Asked by: Lisa Perry, St Ives
Damp towels do breed bacteria, but it’s important to understand that we are constantly surrounded by bacteria on virtually everything we touch. The bacteria on your towel nearly all originally came from your skin, and if you aren’t sick and don’t have any open cuts or wounds, there’s no reason to suppose that transferring some of these germs to a towel and then back to you will make them any more dangerous.
The American Cleaning Institute recommends washing towels every three or four uses. But surveys show that most people reuse them at least five times, apparently without any serious consequences.
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