Overheard on Facebook

[mustachepungoeshere]

I grew up in a household with 8 children.  We NEVER reused towels.  Most of us used 2 or 3 towels per shower (one for wet hair, one to dry the body, and a smaller one to step on).  We had so much laundry, and my mom did all of it.  Every day.  Even when she worked outside the home.  When that's all you know growing up, it doesn't really seem insane.

My mum says normal is what you grew up with, but even then...

I had an aunt like that. When she married my uncle, she put out fresh towels every day, so she was washing 14 bath towels, seven hand towels and seven floor mats a week. Then they had five boys and she came to her senses. 

I can remember though, the very day that my mom LOST IT.  Someone threw a pile of still-folded, clean clothes down the laundry chute.  That someone was too lazy to put the clothes away, so decided to clean his room by putting it all through another cycle and dealing with it when it magically reappeared, folded,  on his chair again.  That someone ruined it for the rest of us! 

Your mum could have thrown him down the laundry chute at that point, no-one would have convicted her!

[NoraLenderbee]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

[dragoncar]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxdjPH0JrDM

[SwordGuy]

There is a way to make all your past posts viewable only to you, even if you can't delete them all.

Security about what you put on Facebook is an illusion.   Anyone who wants to can see anything you've posted, commented on, your friend list, etc.

[LeRainDrop]

Looks like I have a frugal friend <3

[Cowardly Toaster]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

Heh a few years in the military will cure them of that.

[barbaz]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

Just check the comments of the blog post where MMM suggests to reuse clothes. “It’s UNSANITARY!!111”

[shelivesthedream]

BlueHouse, the mind seriously boggles. I just...can't even. I absolutely understand that what you grew up with is normal (I remember The Day I Realised Not Everyone Has Non-Stick Pans) but I can barely begin to imagine the logistics involved with that many towels.

[mustachepungoeshere]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

I read a Reddit thread once where a surprising (to me) number of people said their households didn't have allocated towels/towel rails, and they would just use whichever towel felt dry.

I'm no princess but ಠ_ಠ.

[shelivesthedream]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

I read a Reddit thread once where a surprising (to me) number of people said their households didn't have allocated towels/towel rails, and they would just use whichever towel felt dry.

I'm no princess but ಠ_ಠ.

Yeah, ew... We had colour-coded towels, and it's really not that hard to sharpie a name on if you want all the same colour (or have so many family members that all the colours would give you a headache!). We each had two towels, one on the rail and one in the wash/cupboard. My husband and I have the same regime but allocated hooks with all towels being white*.

*Something I have embraced from the "how to make your home easier to clean and maintain" thread: all household linens are white. Uniform, bleachable, hot-washable. Yes, spilled food shows up immediately on the tablecloth, but white can take a lot of laundering and everything is the same and will always go with whatever paint colours we choose in whatever house. Our napkins have had everything from soy sauce to turmeric-heavy curry on them and they've come up spotless.

[Raenia]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

I read a Reddit thread once where a surprising (to me) number of people said their households didn't have allocated towels/towel rails, and they would just use whichever towel felt dry.

I'm no princess but ಠ_ಠ.

Our house didn't have space for individual towel rails in the bathroom, so if I wanted to keep my own towel I had to hang it to dry in my room instead.  Fortunately, all the bedroom doors had these handy hooks on them...

[partgypsy]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

I read a Reddit thread once where a surprising (to me) number of people said their households didn't have allocated towels/towel rails, and they would just use whichever towel felt dry.

I'm no princess but ಠ_ಠ.

Our house didn't have space for individual towel rails in the bathroom, so if I wanted to keep my own towel I had to hang it to dry in my room instead.  Fortunately, all the bedroom doors had these handy hooks on them...

My kids are under the impression that towels can only be used once, and then thrown on floor/ hamper. I explain, if you hang back on the towel warmer (it dries and warms the towel) you can use it 2, 3 times before throwing in hamper. The kids have favorite towels they use (beach towels actually), but especially oldest will use the towel just once and then start using up the other towels. this is for normal use. If someone is genuinely sweaty/dirty then OK to throw dirty/sweaty towel in wash.

[infogoon]

I suppose the comments sections might be extraordinarily abusive though. Always easy to be a bully when you're anonymous.

