Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Quick question

Let me ask you something. How often do you change your bath towel for your shower? Because we don't really have a fixed schedule and a recent event makes me think we should have one. It's pretty easy in the summer when it's humid because the towels will "turn" after a few days, the mildewy smell setting in. But now that it's winter (oh my goodness it was cold yesterday, that smack you in the face and make you cry and snot cold) and the air is much drier, the mildew never sets in and we just kind of change them after what, I don't know, a week, two tops. Now yesterday, when I got out of the shower, I reached for the big white towel on my towel rung (upper, spouse's is lower since he's shorter) and dried my hair first, then back and legs and chest and penultimately my bum. I do my crack real good and then make sure I use a different part of the towel than what was just in my crack for the last thing. My face. (Is this too much information? Everybody has some similar routine I'm thinking, I mean we've all got to dig out the moisture down there, don't we?) So yesterday, I got to my face to rub it clean, and what is this funkiness, yech, and I pulled the towel from my face to see a little skid mark right there where my nose and lips had been. Ack, back into the shower with me. I'm thinking that earthy colored towels are in the offing as well as a firmer schedule for changing them out. Either that or a review of my wiping methods.

45 comments:

Rick Bettencourt said...

Probably a little too much information but important nonetheless.

In my zeal to be environmentally conscious, I too reuse my towel but a week or two!?!? I reused mine for only two or three days at the most.

Nico said...

Oh, no.. I avoid this by using a different towel for my face. A cozy towel for the crack might be your option.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the thorough crack digging should happen in the shower. I opt for toilet paper to dry out the goods. That you only use once.

My adventures said...

yuck... i use a towel for 2 days and i dry my face first, always and, since the cancer crap, i use a smaller separate towel for the bum, it's always a surprise as to what's been leaking out even during and right after a shower, that'll clear up soon though and you have no idea how hard it is to type with your fingers crossed hoping it will clear up...ha!

Anonymous said...

Possibly TMI, but I can assure you I'll be changing out my towels as soon as I finish reading this.

You know, maybe earth-toned towels aren't a good idea.

Mel said...

Well, first of all I make sure I wash my bum really well. Sure it'll get dirty again soon enough, but it may as well be sparkly clean at least once a day. Secondly, I always work my way down from the top - hair, face, neck, shoulders, etc. - with bum coming just before legs.

As for changing the towel out, though, it happens when I notice it starting to smell a little musty. Or when David decides it's time, whichever comes first.

Mel said...

Oh, and our towels are mostly pastels and off-whites.

Anonymous said...

Do you use a washcloth in the shower?
Lots of men don't. But a quick washcloth wipe of the bum in the shower prevents towel pollution.

Polt said...

My GOD but you have THE most unique posts. :)

I change my towel weekly, every Tuesday morning I start a new one. Now, if it's summer and hot and humid and I'm taking more showers, I'll probably go through two in a week, but never longer than a week.

HUGS...

Anonymous said...

How now brown Towel? After directing the shower spray at the appropriate place I've never had a skid mark on the Towel. Maybe your shower head needs replaced. Fun blog though. ed

Lemuel said...

Time for a clean towel!

I am obsessive about washing where the sun don't shine and that includes soaping up the fingers for a little exploration of the darkest corners of my life - so by the time I'm done there is nothing to leave skid marks on the towel.

dpaste said...

I usually reserve toilet paper for my crack, but you do what makes you happy.

I, of course, can use the same towel for weeks before I think to change it. That kind of stuff has never been a priority for me. I think I own three bath towels, tops.

lattégirl said...

I use one towel for hair and a different one for body, and yet another one for feet. I change 'em about once a week. I have no sense of smell, so I can't tell if they smell like mildew; in the summer I hang them outside.

Brice said...

I'm a firm believer in comfort and cleanliness (in that order).
I have 4 towels, 2 for me, 2 for The Kaitress. One for my body, one just because. Every week I'll wash them, except in the summer when they stink after a few days. Then they get swapped ASAP, leaving a pond of shower-water in my hallway when i walk dripping wet to the linen closet for a new towel.

Rox said...

White towels. Dry from top to bottom, saving bottom for very last. Towels can go for about a week, it's just drying a clean body after all. Well, when it's at my house, that's what it's doing! LOL!

Anonymous said...

My goodness!!! That's what the washcloth is for. I have a stack of at least a dozen white ones that I buy in bulk at TJ MAXX. I soap one up good, wash the major appendiges first, then do the "flossing" as I call it. I soap up the washcloth again, making sure any streaks are washed away, then I do my face last. If I don't like what I see, in the wash it goes and it's time for a clean one.
The towels get washed every 4 days or so regardless of the season because I'm always doing loads of laundry anyway.

don said...

I just say no to Crack. Just don't go there!!

One time I went to a party and this women came out of the hosts bathroom and announced to the room that his towels smelled like ass. I was traumatized after that so started changing my towels and sheets every Saturday. It's a routine that I follow so that I can be sure it happens regularly. 'Cause I don't want no beatch outing my towels at a party.

Anonymous said...

That gives a whole new meaning to shit faced ! : )

Towels must be washed atleast once a week .

Anonymous said...

