If you’re anything like me, then there is a very good chance that you’ll have a pile of towels, flannels and more stacking up high in your linen closet. Have you ever taken a look at that towering pile and thought ‘how many towels do I need?’ Believe me – you are not alone.
The general idea when it comes to towels is to have at least one or two on standby for each person in your household. However, that’s where things can start to get a little bit tricky. How do you know if you have too many towels? Is it worth buying more?
Restricting the number of towels you own will, hypothetically, reduce the number of washes you run per month. This way, you are cutting down on water use, as well as the energy it takes to heat up your washing machine.
It’s actually a highly effective way to cut down on your carbon footprint – but, if you buy too many towels, you’re creating unnecessary waste, and are contributing to over-manufacturing. There’s a careful balance!
In this guide, I’ll take a look at how many towels you really should own – and what you should do if you want to get rid of any you really don’t need.
Here’s how many sets of towels you should have:
At least two per person for bathing, one per person for hand washing, and four for the kitchen.
However, this total is going to vary wildly depending on the size of your household, and your individual needs. What if you have pets, or go to the beach a lot? What about face flannels and emergency towels?
Let’s start by breaking down these towel totals, and categories, so you know how to adjust them for your own specific demands.
Reserve two bath towels each
If there’s only one or two of you in your household, you probably won’t need too many towels. Having more than two for bathing alone is fairly wasteful! The idea behind setting aside two bath towels each lies in the fact that you have one for ‘best’, and one as a spare.
You should only really need to wash your bath towels once every two or three uses. Experts suggest that this is hygienic – but make sure to hang them up to dry after each use.
However, there will come a time when you do need to wash your main bath towel, and when that is the case, you will need a dry, clean spare that you can use should the ‘best’ towel be in the laundry. Then, you can rotate them when your spare needs washing.
Two towels per person really isn’t going to seem like much if you are a small household. But, imagine the total when you have a family of six. This means you are going to need to have at least 12 towels for bathing alone! It’s very easy to see where things start to add up.
If you’re a single person household, account for another pair of towels for guests – at the very least. Otherwise, it’s worth asking more than one guest to make sure they bring towels with them!
Why should I buy separate bath towels for each person?
While there are plenty of us out there who feel close and comfortable enough with others in our home to share towels. However, this might not be the most hygienic move.
Believe it or not, it’s possible to spread some skin conditions and even some viruses and bacteria through a shared towel. For example, it may be easy to spread fungal infections by using the same towel – and both strep and MRSA can spread through surfaces such as towels, too.
I don’t meant to scare you – however, it’s altogether more hygienic if people use separate towels – as well as for separate needs.
Reserve a hand towel each (if appropriate) – with spares
Not everyone uses individual hand towels, and remember, this is simply a guide. However, in a household of four, five, six or more, the same hand towel in the bathroom is going to get very damp (and gross) very quickly. Therefore, it makes sense to have several available at any one time.
If you are a family of two or three, then having a hand towel each shouldn’t cause that much clutter, or take up that much space on the rail. However, families of four or more might start to see this as overkill.
Therefore, for bigger families, it’s worth considering keeping three or four in sight at all times. Then, however, you’re going to need to think about spares – again!
With the spares system applied to bath towels in mind, you’re going to need to double your total. So, for a family of four, you’re probably going to need at least six hand towels to add to the eight bath towels you have already.
All this – and there are some of us that end up buying more!
Reserve towels for pets
Yes – even Rover is going to need his own towel, mainly because there are plenty of us that find the idea of sharing dog towels a bit gross! What’s more, cats and dogs likely to need toweling after bathing may end up scratching or clawing up your linen – which means you’ll be left without any towels of your own that don’t have gaping holes in the middle.
So, again, reserve two bathing towels for your pets. You may wish to use one as a mud towel, of course, as dogs – in particular – have a habit of getting dirty and needing to be wiped off before you let them in the house.
You should also think about investing in towels for pets that are particularly hard-wearing. Softer towels or more expensive Egyptian cotton won’t do it. Your dog or cat is unlikely to be too finicky about the quality of the fibers, so save yourself a little bit of money and opt for a towel or two that are practical, yet affordable.
Reserve two hand towels for the kitchen
You’re not only going to need hand towels for the bathroom – as we should all be washing our hands when preparing food and using the kitchen, too!
Again, the same rule applies to the kitchen as it does the bathroom – have one as ‘best’, and one as a spare, just in case. However, it’s unlikely you will need separate towels per person for the kitchen, as we likely use the bathroom more – though, of course, different people have different routines!
Regardless, two hand towels are likely to give you plenty to dry hands on in the kitchen. But what about drying the dishes?
Reserve two dish towels for the kitchen
Yes – it makes hygienic sense to invest in separate dish towels for the kitchen, too. Again, some of us have been known to use the same towels to dry hands and pots together – but it’s better to separate the two wherever possible.
Invest in two dish towels, at least, for kitchen use. Whether you prefer the air-drying method of clearing your washing up or not, it’s always good to have a dish towel to one side.
Reserve more dish towels for everyday use
This is another optional idea – but dish towels do have their place in the home beyond drying dishes. Some people use dish towels to dry off surfaces, or even to use as napkins. Therefore, it makes sense to have two or three more dish towels to hand.
If you’d rather not – and feel you can get on with the two you have for the kitchen – there’s no harm in cutting back. Just make sure you don’t have to wash them frequently!
Reserve towels for holidays and trips
Beyond the home, there may be occasions where you need emergency towels. As Douglas Adams wrote, ‘always carry a towel’ – but how many is too many?
