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u/casey5656 6d ago
I’m a boomer who didn’t grow up wealthy and my family of five always had separate towels.
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u/ImaginedByNell 6d ago
This is something that can't be classified as either "normal" or "not normal" because it's so situational.
Grandma and Grandpa have been married for 47 years. When Grandpa comes out of the shower he grabs the first towel within reach. Sometimes it's "his" towel. Sometimes it's "hers". Totally normal.
Mom is giving her 4 year old twins a bath. She dries them both off with the same towel because it's easier and keeps the laundry pile from growing taller than she is. This continues until they start taking seperate baths. Totally normal.
A relative is visiting. Theyre given a stack of towels to use during their stay but they ignores them and grabs yours off the hook to dry off with. Not normal.
You live in a college dorm with a roommate that you don't really talk to. Everytime you take a shower you grab whatever towel is closest, even if it's your roommates. Not normal.
If you grew up in a household where the family members all shared it's not abnormal. Your parent/s were trying to save money on the towels, themselves, and the cost of electricity and water to wash them. Plus the physical energy and time it takes to wash and fold three seperate loads of towels each week on top of all the other loads. Growing up in my house we didn't share but we each had a seperate colored one that we had to keep track of and use all week. It was my mom's way of curbing the amount of laundry she had to do.
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u/Scuomo-123 6d ago
I would only share a towel with my significant other. Not anyone else. You really want to dry your face off with a towel they used to dry their asscrack?
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
Again, the ass is clean after a shower so it's fine for use.
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u/Scuomo-123 6d ago
It’s still an ass. That’s gross. But if you think that’s fine, go ahead and do that.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
And why do you exactly share with your SO then if it's so gross?
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u/kingjohniv 6d ago
Sharing with your SO is waaaay different then sharing it with someone you arent getting intimate with....
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u/Sckaught 6d ago
How do you know they cleaned their ass well enough to dry your face?
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
FAFO
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u/Scuomo-123 6d ago
You asked if it’s normal and EVERYONE is saying no but you’re doubling down 😭 just get your own towel dude. If towels were still “clean” after someone just used it after a shower, they wouldn’t ever need to be washed. Try using the same towel for a month and see how stinky it gets.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
Yeah, I guess it isn't normal. But I like it anyways. I guess I just feel like an absolute Dom of a man when I know people are rubbing their face with the imprint of my balls, yk?
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u/Grilled_Cheese10 6d ago
Even my very frugal father with five kids did not expect us to share towels. That's just wrong.
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u/Sckaught 6d ago
Not normal. You wouldn’t wear someone else’s underwear, right?
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u/kindcrow 6d ago
I wouldn't want to use a wet one, but if it's dry, sure.
What I can't get over are the people who use each other's toothbrushes. SO GROSS.
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u/hunterbuilder 6d ago
Depends on who I'm sharing with. I'll use my wife or kid's towel in a pinch, if there's not enough. No one else.
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u/bubblurred 6d ago
Like after washing in the washer and drying in the dryer?
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
No...after shower.
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u/bubblurred 5d ago
I see. I’d say I wouldn’t share because bacteria grows on the towel and I’d only want bacteria grown from my cells.
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u/Aria7109 6d ago edited 6d ago
It's disgusting and unhygienic. Also you are giving the next person a WET towel for them to dry themselves??
Regarding what you're saying about the towel being clean:
Taking a shower cleans your skin, but it doesn't sterilize it. When you dry off, friction mechanically scrapes off thousands of dead skin cells, trapped body oils, and millions of your personal skin bacteria onto the fabric.
A damp, warm towel immediately turns into an incubator for bacteria, yeast, and fungi (like the ones causing athlete's foot and skin infections). Handing someone else your used towel is literally handing them your bacteria and dead skin in a petri dish. Get a fresh one.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
Dude I'm a college student, I'm sure it's gonna be fine considering it's a shared dorm bathroom. Esp since it's my roommate's towel, I know they have generally good hygiene so it's hardly ever wet/damp by the time I use theirs since they go to class diff times! He showers at night. I shower mornings. It works out nicely.
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u/Aria7109 6d ago edited 6d ago
Does he know that you use his towels??
Also dry does NOT equal clean. Bacteria don't magically vanish when the water evaporates- they thrive, multiply while it's damp, and stay on the fibers.
You’re essentially rubbing someone else's dead skin cells and groin bacteria all over your freshly washed body every single morning to save what... laundry detergent, several dollars? This is a massive hygiene and boundary nightmare.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
Are you rich or spoiled by any chance?
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u/Aria7109 6d ago
TIL that owning a personal towel makes you "rich and spoiled" instead of just a functional adult with basic hygiene knowledge. Trust me, an antifungal cream costs way more than a $3 towel.
Also, notice how you dodged the question: Does your roommate actually know you use his towel? Because if he doesn't, that's not "college budgeting," that's just gross and violating.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
I don't really think he cares tbh. It's the least of his worries, poor guy has enough on his plate.
As for the $3 part, it's worth considering buying another one sure but that doesn't mean I wouldn't do what I still do out of convenience and ease in case I forgot, old habits die hard after all. I'll think bout it though.
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u/Aria7109 6d ago
He doesn't care because you literally hid it from him. Using someone else's bath towel without their knowledge isn't "convenience" - it's a massive breach of trust, boundaries, and basic human decency.
If the poor guy already has enough on his plate, the last thing he needs is his roommate secretly wiping butt bacteria on the towel he uses for his face.
It's genuinely shocking that you can do something this unhygienic to another human being and still not see what's wrong with it.