Towel change every 2 or 3 days for me.

Ultra Dave said...

I don't own white towels. They are all dark or medium colors. Change them once a week or so. I throw them over the shower rod so the air can circulate around them. And I take a little extra time in those extra special areas.

Anonymous said...

OMG I must have a towel and wash cloth fetish. We change both after each shower. And, I want them big and beautiful and fluffy--it's a luxury I indulge in.

hh

Lacey said...

one for the head, another for the rest of the body. after a week, the "head" towel becomes the "body" towel, and the "body" towel goes in the laundry, and I get a new "head" towel. So they are in constant rotation. Oh my. That sounds so gay, doesn't it?

TigerYogiji said...

We change our towels every three days, regardless of the season.

Petie said...

I think it's times for you to visit Bangkok, Thailand. To buy that washing hose for your bum that I posted once.

Bangkok is a relatively cheap place for you to visit, I am pretty sure ;)

Anonymous said...

This post reminds me of the David Sedaris story in Naked about someone in his family wiping their butt with the brown bath towels. It was too funny.

The towels are changed every few days in our house.

Birdie said...

Since when has TMI stopped you from blogging? Please.

Your body is supposed to be clean by the time you reach for a towel, so the color shouldn't matter. Use a washcloth! And wash your towels once a week all year.

Word ver: ashiest - most ashy

Patricia said...

I do laundry an average of twice a week and I always throw in the towel (heh) to even out the load. Oh and I have my own towels. Yeah. Chris is not allowed to use them or launder them. Seriously, what that man does to a towel is beyond belief.

And I splurged and bought really good ones last year. Like good sheets, I'll never go back to the cheap things.

The most important thing is to return the newly laundered towels to the bottom of the pile in the linen closet or wherever you keep them so as to even out their rotation.

I take towels very seriously. :)

Anonymous said...

I giggled at this. I switch the towels about once a week, and like the others I have two towels, one for the head and one for the rest. I was with a scrubby thing in the shower, and there are no skid marks on my towels.

yech.

Anonymous said...

Oh sweet tiny christ child on cheese! You have reached a new low! But since you asked, we don't have this problem in our house...I will refrain from explaining why. Nevertheless, we change out our towels about once a week I'd guess.

Perhaps you best invest in a "dooty-squirt".

Anonymous said...

Your topic today was very good. It's one of those subjects that we don't discuss too often. I was happy to see that my practices are similar to others. I too keep a washcloth handy in the shower for just this purpose so that there are no skid marks on my yellow towels. I also have a large bath towel for my body and one for my hair. I find that I am able to keep both for a week without getting any unwanted smells. Thanks for opening up the topic. It was fun.

Cheers and all the best to you and Serge for the holidays.

Another Montrealer.

Anonymous said...

Anywhere from 2 days to 6 days. The process of drying starts at the top and ends at the feet.

TED said...

This post raises all sorts of questions that I know better than to ask. Anyway, I thought that one of the main purposes of a shower was to get one's ass clean enough to use a towel on. Still, I think you should count on going through two towels a week and dry your ass last.

J-o-h-n-n-y said...

U're somewhat ...hehehe
"anal-retentive" an't you?

:)

dantallion said...

Every 3 days. Like clock-work. I'll never share a towel again.

Blobby said...

Every Sunday. It should probably be more, but it isn't.

Snooze said...

I agree with the washcloth recommendation. Drying shouldn't involve removing dirt. I tend to change my towel once a week.

Peter said...

I wash the towel once a week. I start with the face and the bum at the very end.

Nice word verification: bummer

Summer said...

I change towels twice a week. Another reason to change them is you can get funky stuff from them. In college my son contracted ring worm which is a fungus not really a worm. Either way, yuk.

Anonymous said...

Is this your highest commented post ever? Man, I'd guess the Sara post. But still, obviously there us a deep need to discuss this topic.

Before my life went to ... Shit ( I didn't do that on purpose) I washed the towels every two or three times. I have to say it that way since I don't bathe every day. I'm probably the only person on your list who doesn't. Oh well. Now though I can't be bothered to keep track.

Now you have to post on your improved butt cleaning regimen.

evilganome said...

2 words my friend. Shower puff. I give the nethers a good scrub every shower and I don't think I've ever had this problem. Or if I did, I have buried the memory deep, where no one will ever find it.

Bigg said...

I really tried hard to think of something clever, but I'm still laughing too hard. I bow to you, the absolute overlord of blogdom. Too. Friggin. Funny.

Mark in DE said...

We don't have a set schedule for changing the towels and sheets, although it is unlike me to not be 'organized' in this area.

Like Truthspew, I dry from the top down.

Franciscus van Munster said...

Wow, 43 comments already. Better late than never: my advice is to save one side of the towel for your face (each towel has folded ends which will help you decide and remember) and START with your face.
Also, my philosophy is that I'm squeaky clean when I come out of the shower, so changing towels once a week is perfectly acceptable.

Anonymous said...

once a week, would be more often if I didn't have so many other "chores"!
you are truly disgusting and you always make me laugh!

xx
d

S said...

I use TP to wipe and a sponge (and soap) to wash, so I don't have this issue.