStopTheFeeling2]

I'm clearing out and using elements of the KonMari method to help me. Storage space wise, I could do with getting rid of some towels but I don't want to leave myself short. We don't have lots of money so I don't want to throw away too many and end up having to replace them.

I've narrowed it down to 11 bath towels & 6 hand towels. Family of 4 but we often have overnight visitors. Does this seem like enough? Thanks.

I think that’s on the light side - don’t chuck any more!

This is the space I'm working with for towels & bedding. The bottom section is all bath, hand & face towels. Should I buy another storage basket and stack another load or bath towels on top?

I think it sounds plenty, but it depends how often you want to be washing them, how many times they're used before washing, whether everyone has their own towels or you share etc.

Thanks, I've got the extra ones to one side. Just can't decide whether to charity shop them or not 😩

Definitely not enough hand towels!! With 6 people you need to change them , at worst, every day, if not twice daily. You need at least 10, depending on how often you wash. And if someone gets ill they need thrir own, and maybe several per day. 🤢

I've never changed hand towels daily 😵 is that what everyone does? I didn't realise! We have 3 toilets so some towels may not be used in a day. Even the ones that are I'd normally change about twice a week at most. I'm obviously gross!

I've also realised that I've miscounted hand towels.

There are 6 plus the 3 that are in use, so 9. The bath towels figure is right.

Change hand towels daily? No! We have 3 toilets as well and they get changed 1-2 times per week, depending on traffic. Downstairs loo gets most use, so that gets changed most often.

Nobody changes hand towels twice daily. Get real

I think you can’t have enough towels. Even ones so old that no longer for for humans get recycled as useful cloths for mopping up leaks, drying wet dogs, cleaning and polishing etc etc.

Assign 2 bath sheets per person so one can be in the wash and one in use. Enough extra for max amount of guests you've ever had. Hand towels 2per bathroom plus a couple extra for emergencies. Is there not a formula offered in the book?

For myself I have four towels and two flannels. One set dries while I use the other.

For a family of four you need 8 bath, 8 hand and 8 flannels. They you need one of each for the number of guests you average.

Agree with incomingcannonfire.

And changing hand towels once or twice a day?!! That’s crazy! Plus awful for the environment. A few germs never hurt anyone. My dc are never sick and we wash hand towels once a week max. Plus you’re generally drying clean hands!

Also agree with pp about keeping old towels for all the reasons stated. We use old towels for all of those things! We store those ones in the garage if you have any extra space like that?

For a family of four we have 8 bathsheets and 4 handtowels (only one toilet) plus two kitchen towels. Visitors get the spares bathsheets and handtowels. We also have a few old ones for cat bedding, mopping up spills etc.

We have a garage, great idea to store some spares in there for messy jobs 👍🏻

I was thinking 6 people using one towel in one bathroom. That i would certainly change daily and i am definitely not germ averse. But in different bathrooms and if barely used then once a week or even less often.

Bloody hell. I have 6 bath sheets, 4 hand towels, 4 of us. Hand towel changed daily, 2 bath towels on the go at a time, changed every 3 ish days. No way would I need more than this. I probably have 10+ dog towel though

We have loads.

4 on rotation in ds loo - get changed every other day.

Bath towels probably used twice per person before washing, so we have about 4 on the go at once and 16 in total. I am the only one that uses flannels - and only for cleansing my face. I use 2 a day.

I donate all our towels to the vets once a year and replace.

I didn't even think of dog towels - at least 5, get washed weekly.

4 people - each has 2 towels to rotate and washed fortnightly. Hand towels washed fortnightly also. I have around 4 sheets and hand towels for guests. Keep some old ones for mopping etc.

I would recommend 12 bath towels and 12 hand towels for a family of your size which has guests sometimes, with weekly washing on a hot wash.

We have 2 towels each, plus 4 for guests. Plus a swimming towel each.
I've no ideas about hand towels. Maybe 10?
I wouldn't bin decent towels, but could you get a vacuum storage bag, and tuck them away somewhere?