806 Health Tip: We Really Should Be Washing Our Towels More

You get out of the shower and the first thing you do is dry off. What is the second thing you do? Do you hang the towel up? Do you throw it on the floor? Do you throw it in the wash.

Here is another thing I never really thought about until recently. How many times do you use a towel before you wash it? Do you use it one and done? How about a couple times? Maybe you think you are saving the environment and you wash it once a week?

What is the correct answer? I use it a couple times, grab a new one and throw the other in the wash. Is that correct?

An expert was asked and apparently you can use a towel up to three times. So I am doing OK. After the magical three than throw it in to get washed. Each time you use a towel bacteria and mold starts to grow.

Every time it gets damp more grows on it. If you use it and then hang it up to dry at least you are slowing down the process. It doesn't stop it though.

After three uses you are done. If you try to use it past that point you are basically just rubbing bacteria and mold all over yourself. Think about that a moment or two. At that point why take a shower anyway. You do it to get clean but here you are using that mold and bacteria infested towel to dry off.

Many thoughts of gross right there. Now if you are one that dries off and tosses it on the floor with the intention of hanging it up later, it stays wet longer. If you are that person I wouldn't use it more than two times.

If you think the same applies to a washcloth you would be wrong. Those are basically one and done. Washcloths take much longer to dry. A longer drying time gives mold and bacteria more time to grow and less time on the cloth being clean. So use it and wash it every single time.