I think this is actually Twitter's corporate mission statement.

[Davnasty]

I read a forum where quite a few people use a fresh towel every time they shower, and think it's gross not to. Many of them also use a fresh washcloth every day. Then there are the ones who think that any piece of clothing that touches skin must be washed after a single wearing, including jeans. They spend a lot of time doing laundry.  Others feel it's gross to ever share a *bathroom* with another person (to use the same bathroom at different times). How do these people live in the real world?

I read a Reddit thread once where a surprising (to me) number of people said their households didn't have allocated towels/towel rails, and they would just use whichever towel felt dry.

I'm no princess but ಠ_ಠ.

Our house didn't have space for individual towel rails in the bathroom, so if I wanted to keep my own towel I had to hang it to dry in my room instead.  Fortunately, all the bedroom doors had these handy hooks on them...

My kids are under the impression that towels can only be used once, and then thrown on floor/ hamper. I explain, if you hang back on the towel warmer (it dries and warms the towel) you can use it 2, 3 times before throwing in hamper. The kids have favorite towels they use (beach towels actually), but especially oldest will use the towel just once and then start using up the other towels. this is for normal use. If someone is genuinely sweaty/dirty then OK to throw dirty/sweaty towel in wash.

If they are dirty/sweaty by the time they get to the towel stage of bathing they're doing it wrong :)

Personally I just use the same towel until I can smell it, could be several weeks or more than a month in winter when the air is dry. That's with 5-6 showers/week due to sweaty exercise. I'm sure some people will see this as gross but I always wonder why a number of uses is what qualifies "gross". If the towel doesn't stink and doesn't make me stink I'm fine with it. After all, towels getting dirty is mostly a matter of rate of drying. A quick drying towel will last a long time because mildew never has a chance to grow and for the most part I only put clean water on the towel.

[Just Joe]

I can make a towel and my jeans last a week pretty easily. Shirts I can get a couple of wears out of during cooler weather.

Our kids think everything lasts one use. We're progressing towards them doing their own laundry so we'll see how they feel after that happens.

I knew someone who always seemed to be buying new washer/dryers. At one point we had the same set they did. Their's lasted just a few years and our's lasted 15+ years. After a while I realized that they belong to the one wear/one use universe and were/are washing an incredible amount of laundry every week.

The cost of that and the amount of work it represents is nuts. No wonder it was an unhappy chore.

[shelivesthedream]

My mother used to take things out of our laundry baskets and put them back in our rooms if she thought they weren't really dirty. Not in a horrific way, but in the sense of "I know for a fact you have worn those jeans exactly once to sit around the house all day. They are not dirty and therefore do not need to be washed." That cured us pretty quickly when we got lazy/over-reliant on the laundry fairy.

[MrMoogle]

If they are dirty/sweaty by the time they get to the towel stage of bathing they're doing it wrong :)

Do you take cold showers?

After working out, I'm extremely sweaty and hot, and after a cool shower, I'm usually still sweating.  I only go so cold though, it seems like it's hardly any turning to go from cool to shivering in the shower.

[Davnasty]

If they are dirty/sweaty by the time they get to the towel stage of bathing they're doing it wrong :)

Do you take cold showers?

After working out, I'm extremely sweaty and hot, and after a cool shower, I'm usually still sweating.  I only go so cold though, it seems like it's hardly any turning to go from cool to shivering in the shower.

Good point, I rarely shower directly after exercise so I don't sweat after showering but it can certainly happen. And yes, I usually turn it to cold for the last 10-60 seconds or all cold in the warmer months.

Ha. I get to mostly cold and think "Hmm, this cold shower isn't so bad. I've turned the hot water almost all the way off and I'm doing fine. Let's just go that last little...Oh my god I can't breathe what is happening."

[dragoncar]

If they are dirty/sweaty by the time they get to the towel stage of bathing they're doing it wrong :)

Do you take cold showers?

After working out, I'm extremely sweaty and hot, and after a cool shower, I'm usually still sweating.  I only go so cold though, it seems like it's hardly any turning to go from cool to shivering in the shower.

Cooldown

[NoraLenderbee]

Our kids think everything lasts one use.

I'm laughing because when I was a kid, clothes felt much more comfortable after you'd already worn them for a day. I would have worn the same shirt and pants all week if my mother had let me.

