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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

i use the towel in the morning, and my partner uses it at night. if it is really damp we will change it... or we will use it again the next day then put it in the wash

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

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.

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

I use the same towel twice..max.

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.

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

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

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.

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).

I think they need to be changed more often. You are clean, but you still shed skin cells, which then contaminate the towels, not to mention the other contaminates that float around the room all the time. Did you see this related question: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/418635/?page=1&

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.

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

My x use to get a new towel everytime he took a shower, oh that pissed me off. I use the same one for 3 or 4 days and wash them once a week.

I change my towels every one to two weeks. Depending ont he time of year and my activities. In the winter when I am not working outside or getting dirty, I change it less. It hot humid weather or when I am doing outdoor work, then I change it more often. I hang the towels up open so they dry and don't mildew.

I change my towel every time i shower but then again im a hygiene freak so who am i too talk... well what ever feels comfortable for you. =)

Oh my. 2 weeks is a little funky. I like a new one each time I shower if I can.

I change my towel every 2/3 days, i think 2 weeks is a bit too long

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 use my towel for about a week, then get a new one. I shower every morning, and I use soap with abrasives that helps remove the dead skin. I have no problem with it, I dry off, hang it up to dry and use it again the next morning. The exceptions are if my wife just cut my hair and I took a shower to get excess hair off, I put that one in the dirty clothes and get a new the next morning. OR if it falls off the hook and I find it on the ground, who knows who stepped on it or if the cats or dogs layed all over it... because they love laying in the dirty laundry. OR if I have a spill and need to dry it up real quick, I grab my towel, then put it in the dirty clothes. Otherwise, I am clean, I dry off very methodically so I know I'm using the same part of the towel for the same part of the body every time, and the contact with my actual body is minimal. With 5 people in the household showering on a regular basis, 1 new towel per person every time would be quite the heavy laundry load and not good for the environment... we have enough dirty laundry as it is. I'd rather change my towel once a week and my underwear once a day than have it be the other way around... my point being there are worse things to wait a week before changing.

OK, first, if there are dead skin ccells on you by the time you exit the shower, turn around and get back in. Ise a WASHCLOTH this time to scrub yourself properly - preferable with Dial (cuz it's antibacterial) and then exit the shower and use the same towel you've been using all week. As long as it still smells like laudry - which mine does for well over a week- and you have been hanging it up as soon as you're done drying off instead of dumping it in a pile or on the floor, you're good.

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 used to use a fresh one every day until I started to pay my own water & electricity bills. I change my towel and bediing every Sunday night. When I have use my towel I hang it out to dry properly ready for the next day.

I totally agree with you! You are clean when you come out of the shower, there is absolutely no reason to get a fresh towel for each shower. I wash mine weekly though.

ive never really thought about it i hang my towels up after showering and maybe after 3-4 uses i will wash them

i have 2 towels in my bathroom..use 1 one day and the other 1 the next day giving time for the one i used first to dry then at the end of the week wash them..its a guy thin..we just wanna dry our selfs thats all(well for me)

Your friend is a freak. Two weeks is kind of a long time though, but it's not something terrible, you don't share your towel with the army, do you?

I usually get a clean towel every time. Sure you are clean when you get out of the shower/bath, but think of all the dead skin cells trapped in the towels....

I use my towel AFTER washing :)

I'm with you for the most part. A new towel each time is a HUGE waste of everything from money, to energy to resources to just the towels themselves. If you AREN'T coming out of a shower clean what are you doing in there? I'm really very anal about personal hygiene but not so obsessive compulsive as to waste the laundering of a towel after only one use out of a shower. That's SAD!

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 use the same towel a few times before washing it. We do have alot of towels but it just seems like a waste to wash it if it is not dirty.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I change my towel once a week. Changing it everyday would just make the laundry pile grow way too quickly.

My husband will use the same towel over and over until I change it. I prefer a fresh towel for each shower. A damp towel that's been hanging around in a steamy bathroom does not appeal to me.

You seem like a very heigene-conscious person (from the last comment you left on my answer about the loofa). Your friend sounds kind of anal to be criticizing your towel habbits. I think you can trust your own judgement as to how often you change your towel.

when things like fabric get wet and are left like that and keep getting wet mold starts to grow in it

After a while, the water on the towel attracts dirt, and may become moldy, so using it for 2 weeks may be over doing it. Just wash it with your clothes over the weekend. :-)

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?

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!

I think every other day is ok but two weeks is to long. Mold will form, I would think. I will only use mine two times then wash.

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.

Well I would not use the same towel for two weeks. I was my towels quite frequent. Maybe use it once or twice. But have always liked to use a clean towel. But as I say each to their own. Everybody is different in there own way.

i havent cleaned mine in a couple months.

I use a clean towel after every shower. I worry about molds and fungus that might be growing on damp towels and whatever they might pick up from my body. An ample supply of towels resolves any shortage issues, and doing laundry is worth the effort to remove any risk. I'm also a large, sweaty, smelly guy and I know there's a chance of disgusting stuff getting smeared on a towel which I don't want to revisit after a subsequent shower.

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.

2 weeks is fine. Unless your towel stinks, in which case you should wash it more often. Then again, ask Dilbert : Wally: "I don't understand why some people wash their bath towels. When I get out of the shower, I'm the cleanest thing in my house. Theoretically that towel should be getting cleaner every time I use it." Alice: "Maybe I could just hug you every day and then I wouldn't need to have showers." Wally: "Are towels supposed to bend?"

