I use a towel for 2 weeks before washing. My frIend thinks it's disgusting, she gets a clean one every day. I say I am clean when I exit the shower and so is the towel. Please help and chime in with what you think is proper.

your wrong!...when you get out of the shower/bath your towel takes of all your dead skin cells while your using it to dry your self and so gets clogged with dirt, grime and body oils.... so if I was you I would start thinking about everyday or at most every 2 days to change your towel

There is a happy and healthy hygienic medium between daily towel changes and your two weeks. 2 weeks is way too long. Yes, you are clean when you come out of the shower but you also scruff off a lot of dead skin that didn't come off in the shower unless you pumiced your whole body and it still would probably come off into your towel. And all those little skin cells deteriorate and start to smell and it's just dirty and not clean anymore.

I used to use a new towel every time I showered and had way too much laundry. Now I get a new about every 5-7 days. I don't think you can get any diseases from using the same towel for two weeks.

Around day 10 of your towel, go into the bathroom and smell it.

Daily fresh towels seem like a bit much, but I'd make sure to wash a towek at leaast once a week. It's damp fabric hanging in a hot, humid area. Perfect for germs.

You must be a college student. I did that and far worse.

4 or 5 showers with one towel then wash it. In between each shower, it dries fully on the stair rails.

I don't really count how many days I use mine for, but... it's more than once! Using it a few times isn't gonna kill ya.

Towels need to be changed often. They breed germs, fungus..etc. even though you just took a shower.

Your friend admitted in a hospital or something?lol.Seriously, one towel a day is too much.Once a week is fine for me.

A daily towel sounds too much to me, come on, they're not tissues : )
I change towels about every week or so.

Oh sweetie...

You really should wash it a little more often than that!

Your body may be clean when you use it, but taken into consideration how much dust and dirt and shed skin is in your enviornment naturally, when around a wet, absorbent, surface that is left to dry in time.

That is prime space for bacteria and virus to grow. WHich could lead to skin infections especially if you shave and add biologicals to the mix, like blood from shaving accidents!

You may not see them, but they are there!

Maybe every couple of days would be better. I wouldn't say that you're "gross" but it could be a little more often.

That is funny that you posted this question. My roommate does the same thing. She uses her towel for about a week or so before washing. I use a different towel to wash and dry off with every day. This is just how I was raised. I think it is kind of nasty to use the same towel over and over. Maybe for a couple of days, but don't do it any longer than that. I would suggest that you invest in buying more towels so you won't have this problem.

A clean one everyday is just a total disregard for the environment, not to mention the fact it gives you more washing to do! But every 2 weeks is not enough, it must smell pretty bad. Every 3-4 days for me.

I use a clean one every other day. Two weeks is wayyyy to long. By then there is all kinds of bacteria growth on it that you are rubbing on your freshly clean body.

There are certain things that SHOULD be used several times before being washed - bath towels, dish towels, and cloth napkins being a few.

It's a horrendous waste of water, detergent, and energy to launder your towels every time they are used.

Does your friend also change her bedsheets daily? and does she launder her coats after every wear?

you should change it everyother day because each tiime you put that towel around you you are puttting dirt back on because its been sittubg out to collect dust and that and think if you wipe you face with it after you already used it the day before you are wipeing you body parts on your face

Since I have to pay to do my laundry and I usually only do one load of laundry a week, my towel may get washed once a week. As long a it gets hung up to dry (and doesn't stink), I don't see the problem.

One clean one per day. I shower in the AM & then again at night, after that - my towls get washed.

We change towels every 3 days. It works for us! Hopefully, everyone is clean when they are done bathing!! If not, maybe they need to spend more time bathing and less time washing towels.

I would think as long as you hang it in a place where it can dry off there's no problem. Moisture invites alot of nasty stuff to grow.

The people under my roof use one towel each for 7 days.

One thing I do know is - after you take a shower you have dead skin on your body that is rubbed off with the towel. That doesn't bother me so using a towel for 7 days is nothing major.

I have a fresh towel everyday.. if you dont how do you know your not drying you face the bit you were drying you butt with yesterday lol

I'm with you on that one. I follow that same logic, how could the towel get dirty after one usage?

