So This Is How Often You Should Really Be Washing Your Towels

Few things beat the soft, fluffy feeling of wrapping yourself up in a freshly washed towel after hopping out of a hot shower.

On the flip side, few things feel more tiresome and routine than loading up the laundry on the regular, especially when you’re stuffing it full of old, dirty towels. Ugh, chore.

Do we reaaaally need to wash them so often?

Well, on one side of the camp there are the super-hygienic peeps who say yes and reckon you need to be chucking ’em in the washer after every.single.wash, but that’s not exactly great for the environment, or for your electricity bill, is it?

Then there are the, er, more lazy among us who reckon a once-week wash is a-okay.

Thankfully, the experts agree that you can get away with washing your towels after every three to four uses.

Chatting to Buzzfeed, Kelly A. Reynolds, an environmental health science professor explains that “Towels used after bathing or showing that are just damp could be hung to dry and used up to three times. Bacteria and mold will begin to accumulate but growth will be slowed as the towel dries.”

Maeve Richmond, founder of home organising company Maeve’s Method agrees.

“Beyond rips or stains, a sheet or towel has reached the end of its usefulness when I no longer enjoy using it or looking it,” she tells Huffington Post. “Or, if it has retained a musty odor that detergent or bleach cannot take away. There is a ‘just off the rack’ feeling with linens, just as there is with clothes, and when that feeling fades, it’s time to let your sheet or towel go.”

Want to squeeze an extra use out of your towel before you toss it in the wash? Always hang them it up so it’s able to air out properly. In other words, no throwing it into the bottom of your gym bag, y’hear?

• Hygiene