After your shower or bath, hang your towel across a bar or shower rod so it can dry fully. This will help prevent bacterial growth and extend the time between washes. Avoid using hooks, which can cause moisture to get trapped within the fabric's folds.
Reynolds suggests storing bath towels outside the bathroom. "That's best practice," she adds. "Otherwise, keep them in a cabinet or covered container—you need a barrier so the plume can stick to something else and not your towel."
Towel bars are a good option if you have a lot of wall space near the tub or shower. Towel bars allow towels to dry without being bunched up, so they dry faster than towels might on a hook or ring.
Using vinegar every other wash or so can also help prevent the musty smell, but you can treat extra-stinky towels by using baking soda too. Super-scratchy towels might benefit from this occasional treatment: one hot cycle with only vinegar (no detergent) followed by one hot cycle with only baking soda.
There's no reason you would need to towel off after getting wet, other than the water may get on your clothes or make you a little colder. And as we've covered, air-drying can actually have benefits, so the answer is really quite the opposite!
How often to wash towels. The best way to prevent germs from growing on your bath towel is to let it dry completely between each use, and wash it frequently. The Cleaning Institute recommends washing bath towels after three uses. If you shower every day, that means laundry almost twice a week.
Do not fold your towel before hanging it. Instead, spread your towel out horizontally, then drape it over the hook. The towel should form a neat, triangular shape when on the hook. Hooks are great for hanging wet towels, as they let towels dry more quickly with less chance of odor.
If space is tight in the bathroom, mount a simple towel bar on the side of a cabinet or vanity. Or, add a hook to the back of a door. These space-savvy bathroom storage ideas create a place for towels to stay without getting in the way.
It is generally recommended that a towel bar only be mounted in a larger walk-in shower or something similar. If the shower is too small, your towel will inevitably get wet or unusable. Towel bars in a shower can be used to hold washcloths, bath towels and everything in between.
Towels. Bathrooms are the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew, and your towels are easily susceptible to these gross fungi. It's fine to keep one towel hung up in the bathroom, as long as you swap it out once a week.
Being freestanding or wall mounted, towel racks are quite useful. They are one of the larger towel hanging methods, so it is important that you have enough space for them. With that being said, they are not necessary, but they can prove to be very functional and convenient for several different bathroom designs.
Avoid drying laundry in rooms where you spend the most time such as your bedroom to reduce the risk of damp and mould. A wall-mounted drying rack is a good option: it takes up no floor space and you can fold it away. Alternatively, try a retractable clothesline that can be pulled back and put away when not in use.
Dry towels on low heat, as high heat can damage cotton fibers.
Towel Hooks instead of a towel bar–Your bathroom will look so much better if you find great towel hooks like these from Pottery Barn verses the towel bar. If you want your bathroom to be functuional towel hooks are the way to go.
A separate towel rack on the wall offers ample room for dry towels to warm while their user is showering and for damp towels to dry out. Inside the shower.
Most people should wash their sheets once per week. If you don't sleep on your mattress every day, you may be able to stretch this to once every two weeks or so. Some people should wash their sheets even more often than once a week.
It's OK to reuse a towel a few times before you wash and dry -- and it's better for the environment, too. Reusing towels a few times is better for the environment and likely won't be a cause for alarm.
How often you need to wash your bras isn't an exact science. But dermatologist Alok Vij, MD, says that as a general rule, you should wash them after every two to three wears.
Pat your skin dry.
Aggressively rubbing your body with a towel can cause friction and irritation to your skin. Dry skin can flake off and patches of dry skin can spread. Instead, pat or blot your skin gently. Start at the top of your body and work your way down to your toes.
James says it doesn't really matter how you dry off—using a towel or air-drying both work fine—but actually taking a few extra seconds to do it “can go a long way in terms of yeast infection prevention,” especially if you're prone to them.
Even portable dehumidifiers can work wonders at removing moisture from the air, which helps when trying to keep your bathroom dry and mold-free. If you're not ready to commit to a portable dehumidifier, you can always opt to open your bathroom windows during your shower to produce a similar effect.