The number of times people do laundry varies from household to household. Some do laundry twice a week, whilst others take a more relaxed approach and do it once every few weeks.
Now a commentator on environmental issues says you should be washing towels every five days. Lucy Siegle said in The Times : “Shake off as much water as you can after showering before patting yourself dry.
"Hang up the towel to dry immediately. That way you don’t need to wash your towel as often — say every five days.”
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Four reasons to line-dry towels
- Cut down on costs
Siegle said: “Washing a towel on a full cycle and tumble drying can add up to £1 a time.”
- Save the planet
Siegle said: “Meanwhile, washing and drying a load of washing every two days produces the equivalent carbon emissions as flying from London to Glasgow (and taxi ride to the airport).”
- Line-dried towels make good exfoliators
According to Siegle, line-drying towels is a great way to make them effective exfoliators. She said: “Try to line-dry your towels, I know it’s hard, but at least they will become good exfoliators.”
- Protect delicate items in your laundry by keeping towels separate
Towels are much heavier, have a denser texture and a much rougher surface than bed linen or delicate items of clothing. This means they will usually take longer to dry and use more water in the washing cycle.
The harder texture of towels creates friction with other items. Large, bulky towels may end up harming delicate items in the washing cycle.
You may be waving goodbye to fluffy bath towels that would be easily found in a luxurious spa. However you will be saving your money, helping the planet, protecting your delicate clothing items and giving your body a good exfoliation session instead.
Detergent giant Persil also recommends infrequent towel washing. It says that bath towels are items that need washing the most infrequently, around once a week.
Persil said: “This provides a happy medium between living a greener lifestyle and ensuring there’s not too much of a build-up of dead skin cells.” Breaking it down even further, Persil say smaller towels for different parts of your body need different washing intervals.
Persil advise that hand towels be washed more regularly, around two to three days owing to hygiene. They are used more often and therefore may be used to dry hands that perhaps may not be totally clean.
Persil recommend tea towels and face towels to be washed after each use. Re-using face towels means you could potentially reintroduce bacteria to your face, which may cause outbreaks.
Damp tea towels which are said to hold bacteria may also be prone to mould.