[Cressida]

I read a Reddit thread once where a surprising (to me) number of people said their households didn't have allocated towels/towel rails, and they would just use whichever towel felt dry.

I'm no princess but ಠ_ಠ.

yeah no. Clearly none of these people have a tendency to break out. Everyone should be able to control the cleanliness of their own towel.

[BJacks]

My mother in law gives all the grandkids a towel with their name embroidered on it every year for Christmas. I'm basically never buying another towel again and they will have plenty to take with them when they move out!

[ysette9]

Towels get washed once a week in my household and only because I make sure they get rotated out. For the most part you are using them to rub your just-cleaned body dry, so they certainly don’t need to be washed all the time. As for people having individual towels.... I can see wanting that if you live with random roommates, but I see no need in my house I share with my husband and children. For heaven’s sake, I’m okay with us rubbing our naked bodies together to produce these little people, why would I not be okay sharing a towel?

[merula]

For heaven’s sake, I’m okay with us rubbing our naked bodies together to produce these little people, why would I not be okay sharing a towel?

People are weird. Kissing is fine but I can't use your toothbrush? Oral is fine but you want me to wash my hands after I go to the bathroom?

Why does everyone have to be so picky?

[ysette9]

Hahah. We share a toothbrush also and my mother thinks is it gross. My response was the same: we kiss, so how much different is sharing a toothbrush, really?

[ysette9]

Hahah. We share a toothbrush also and my mother thinks is it gross. My response was the same: we kiss, so how much different is sharing a toothbrush, really?

[frugalnacho]

Hahah. We share a toothbrush also and my mother thinks is it gross. My response was the same: we kiss, so how much different is sharing a toothbrush, really?

That is gross.  I'll kiss my wife, but I don't really want all her food particles and bacteria to get up in my nooks and crannies.

Also toothbrushes are consumables with life spans, so you really aren't saving any money by sharing.  You are just going through each brush twice as fast, but it's 100 times as gross.

[ysette9]

We have an electric toothbrush and are too lazy to swap heads back and forth several times a day. For manual brushes we have our own, as we have different preferences for bristle softness.

I’m not sure how his food particles are grosser than my food particles from the last time I brushed my teeth.

On a side note, i find that dipping the bristles in a cup where I’m cleaning my retainers with denture cleaner is great for cleaning the toothbrush as well

[Prairie Stash]

Most modern ideas about grossness is just natural self defense mechanisms to prevent disease spreading. Sharing toothbrushes is a highly effective way to transfer bacteria, more so than kissing (unless you use your tongue to really get in there between the teeth...)

For heaven’s sake, I’m okay with us rubbing our naked bodies together to produce these little people, why would I not be okay sharing a towel?

People are weird. Kissing is fine but I can't use your toothbrush? Oral is fine but you want me to wash my hands after I go to the bathroom?

Why does everyone have to be so picky?

Center for Disease Control

"Teaching people about handwashing helps them and their communities stay healthy. Handwashing education in the community:

Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 31% 1, 2
Reduces diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58% 3
Reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21% 2, 4"

[ysette9]

For the record, I am all for hand washing.

And I am okay with us sharing a towel to dry our hands after ;-)

[Just Joe]

We're rich enough to afford towels and toothbrushes for the whole family so we don't need to share. ;)

[mustachepungoeshere]

Hahah. We share a toothbrush also and my mother thinks is it gross. My response was the same: we kiss, so how much different is sharing a toothbrush, really?

We have an electric toothbrush and are too lazy to swap heads back and forth several times a day.

@marty998's head just exploded.

According to Esquire: For what it's worth, the CDC does not recommend the sharing of toothbrushes, but they're buzzkills about everything.

https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/health/news/a48419/sharing-toothbrush-with-spouse/

Also, this came up in 2015 (though the OP was more about clickbait and blatant self-promotion than debating dental hygiene).

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/my-wife-and-i-use-to-share-toothbrushes-to-'save'-money/

[ysette9]

We're rich enough to afford towels and toothbrushes for the whole family so we don't need to share. ;)

Yeah, yeah.... rub it in. SOME of us are trying to save for FIRE, you know! ;-)

[merula]

My apologies. I thought my sarcasm was obvious.

