3 Surprising Facts About Towel Use And Hygiene

By Team Newsable | First Published Nov 30, 2021, 5:26 PM IST

Did it ever occur to you that your towel might make your skin unclean?

Taking a shower after a long hard day at work, or after an intense workout at the gym…they constitute some of life’s simplest pleasures! The feeling of glistening, freshly-soaped skin is incomparable. But then you reach out for your towel – and the manky, unwashed towel ends up contaminating your skin when you wipe it.

Did it ever occur to you that your towel might make your skin unclean? We often associate bath towels and face towels with cleanliness – but when they are not washed often or maintained properly, they might end up passing on germs, infectious microbes and other impurities on our skin. Indeed, used towels have the potential to make you really sick by passing on viruses and germs.

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The 3 surprising facts about towel hygiene you probably didn’t know about

Like we mentioned earlier, towels of all kinds – bath towels, hand towels, face towels and gym towels – have the potential to pass on illnesses and viruses. By themselves, too, used towels that remain damp after use and are repeatedly used without washing, can cultivate undesirable mould and fungus bacterium.

Let’s get you acquainted with 3 surprising facts about towel hygiene that you probably didn’t know about:

#1 You Should Wash Your Towels After Every 3 Uses

This might seem like an astounding statement if you are unaware of just how much dirt and impurities from the skin the towel is likely to absorb. Your towels, whether a bath towel or a face towel, absorb a lot of water and take a long while to dry up, especially in damp weather. Meanwhile, they pick up sweat and dry dead cells from your skin. The human body has over 19 million skin cells and about 650 sweat glands in every inch of skin all over the body. Dead cells make up the top 20 layers of the skin. While some of them come away on your shower loofah, most of the others end up on your bath and face towel. And they get transferred to your skin every time you use the towel, even if it seems dry and clean. So it is best to wash the towel after three or maximum four uses.

#2 There Are Certain Conditions for Which The Towel Must Be Washed After Just One Use.

While you digest the fact that bath, face and hand towels must be washed after every three uses, there are certain times when you should wash your towel after just one use. These are:

· If you suffer from a skin condition like eczema or psoriasis, or even pus-filled acne. Repeating the same towel without washing may exacerbate these conditions

· If you use the towel in the gym. Sweat accumulates in the towel fibres repeatedly every time you mop your skin during the workout. The gym towel may remain damp in your bag for a few hours and become a fertile ground for bacterial and mould growth

· Any towel that has been used to mop up any bodily fluid should be washed immediately

· Towels that do not dry after several hours of use should be washed and not reused

#3 Cold Washing at Home Is Sufficient To Clean Your Towels

While towels may get really dirty and accumulate sweat, you might think that intense cleaning with hot water and a strong detergent are required to get your bath linen clean and germ-free. Far from it – a simple wash in your home washing machine, using cool water and a good detergent should clean the towel fibres thoroughly and remove all vestiges of grime, sweat, infectious germs, dead skin cells, hair, etc. If you want to make sure you have got the towels completely clean and germ-free, you may use a liquid antibacterial solution in the last cycle of the wash. Normally, cotton towels are suitable for frequent washing, and they also dry up fast. They can withstand temperature changes well, and are good for drying in the dryer. However, you must still wash your towels after one or three uses, as the case may be.

Buying The Right Towels

You can buy towels online available in different sizes and colours, in plush cotton. The towels are super absorbent and some of them are quick drying ones. You can buy them in sets – these feature two colours and sets of sizes – or in children’s favourite designs as well.

You can even have the bath linen shipped to your loved ones if you wish to gift them for the festive season.

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