Does your family use one towel per bath/shower?
Or do you hang them up and re-use for several showers?
Or do they stay in a wet heap on the bathroom floor?
(I hope the last choice isn’t your answer. But if it is you can definitely get the stink out of your smelly towels.)
In my younger days, prior to married/Mama life, I used bath towels…liberally. As in, I used a new towel every shower. One for my body and one for my hair. Do you know that I washed a full load of towels every single week…and I lived alone!
My thoughts on frugality and life in general have changed so much since I was that young, single girl just starting my nursing career.
As our family has grown, we have become more conscious of hanging up our towels after bathing. It makes no sense to wash 3-4 loads of towels per week when the more frugal option is to only wash 2 for our family.
Here’s our current method:
- I still use two towels, but I hang them separately on hooks behind the door so they can dry well between uses. I change them twice per week.
- My husband only uses one towel and he drapes it over the towel bar to dry between uses. I also change his twice per week.
- I have three children and they each use their own towel. It is hung either on the towel rack or over the shower rod to dry until their next bath. I only change their towels once per week.
If I drop to doing only 2 loads of towels per week/year as opposed to 4 loads of towels per week/year, my cost savings in the dryer alone is significant:
Scenario #1 (New Towel Each Bath):
Running my dryer for 40 minutes = $0.50
$0.50 x 4 loads per week = $2
$2 x 52 weeks/year = $104
Scenario #2 (Our Current Method):
Running my dryer for 40 minutes = $0.50
$0.50 x 2 loads per week = $1
$1 x 52 weeks/year = $52
I’m thrilled to save $52 per year! Keep in mind this doesn’t include the money saved on detergent or the energy and water used in the dryer.
There are a million other things I could spend that $52 on. Not to mention I’ve saved the time and effort of washing 2 less loads of laundry per week. And I’m only washing 104 loads of towels each year, as opposed to 208 loads. That just thrills me.
So if you’re not hanging up your towels, start today! It’s an easy way to put a few pennies back in your family’s budget. It’s all about the Baby Steps, right?
I am pleased to link this post to Frugal Friday over at Life as MOM. It’s my favorite little spot for frugal ideas.
I am also pleased to link this post to the fabulous Madame Deals. Such good info over there!
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I loved reading your math there. Cost aside, like you said, who wants to do an extra hundred loads of laundry every year?
It never occurred to me that I could use a new towel for every shower. I’ve definitely never done that! We hang to dry and change every week. When I have mischievous little tots and have to keep the bathroom door shut, I try to change twice a week because they don’t air out as well.
.-= Mrs. Mordecai´s last blog ..One crazy week =-.
I love how you broke down the cost and even figured out how many extra loads per year it would be. I LOVE efficiency.
I also followed your link to getting the stink out of towels. Great post. I know certain family members who could benefit from reading that. I never thought to turn up my water heater for a load though. That’s something I’ll keep in mind.
.-= Nikki ´s last blog ..What’s grosser than gross? =-.
Ha – I love efficiency too! 🙂
I plan to do a whole post on how much it actually costs to do a load of clothes. It will probably go up early next week if you’re interested.
Thanks for commenting!
We use our towels for a week, I use 2, one for my hair. I never understood the whole new towel each shower thing – I mean, you just got out of the shower, you are clean! Oh and ours are ALWAYS hung up after each use.
Good post 🙂
.-= Kim´s last blog ..Frugal Fridays – Frugal Arts & Crafts =-.
I don’t know what I was thinking when i used one per bath….obviously I had no one else to take care of except myself! I’m so glad I’ve come to my senses! Motherhood will do that to you. 🙂
We are always hanging our towels. Who wants to do extra laundry?! Love that you broke it down with math.
.-= kris´s last blog ..She Shall Be Praised =-.
Thanks, Kris. :
I love laundry, but definitely don’t want to spend the time or energy to do extra!
We hang our towels. Initially, it was not to save energy…it was because I was l-a-z-y. But I’ll go with conserving energy. Yeah. That’s the ticket. 😉
.-= Mandy´s last blog ..He Sure Is… =-.
Hang ’em! Over and over again. We REALLY re-use our towels. I love the monetary break down!
.-= Cheryl@SomewhatCrunchy´s last blog ..Somewhat Crunchy YOU Review and Recipe Round-Up! =-.
great idea! i do this too. i always hang them. i use them about two or three times and then wash them. 🙂
.-= cassie´s last blog ..Frugal Friday =-.
I usually just use ours once. Will try this to save the money!
.-= Weekend Cowgirl´s last blog ..Heirloom Quilt =-.
Hi Lauren! I always reuse my towels! When I was in college I had a roommate that used towels like they were disposable. New towels for every shower and more than one! It drove me nuts! But I guess it is all in how you were taught. And really having kids changes everything!
Thanks fro linking up your post!
.-= Renae @ Madame Deals ´s last blog ..Walmart Best Deals Week of 4/21 =-.
That is a great way to save,but who uses a dryer. I hang my laundry. Not only do we save on the electric bill, we get a great, body loofah, because the towels are not as soft as dryer towels. We also don’t have to buy those expensive dryer sheets. There are actually some skin care mavens, that now recommend buying the roughest wash cloths you can buy to exfoliate your skin.
I think a LOT of people still use a dryer!
I’m similar to you in that I like the roughness of a line dried towel. And they just smell better 🙂
-Lauren
Two parents and two toddlers here. My husband has his own towel, but I share mine with our girls for now. We shower 1-3x a week, more if we go hiking, work out, or the girls decorate themselves in yogurt. We live at the foot of mountains in the Midwest US, so we can get away with that in a way we NEVER could have at humid, swampy sea-level locations like Florida. Our dog has her own, too, when she gets bathed 1x a month (if that).
We have one towel rack on the wall and one hook behind the door. They alternate locations, depending on which is wet and needs the rack to air out on. They get washed 1-2x a month on tap cold and dried on low heat in winter, in the sun in summer.
Now I know some of this may be too frugal to some of you, but it isn’t even about money. First, the dry air makes it painful if we shower every day, esp for my eldest who has a bad case of eczema when she bathes too often. (No amount of Shea butter would fix our cracked skin) Second, we use these amazing Korean exfoliating towels in the shower, use a bidet attachment on the toilet, and use face cloths on our faces/feet/underarms before bed. We also made changes from the conventional chemical-laden bath products to more eco-friendly ones that don’t bind to the towels like conventional bath products. But more importantly, our environmental impact is minuscule!
And if you love efficiency, look into microfiber travel towels. These are awesome!