How often should I wash my bath towels?
We all know that we should wash ourselves at least once a day. Do you know how often you should be washing your bath linen? Cleaning towels is as important as cleaning yourself. . Let’s look at the subject in closer detail.
Why should I wash bath towels and bath mats?
Whilst it might seem obvious that towels and mats get dirty after repeated use, it’s worth emphasising just how important it is to wash them from time to time. Though you’re usually drying a clean body when you use a towel, then term ‘clean’ is a relative one. Your body is covered in skin cells – which might fall off at the slightest provocation.
The abrasive action of a towel – even a very soft one – can loosen all of those spare skin cells. And where will they go then? That’s right – into the fibres of the towel, where they’ll provide a great source of food for any nasty microbes that might be thriving in the moist, warm conditions there. After several days of repeated use, this can have a cumulative effect. After a few weeks, you’ll have a veritable cornucopia for germs. And then the next time you go to dry yourself, you’ll get a healthy dose of bacteria and grime in return – which somewhat negates the effect of cleaning oneself in the first place. The solution is an obvious one: wash the towel; kill the germs.
How often should I wash my towels?
Now that we’ve established precisely why one should regularly wash one’s towels, it’s worth pondering exactly how regularly this should be. While the answer might vary according to who you ask, and exactly how much use you’re getting from your towel, a good rule of thumb is that a towel should be used around four times before being washed.
Are you supposed to dry towels?
This rule works only if a towel is fully dried between each use. This means hanging a towel up, so that as much of its surface are as possible is exposed to heat and airflow. If you’ve got a special heated towel-rail, then so much the better. Otherwise, you’ll want to hang your towels over a radiator. Specially-designed rails are available for just this purpose, for very reasonable prices.
Do not leave your towels scrunched up in a heap on the floor – this will prevent them from properly drying, and provide mould and mildew with the exact conditions they need to thrive.
How often do you wash bath mats?
You might suspect that bathroom rugs will require less frequent washing than towels. After all, you’re not exposing a bathroom rug to quite so much moisture, and you’re not scrubbing your skin with it. However, if four or five people are using the same bathroom, then the cumulative effect will be that the rug becomes quickly dirty.
Rugs are in an unfortunate position, here, as they’re unable to dry as effectively as towels. Being placed against the wall makes breathability an issue, as well as having to absorb many different sets of wet feet will ultimately cause a rug to become saturated. This creates a safe-haven for mould and mildew. If a bathroom rug is frequently getting splashed, then this problem is greater. For this reason, a rug in a kid’s bathroom will need to more washed more frequently.
What about non-slip bath mats?
Unfortunately, there’s a complicating factor here. Many bathroom rugs come equipped with a rubber backing. This is to prevent them from sliding around on tiled flooring, and preventing slippages. This rubber backing is not well-equipped to deal with the high temperatures of a wash cycle. Every wash will cause damage to the mat, and a balance must be struck between the lifespan of the mat and its cleanliness. You need to dry these rugs by hanging them up, as using a tumble dryer will damage them further. You can buy a rug with a detachable rubber backing. This is removed before every washing session, so you can wash your mat much more frequently without damaging it.
So, how often SHOULD I wash my bath linen?
We can only advise on this, and each household will be different. Personally, I wash all my bath linen once a week. However, there is usually only one or two of us using the bathroom a week. You can decide yourself depending on your situation. Using your towels more frequently = washing your towels more frequently.
