There’s no better feeling than stepping out from under a hot shower and wrapping yourself up in a fresh warm fluffy towel.
Apparently though, it’s a feeling us Brits aren’t all that familiar with, with new research showing that a lot of us aren’t washing our towels anywhere near as much as we should be.
New research from the experts at Showers To You shows that a third of Brits wash their bathroom towels just once every few months!
But it gets worse, with 3% of respondents washing their bathroom towels a measly once a year.
But a towel that hasn’t been washed for a while can’t be that bad, can it? We’re as clean as could be when we use them.
Think again.
It turns out 90% of our bathroom towels are infested with coliform bacteria, according to a recent study. Ew.
To be clear, coliform bacteria are organisms that can indicate the presence of disease-causing bacteria in water.
What’s worse is that 14% of the towels had E.coli nestled in their fibres.
Clinical pharmacist, Nyrah Saleem, previously told Metro.co.uk that ‘bacteria such as E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa can pose health risks if they exist in large amounts in your home.
‘While most strains of E. coli are harmless, certain strains can cause serious health issues, especially if they contaminate food or water,’ she said.
Health issues which can be caused by E.coli include diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness, and infections like meningitis in severe cases, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This being said, most E.coli strains are indeed not dangerous and are part of a healthy intestinal tract.
However Nyrah adds: ‘If large amounts of pathogenic E. coli are present in your home, there is an increased risk of infection if you come into contact with contaminated surfaces or consume contaminated food or water.’
It’s safe to say you’re coming into contact with a contaminated surface if you’re rubbing yourself dry with an E.coli rich towel. Yikes.
The moral of the story is that we should be washing our towels more often than we do currently.
So how do we get our towels properly clean again?
Professional cleaner and TikTok queen of clean Ann Russell gives plenty of advice to renters and homeowners on how best to clean and maintain their homes.
She’s got the perfect tips for cleaning your towels and it’s not what we had in mind.
Replying to @Amelia
It turns out Ann says you shouldn’t use fabric softener as it prevents moisture from getting in and leaves these towels and cloths essentially redundant.
However, detergent is needed when getting things like fake tan and makeup off of them. If that isn’t an issue though, Ann simply uses water.
Yes you read that right. Then, to keep them soft, she doesn’t always tumble dry them. Instead, around 30 minutes into them drying outside, she gives them a shake and then turns them upside down.
This apparently opens up the fibres. Then, voila, you have clean towels and no longer need to stress about bacteria.
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