Cold weather and washing

[jmarvellous]

We wash towels when we wash everything else, generally every two weeks or so. It's difficult and expensive to do the laundry here; small, old, crappy machines in a building that often doesn't do a good job of de-icing its sidewalk. I can't afford to take the time and money to do a separate load every few days to a week, as I would if we had an in-home unit.

If we take even longer to do laundry, I will pull out fresh towels at some point. I tend to replace the hand towel weekly.

[that_one_girl]

I wash towels frequently because my work uniforms get dirty quickly, so i am constantly searching for things to add to a load so i'm not running a half-empty washer all the time.

[magicdomino]

Two towels changed weekly.  Three sets (six towels) are perfect for a load in my washing machine.  Washcloths, however, are changed every day, as they usually don't dry very quickly.  Also, I have a habit of using the used washcloth to wipe down things in the bathroom.

[Julian]

weekly here in the Aussie deep south.

I do have a heated towel rail though - it cost me all of $20 on special, took 5 minutes to install and it dries towels brilliantly.

I have an old, busted up rotary clothesline which is getting pulled down soon, and I'm in the process of installing a folding external clothesline. 

Summer days here where it doesn't rain are great for drying things, but some days in winter the fog never even lifts (I'm up fairly high) so in winter the clothes dryer or the folding laundry rack get a good workout.

[Library Dragon]

DSs used to use a clean towel each time they showered. The problem was they showered at least 3 times a day.  My life was washing towels  .  We saved so much on water and electricity when the moved out.

[mechtilde]

Now I'm curious about washer sizes! I have a large washer by UK standards, which will take a 9kg (19lb) load. Most washers here take 6 or 7kg/13 or 15lb load. How much would a US washer take?

[menley]

I'm not sure how to calculate weight as USA washers are sold by cubic foot - my washer previously held 5.0 cu ft before I left the USA. Now I live in Europe and my washer is approximately 1/3 the size of that, and it's considered large in this country. My best friend has a washer that can literally hold three shirts.

[Harriet Jones]

We tend to use towels only once because we don't have anywhere to hang damp towels where they will be dry by the next day.

[veryfluffy]

I have a heated towel rail in my bathroom. It runs off the central heating, but on a special valve which I think is linked to the hot water, so that it is always on, even when the heating is off. I use huge fluffy towels, hand them over the heated towel rail, and they are dry probably within a couple of hours. We each have bath towels and a smaller one for our hair, and they get washed along with the bathmat once a week.

[veronaz]

When I wash my hair and wrap it in a towel, I put that towel on a drying rack so it will dry faster. 

[BigBadBetty]

Now I'm curious about washer sizes! I have a large washer by UK standards, which will take a 9kg (19lb) load. Most washers here take 6 or 7kg/13 or 15lb load. How much would a US washer take?

As someone else mentioned, most washers don't list capacity by weight. I looked mine up since it's from Europe and it's listed at 17.6 lbs. I would say most U.S. washers would be at least double that. People who live in apartments and RVs (caravans) generally have a small one like me (if they have one, many don't.) Some RVs have a combination washer/dryer in one appliance, but I have never seen them elsewhere.

[Thipu1]

We live in a fairly large apartment but space is still limited.  As a result, our washer and drier are stacked but they aren't small. 

When SIL visited she did a load of wash and remarked that the capacity of our set was the same as the set she has at home.  She lives in a large, two story house. 

[shhh its me]

  I use a fresh towel most days because I leave the towel on the pillow so the towel is still pretty damp the next night.  If I remember I'll use the day before yesterdays towel but I only use face towels once and I go through a lot of dish towels so that what dictates when I'm washing towels. 

[cicero]

I live in israel where people shower daily ( and in the summer months probably two- three times a day).  ( I only mention this because I remember reading some years ago that that is not the norm worldwide).

DS and I share an apartment and bathroom/shower. We switch out the hand towel about weekly. Bath towel and bedding about weekly - probably more in summer. We hang the towels in our rooms to dry after shower.

My ex husband's family used towels once and then they went to the wash. They thought I was weird for reusing a towel.

[MariaE]

I'd never heard of people not reusing towels until I joined FlyLady and she suggested reusing towels as part of limiting Mount Washmore.

We've always reused towels in my family - as have the other Danish and New Zealand families I know well enough to know such a thing about. I never saw any reason not to.