If you regularly go to the beach, it’s likely you will need to take a towel to help get coarse sand off your skin, or to sit on while you relax in the sun. You may also need towels for picnics outside, or for getting rid of dried-on dirt and other messes.
A good rule for this side of towel ownership is to invest in one per person. Again, it’s easy to see where all of these towels stack up, especially if you have a larger family.
However, this is a good opportunity to consider reusing towels for the same purposes, wherever possible. It may be worth using your spare bath towels (from above) to take to the beach or out on a walk – the choice is yours.
Consider your needs carefully
It bears repeating that if you want to fully minimize your linen closet, you don’t have to stick to this rigid template. If you feel that you can easily manage on fewer towels than what’s been discussed so far, that’s great.
However, do keep a close eye on how often you wash your towels. As mentioned, reusing the few towels you have could mean you end up wasting more water, and more energy heating up the washing machine.
Therefore, if you do decide to scale back the number of towels you own and use – and you still want to do right by the environment – it’s worth considering different ways in which you can be more eco-friendly with how you use them.
That directly cuts out the risk of you investing in too many towels for the sake of it, and again, creating unnecessary waste. So, let’s consider this line of thinking a little more closely.
Being an eco-friendly towel user
Let’s run through a few quick tips on how you can make better use of one or two towels and still care for the world around you:
- Try and lower the temperature at which you run your washing machine. While a 100+° F wash is good for killing bacteria, general washes should run at 90° F or less. Even then, there’s not that much difference in hygiene between 80° and 100° F – and a 60-80° wash will run colder, and for less time. Therefore, you’re cutting back on carbon.
- What’s more, don’t always pay attention to what the label says. If you’re not too worried about the state of your towels wash after wash (providing they’re clean), stick to an 80° F wash.
- Make your towels travel the three-use maximum. Be sure to hang your used towels out to dry fully before your next shower or wash to ensure all moisture drips away. This way, you’re not having to unnecessarily put your towels through hot washes.
- Don’t tumble-dry your towels. Tumble driers are notorious for being expensive to run with regard to the sheer amount of power they consume. Therefore, if you can, try to hang your towels outside on fine days – a rotary washing line is a fantastic investment.
- Alternatively, if it’s a cold day and your radiators are already heating up your rooms, be sure to take advantage and place towels across them to dry quickly. It’s a waste of energy and carbon to just power up your radiators to dry towels or any clothing, so make sure they’re already on full.
Reusing old towels
If, having read this guide so far, you realise that you have far too many towels for what you actually need, it’s time to think about how you can reuse or recycle them for the better. After all, throwing away towels is amazingly wasteful unless they are completely shredded and are no longer useful.
Therefore, consider taking your old towels and shredding or cutting them up for rags. These can be useful when it comes to dusting across the house, or when you want to wipe down kitchen and bathroom surfaces. You could use an eco-friendly surface cleaner or anti-bacterial solution, soak a towel rag in a little warm water, and wipe clean.
You might also want to use old rags to dry things off, too. Use a wet rag to wipe away vinegar cleaning spray for example, and a dry one to quickly buff up your surfaces. This will cut down on you having to invest in antibacterial wipes and paper towels, both of which will often head straight to landfill.
You can also reuse old towels for any of the purposes listed above earlier in our guide. Not sure how many towels you need for the kitchen? Keep a couple of old bath towels to hand and cut them up. If you don’t already have hand towels downstairs, you won’t have to invest in any more. It’s a good cost-saving tip.
Some people even use towels in art projects and to refashion as clothing pieces – it’s true! If you are a budding creative and are looking for interesting material, there’s no harm in seeing what you can do with upcycling a towel or two.
Donating old towels
You can try and sell old towels online or at yard sales, but they don’t tend to get many ‘bites’. This is because towels are seen as fairly intimate items. No matter how many times you wash your towels, most people are probably going to prefer buying new sets outright. The reason for this is likely to do with hygiene – but it’s a crying shame that towels don’t have the same place in goodwill stores as clothing does!
However, there are some worthwhile causes and sources that are always happy to receive towel donations – for example, animal shelters.
For cats, dogs and other animals brought off the streets, bedding and warmth are essential. Therefore, animal shelters and rehoming centres are always crying out for towels to help make beds and to give scared animals a little more comfort. Your old towel, providing it is in reasonable condition, could help a cold animal feel that little bit safer at night – at least, before they get adopted by a warm and loving home.
Make sure to get in touch with animal charities – the ASPCA, for example, will likely help you find somewhere that old towels can be put to great use.
Do also consider approaching homeless charities, shelters and churches. People who are cold and living on the streets will need all the help they can get to keep their blood flowing. Therefore, a towel that might seem cumbersome or useless to you could make a world of difference to someone in need.
Therefore, providing your old towels are in good condition, you’ll be doing some genuine good for the environment as well as for needy people and animals if you donate them. If you don’t cut them into rags, this is a great first option to take, and it’ll make you feel great inside.
Conclusion
So – ‘how many towels do I need?’ – the answer is, it depends. However, if your aim is to cut back on as much carbon and energy use as possible, it makes sense to scale back your collection.
Whether you have been given a set of towels for a special occasion, or have accrued masses of linen over the years, it is certainly time to take stock of what you have available. Be sure to account for what you need – not what you necessarily want – if you are serious about increasing your sustainability.
You could make someone – or a cold cat or dog – a little warmer with an old towel or two. Be sure to look into donation options if you’re swimming in towels!
Originally posted 2022-05-11 16:32:45.