Official Number Of Times To Use A Towel Before Getting A New One

How many times should you use a towel before you get a new one?

I admit when I was young and my Mom did the laundry, I got a clean towel every time I showered. Now, that it's my responsibility, I don't change it so often. Depending on how busy I am, it might be several times. Don't judge me like that. How often do you change it? That's what I thought.

According to home.howstuffworks.com,

"Don't go more than three uses without washing your bath towel thoroughly."

Well, I guess I'm way off.

Here are some more tidbits on dirty vs clean towels.

• The average towel collects tens of millions of dead skin cells as well as any fungi or bacteria that survived your scrub-down.

• Private parts also come in contact with towels and quickly transferred to the dirty towel bandwagon.

• Most toilets aren't all that far away from the shower, and droplets of toilet water have been known to reach far and wide when flushed leaving your damp, hanging towel at risk.

• Every moment a towel is left out to dry allows germs to multiply unchecked.

• The humid atmosphere so common to bathroom areas simply is perfect for encouraging the growth of mildew and other undesirable stuff.

Towel maintenance advice.

• Hang the towel in a manner where it can dry completely
• Encourage air circulation and quicker drying by opening a window or turning on the bathroom's ventilator fan.
• If at any point, it starts to smell funky, it's not the towel's natural scent, it's the mildew a-thriving, and the towel definitely needs to be washed. 
• Make sure to use warm or hot water with detergent, preferably along with color-appropriate bleach, for good measure.

Now, how many times will it take you to grab a clean towel?

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