The feeling of glistening, freshly-soaped skin when you take a shower after a long hard day at work, or after an intense workout at the gym is incomparable. But then you reach out for your towel – and the manky, unwashed towel ends up contaminating your skin when you wipe it.
Did it ever occur to you that your towel might make your skin unclean? We often associate bath towels and face towels with cleanliness – but when they are not washed often or maintained properly, they might end up passing on germs, infectious microbes and other impurities on our skin. Indeed, used towels have the potential to make you really sick by passing on viruses and germs.
In this article, we’ll be discussing towel hygiene tips everyone should follow to prevent infection from towel germs. Note that all findings in this article are gotten from a reputable health site Mayoclinic.
Towel hygiene tips to prevent germs/infection
Separate towels for separate use
Now that we know that towel acts as a trap and carrier of germs, we don’t want bacteria transferring from hands to the face. Using the same towel can transfer infections that can cause skin diseases from perhaps your feet or any other part for that matter to your face. Use a separate towel for your face, hand, body, and hair. Keep a small hand towel for the hands, an extremely soft towel for face, a normal cotton towel for the body, and an Egyptian cotton towel for hair.
Do not leave your towel folded wet
This means that you do not leave a wet towel hanging in your bathroom or lying in the washing machine. Put them in the dryer or hang them in a room with a lot of ventilation to avoid growth of bacteria and mold.
Wash your towels often
If towels develop a damp or musty smell, try using the sanitizing setting on your washing machine. You can also soak towels in vinegar to kill smells, or hang them on a clothesline to sun-bleach stains and remove odor.
Renew your towels often
According to Healthline, experts recommend changing out your towels about once a week to avoid excessive microorganism growth. (You may want to change your hand towels more frequently since they commonly stay a bit damp if you use them multiple times throughout the day.)
Content created and supplied by: NurseKike (via Opera News )
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