In my house, we have our own bath towels and toothbrushes and wash our hands.

[marty998]

Hahah. We share a toothbrush also and my mother thinks is it gross. My response was the same: we kiss, so how much different is sharing a toothbrush, really?

We have an electric toothbrush and are too lazy to swap heads back and forth several times a day.

@marty998's head just exploded.

According to Esquire: For what it's worth, the CDC does not recommend the sharing of toothbrushes, but they're buzzkills about everything.

https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/health/news/a48419/sharing-toothbrush-with-spouse/

Also, this came up in 2015 (though the OP was more about clickbait and blatant self-promotion than debating dental hygiene).

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/my-wife-and-i-use-to-share-toothbrushes-to-'save'-money/

Oh my god 😮 I don't know what to say.

Sharing toothbrushes? Yikes

[zolotiyeruki]

I might just be tired, but this has to be one of the funniest thread diversions I've seen in a long time! :)

Maybe someone should start a thread with a poll, asking if people share towels and/or how long they go between washings.

[mustachepungoeshere]

I might just be tired, but this has to be one of the funniest thread diversions I've seen in a long time! :)

Maybe someone should start a thread with a poll, asking if people share towels and/or how long they go between washings.

And then there are sheets.

A friend once 'fessed up to going an entire winter without washing her or her kids' sheets. :/

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

I might just be tired, but this has to be one of the funniest thread diversions I've seen in a long time! :)

Maybe someone should start a thread with a poll, asking if people share towels and/or how long they go between washings.

And then there are sheets.

A friend once 'fessed up to going an entire winter without washing her or her kids' sheets. :/

A friend of mine once hired a cleaner for the sole reason that she couldn't stand touching her teenage boy's sheets.

[Rural]

I might just be tired, but this has to be one of the funniest thread diversions I've seen in a long time! :)

Maybe someone should start a thread with a poll, asking if people share towels and/or how long they go between washings.

And then there are sheets.

A friend once 'fessed up to going an entire winter without washing her or her kids' sheets. :/

A friend of mine once hired a cleaner for the sole reason that she couldn't stand touching her teenage boy's sheets.

Now, not wanting to touch teen boy sheets makes sense, but I do wonder if both his legs were recently broken so that he couldn't walk to the washing machine.

[Rowellen]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

[ketchup]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

Former teenage boy here. Can confirm.

[frugalnacho]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

Former teenage boy here. Can confirm.

35 here and I still don't voluntarily change sheets. 

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

Former teenage boy here. Can confirm.

ahahahhahahhahaah

[mustachepungoeshere]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

My uni had a sheet exchange - you just had to drop off the used sheets and pick up a clean set each week. Or, in the case of one guy who somehow missed that detail, at the end of the first semester. ಠ_ಠ

(I always used and washed my own linen. The uni had gotten a good deal on Australian flag doona covers, and patriotism wasn't really the vibe I was going for in my dorm room.)

[dragoncar]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

Former teenage boy here. Can confirm.

35 here and I still don't voluntarily change sheets.

To my wife’s great dismay, I say “one of the perks of being an adult is that I don’t have to make my bed each morning.”

Of course I was proven wrong quickly

[Rowellen]

Surely a teenage boy is capable of changing and washing his sheets!

Capable, but not organised or willing. Left to the teenage boy, those sheets would literally be standing on their own. And he still wouldn't see the problem.

Former teenage boy here. Can confirm.

35 here and I still don't voluntarily change sheets.

To my wife’s great dismay, I say “one of the perks of being an adult is that I don’t have to make my bed each morning.”

Of course I was proven wrong quickly

Lol. These responses are funny. My husband feels that way too. He also doesn't voluntarily change sheets or make the bed. That's my job. But I don't voluntarily mow the lawn either so it's fair. We're all for reinforcing gender stereotypes in our house ;).

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

In college my flag to wash my sheets was when they got so dusty that I would sneeze when I lay down.

Ewww.

[mustachepungoeshere]

In college my flag to wash my sheets was when they got so dusty that I would sneeze when I lay down.

Ewww.

Of all the things that end up on uni/college sheets, dust was your main concern?

[frugalnacho]

Y'all be so wasteful changing sheets more than once per semester.