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.

I use a new towel every time i shower. Even if i shower twice in one day but it could be just me cause i also pull any hairs out of my hair brush before i brush my hair with it!

Clean towel everyday for me. Things can grow on a damp towel, especially if it's been used. Although you have been cleaned in the shower, you have not been sterilized so there may be something to grow on the towel.

I'm the same! I'm clean after a shower, the dead skin cells are my own (and they might be dead but they're clean too), I can't be bothered doing laundry all the time. I reuse my towels for a week or two or sometimes more if I forget. I just put it on my radiator after each use to thoroughly dry it - it's no good drying yourself with a wet towel!

A week is pushing it. They can get mildewy and smelly.

its true, i find it rediculous to suspect that the towel is suddenly filthy, after you just cleaned yourself. i usually wash mine after a week

I think it depends. If the towel looks dirty and has developed an unpleasant odour, it is well past time to change it. This shouldn't normally be every day unless more than one person uses the towel or if they are very sweaty or in a dirty occupation.

Jim and I each use a towel a day and a washcloth a day. Two weeks sounds like a very long time to me! :) Happy Saturday! :)

I do the same thing. It's not disgusting.

i use a clean one everytime.

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 mine 3-4 times before I throw it in the dirty clothes...because I'm clean, and so is the towel. I'd say a week is too long, use 2 per week and don't worry about it.

i guess i you want. i use a new one every few days.

I use a clean one every time, about 13 years ago I developed a strep infection & the doc told me it was due to reusing a dirty towel or wash cloth. Even though I used a clean one at my house every time I had been spending the night with my bf at the time & was unaware he just folded the towel & washcloth back after it dried. I guess everyones different but after that I wouldn't chance it. I know damp towels & wash clothes stink after you forget them in the washer after a couple of days so I'm guessing after prolonged use those would too & if you've ever been in a hurry & dried those towels with fabric softner to get rid of the smell you know it won't happen until you wash them again then the stinch gets stuck in your hair. Thats been my experience at least.

Personally, I won't use the same towel for longer than a week. This also depends on how well someone cleans themselves in the shower! If you clean well...and I mean in and out of every crevice for women....ah hemmmm...you catch my drift, then one week should be okay...I do say that two weeks is a bit long though! Go wash your towel!lol

I think 2 weeks is too many days to go without washing your towel,I would think it might have a moldy smell from being damp for so long. I DO think its ok to reuse your towels ,3 maybe4 days tops! Debbie

on average i use a towel 3 or 4 times before i toss it. 2 weeks is too long in my opinion, but whatever works for you

a de-humidifier for the bathroom!

Once a week 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.

2 weeks is too long in all cases. Depends on how well you wash and rinse, how many folks using same towel, humidity in the air, re mold, mildew. I'd say couple-three uses tops for most folks.

I use mine twice then in to the washer it goes. If it's warm and your wet towel is hanging around it can and will mold and that is just gross. I would use your towels less, it really wouldn't cost any different to wash them more often.;~}

Wash your Goddamn towel!

I change my towel frequently. I use about 3 per week!

We change towels every other shower.

dudee thats trully disgusting . ewww thats wayy gross .

you dirty little jub!!! i cant believe you live..you jubby grosser. i only use it once or twice..YOU should be ashamed missy!

2 weeks is a very long time. at max is 3 days for me unless im on my period and get blood on the towel.

I would say that if you are a person who don't have a STD or yeast infection and showers regularly(once a day don't count) then using the same towel 4-5 days isn't too bad...but 2 weeks is just pure laziness. Think of it like rubbing the oil, dirt, grime, dead skin, and other bodily secretions back onto your clean body. If you are that lazy you might as well step in the shower and rub soap on your body with your hands and then allow yourself to air dry.

This towel must STINK. New one every day from now on please young man.

Whether you just showered or not, there is still staph on your skin, which will make that wet towel stink in a hurry. It is a somewhat slower process in a house with AC, as bacteria grows faster in heat, but two weeks is still plenty of time to get a filthy, stinking bacterial colony on your towel. I wash ours twice a week and I still had a stinky towel last night.

I use 2 towels. Towel A drys my body and goes into the hamper, Towel B drys my hair and then goes over the tub door to dry and becomes Towel A to dry my body after my next shower and a fresh towel becomes my hair towel (Towel B) This way a towel is used twice--once for hair (no skin cells there) and then for drying my body.

If you are a woman I have heard that you can get infections you know where because of the bacteria that collects on the towels!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! Bacteria starts to build up after the first use. 0_o

I think the proper thing to do is to use a different towel everyday. You may appear to be clean but there is many types of germs that can be in your head or on you body. Hope this helped :)

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.

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.

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

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.

tell her youve seen the light... and now use a fresh towel every day. when she comes to visit, give her a 4 week old towel..folded nicely of course

I kinda gotta side with your friend :)lol

2 weeks wont kill you there are dirt and germs everywhere in your house what does it matter. I keep my house as clean as I can, but i can vacuum once a day and still pick up a whole bunch of dirt. Neat freaks drive me crazy. Spray febreze on the towel and move on.lol.

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'm on her side....sorryyyyy