I Never Wash My Towels Once a Week — Here’s Why

When I was growing up, my mom always did weekly laundry — and that included washing hand and face towels. Now that I’m an adult doing my own laundry, I’ve realized that the same system that worked for her might not work for me.

It may sound strange and unhygienic (it’s not, but more on that later), but I never wash my towels once a week. Here’s why. 

Cleaning pros’ general rule of thumb for how often to wash bath towels is about every three to four uses, which for many people is weekly or more frequently. Because I have to go downstairs to my apartment building’s laundry room, I don’t always keep a consistent laundry schedule. Sometimes it’s twice a week; other times it’s once a month. More than that, though, I have so many hand and body towels that I don’t use each one enough for a weekly wash. 

My rule for washing them isn’t rooted in how much time goes by between washes, but rather how many times I use each towel. If I use my favorite body towel to shower every day for four to five days straight, it’s getting thrown in the laundry before the week even ends; if I switch between body towels and let them dry out completely between uses, I can go over a week without washing them. 

I asked Ashley Torres, cleaning expert and team leader at Karen’s Green Maids, about my laundry habit, and she warned that towels can get a lot germier than you might think. Bacteria thrives in moist, warm environments, and cotton towels often retain body oils and dead skin cells. “You dry yourself on the towel and leave behind even more of these nutrients. Over time, they will form a musty smell,” she says. She confirmed that body towels have the tendency to last longer without a wash compared to hand towels, about every three to four uses, but of course you can always wash body towels more frequently. It’s critical to ensure they dry out completely hanging on a towel bar with plenty of ventilation.

Hand towels, on the other hand, quickly get dirtier “because throughout the day, multiple people will grab the towel after a quick rinse of their hands,” she says. “If they don’t wash their hands thoroughly, they are putting a lot of bacteria on the towel.” As a result, she suggests washing hand towels every one to two days — especially “if you have kids, share with several people, or have guests.” 

There are a few reasons you may want to wash towels more often, depending on the circumstances: “If someone in your house is sick, has eczema or acne, you live in a humid climate or bathroom where towels don’t dry completely between uses, or you share towels with a partner or family member, consider washing them more frequently,” says Torres. Additionally, she says leaving towels bunched up on a hook or crumpled on the floor is one of the worst things you can do for towel hygiene. “A towel needs airflow to dry between uses, so if it stays damp for a few hours after you use it, [you’ll need to wash it more frequently],” Torres says.

She recommends washing cotton towels with hot water, as cold water might not break down all of the body oils. She also suggests using detergent and avoiding fabric softener, which can “coat the fibers, reduce absorbency, and trap residue.” If towels remain musty, you can add a cup of distilled white vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser and a cup of baking soda to the drum itself to get rid of the mildewy smell and make them extra fluffy.