My girlfriend thinks it's disgusting too and she, along with her seven member family use a new one for every shower. And they wonder why they wash laundry loads enough for the Red Army in a single day.

I re-use the same towel until:

A. It's able to stand up on it's own

or

B. My wife washes it

Using a fresh one daily is OK but it isn't the greatest for the environment (which is one reason most hotels suggest you hang your towels up when you're done with them so you can re-use them).

Your friend is in need of some suggestion for a more practical way to live, and you might counsel them a bit on state of the environment. Perhaps if they better understood the value of water and energy they could walk throught their selfish unhealthy preoccupations.

2 weeks is excessive as you are wipeing off dead skin after you shower - 1 or 2 times i can see but not 2 weeks

YOU DONT chsnge your towel for two weeks, thats disgusting have to say, as you a woman i think you should take your friends advice and change your towel daily, germs from dead skin go onto your towels and they then breed with the moisture, you continue using the same towel you will make your self ill, do your self a favour without sounding horrible PLEASE CHANGE YOUR TOWELS more often ok

I use the same towel twice..max.

You should use the towel maybe twice and then wash it. Two weeks is just gross. Yuck!

I definitely agree!!! you should change the towel at least every week or so. but once a day is INSANITY.

I save the same towel too....lol!

Two weeks might be a little long because it takes off dead skin cells and from certain places tiny amounts of um, bodily fluids. Of course they're going to be 'clean' dead skin cells etc, but still if you keep a towel on the go too long then you are starting a collection and even clean collections will fester in the end.

On the other hand I think your friend is taking it all way too far the other way and sounds a little bit obsessive.

I'm a single man, so i can tell you that i go much, much longer than 2 weeks.

Thats crazy i think thats too much getting new towels every day i can see at the end of the week change up but thats doing ttooo much.

Skin cells and living and dead organism are on your skin after a shower...On your towel, they rot and feed bacteria that can cause not only odor, but skin irritation as well as illness. I change my towels every three days(making sure they are hung a dry completely)...And when you wash them dry them on HIGH heat to kill germs...same goes for Underwear(although please change them every day! :))...warm or hot wash and the hottest dryer they can stand...

Once a week - same goes for bed linens

everyone is saying wash it more often, but I wish to know if you're suffering from some sort of skin condition or disease or anything negative because of it. If it doesn't bother you, then keep on keepin' on.

It depends on how often you shower and how many towels you own, I change every two to three days. Going two weeks won't exactly kill you but washing it out at least once would'nt either. The only way I'd find it disgusting was if your friend were using your towel! Offer it to her, maybee she'll leave you alone! :)

2 weeks is a lotta wiping and thinking about being clean.I think 2 weeks is a little too long. I think maybe 6 days is is the right amout of "What is OK towel"

Don't wash it until you get a rash, then throw it away and buy a new one. If you get a shower once a month, you can get a few years out of a towel.

I kinda gotta side with your friend :)lol

Clean towell with each shower. Microbes will be the end of us all. Just because you can't see it with the naked eye doesn't mean it isn't there.

I change my bath towel every three days during the winter every 4 to 5 days in the summer

i get mine washed every 2 or 3 showers. first off because of the dead skin cells that come off after a shower and while drying and second, the towel will start to smell bad if not dried properly.

Who among us could really claim that he get sick because he did not change his towel for 2 weeks? I change mine every week. If you really think that dead skin cells get stuck in the towel AFTER you shower, then you didn't clean yourself enough to get off those skin. The purpose of the shower is to clean the body with all those dirt, grime, and dead skin.

Besides, just look at the laundry that will pile up if you change the towel everyday. It's not easy to wash towels.

i use a clean one everytime.

one a week is sufficient for me. women are different than men. my woman friend uses three towels a day. and when i mention it she gets irate. duh.

The bathroom harbors a wider variety of germs than does any other room in the house, and the constant presence of water ( and often steam, which infuses all fabrics ) encourages rapid cell growth. Towels and washcloths are no exception. Leaving them unwashed for two weeks is a bit long, in my opinion.

i havent cleaned mine in a couple months.

I use my towel over a couple times, but I think 2 weeks is a little excessive. Your body is never completely clean. Plus, leaving a damp towel sitting out for 2 weeks cannot be very hygienic. Mold or mildew will start to set in by then. Air drying is the best method!