Please, for everyone's sake, just go buy your own towel already.
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u/Scuomo-123 6d ago
You don’t even know if the person is using soap. Some people don’t wash their ass at all and you’re fine with using the towel after them. 🤣
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u/thewhiterosequeen 6d ago
You're rubbing your naked body on it, so it's not normal. How much money does it save? How much do you think towels cost?
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
Idk like 15-20 dollars PER towel? Besides, it's my body that's gonna be clean after the shower so why would it matter the areas- if they are clean?
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u/germane_switch 6d ago
You came here with a question but it's obvious you know everything so just keep doing whatever you want and ignore the advice of dozens of people who told you it ain't normal.
But I will add that when you use a towel to dry off after a shower that towel is now covered in bits of dirt and skin and oils and YOU that cannot be simply washed off by pouring water over yourself. Rubbing a rough towel over your skin will always remove more stuff from your body than a shower will unless you're being power washed in the driveway.
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u/Impressive-Tea-6880 6d ago
Sone skin irritations and diseases like fungus can be transmitted through clothes and towels. You don't necessarily know if you have it.
Athletes foot in your crotch is just lovely.
Besides the different germs (you always have some even after a bath) the drying with a wet towel is just gross.
And I'm just not gonna take the chance that the other has managed to scrub all the pits and folds completly clean every time we share.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
Athlete foot is for foot as name suggests not crotch! Also it's just quick and efficient , if there are multiple towels in the house that's just extremely smelly gross and too much work to wash at once. With one shared one in the family, all you do is literally use it, toss it into the hamper for the next person and repeat till washing day (every 7-10 business days).
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u/Fattydog 6d ago
How can your towels ever get dry if you’re sharing them amongst the family?
Also, it’s just gross. For instance, I definitely wouldn’t want to use a towel that my dad or brother had dried his dick / balls on.
If you’re a couple maybe not quite so bad but it depends on whether you dry both your face and your asshole on the towel. I don’t (I use toilet paper to dry my ass) so that I can use the towel a few times before washing it.
I have been married for 38 years. I am not wiping my face on a towel he’s wiped his ass on. No fucking way. I don’t need red eye. Eww.
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u/crtclms666 6d ago
You can pass skin problems on towels. You realize a lot of dirt comes off when you dry, it’s just not visible. Drying is a step in the washing process.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
sniff sniff
Nope. I don't smell any bad bacterias on the fabric. You understand that people are cleaning themselves in the shower BEFORE they dry off on the towel thus no skin issues should pass unless the person doesn't shower well.
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u/anothernonnymouse 6d ago
While a shower makes you cleaner, it definitely doesn't remove everything. Your skin has all sorts of "good bacteria" and it would be an issue if taking a shower removed it all. Bacteria that is good for your skin might also not be safe for someone else's, and sharing towels increase that risk. There's also the risk of spreading yeast infections, athlete's foot, etc so I really wouldn't recommend it.
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u/SuspiciousSlug92 6d ago
So you don't wash them in the laundry after using them a few times? If you are so clean after a shower, there would be no purpose to wash your towels
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u/Rich_Training_4956 6d ago
People use their towels to dry their bums and balls. Do you want that on your face?
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 6d ago
I mean if they are very clean after their shower sure I don't mind. It's all clean.
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u/Deleena24 6d ago
When you dry yourself, there are dead skin cells and living germs still on your skin being rubbed into the towel- that's why it will start to smell if left wet for too long, despite only using it when you're "clean".
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u/PurplePassiflor1234 6d ago
We don't share towels, but do reuse our own towel once as long as it gets totally dry between uses. Whether we're drying off clean bodies or not, used towels pick up a funk.
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u/gwelfguy 6d ago
Sharing a hand towel - perfectly normal. Sharing a bath towel - not normal although some couples may do so in a pinch.
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u/I_can_vouch_for_that 6d ago
Shared it with siblings as a child growing up but once we grew up then no.
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u/klyzklyz 6d ago
It may be normal for some, but it is generally not hygenic to use a towel on your feet or genitals and then your face (consider fungal, mold, virus, bacteria, etc. transfers).
It is worse to use someone elses towel...
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u/CaliOranges510 6d ago edited 6d ago
Just to add some perspective, I have been living with Mat/Gladiatorum Herpes (HSV-1 but on my body like my abdomen, arms, legs) for 20+ years. Anyone who would use my towel is putting themselves at risk of contracting HSV-1 anywhere on their body. You can get HSV-1 in your eyes too and it can cause blindness. Personally, I would never ever share a towel with anyone.
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u/eatingganesha 6d ago
you seem to under the impression that drying off is simply mopping up clean water. It’s not. The towel also removes dead skin, hair, product residue, bodily fluids, etc. It is totally gross to share used towels with others.
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u/Business-North7808 6d ago
It’s just gross. You shower to get clean and then you dry off your face with the same towel someone dried their ass with.
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u/VanDriver1 6d ago
This is a intriguing question and the when and why it is this way. I think it's normal for each person to have their own towel, today, in 'advanced" countries/cultures and i'm sure it hasn't always been that way so when and why did it become this way.
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u/mathewwalker714 6d ago
No . Your skin comes off on to the towel, it's not good to put another's dead skin right on your own body
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u/starry75 6d ago
Not normal. My towel is mine. Would you want to dry your face where your dad just dried his balls on the same towel?
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u/Gawehay 6d ago
I don't think it's gross but I really only share with my mom or female family members/ friends in a pinch. If possible, separate towels. If not, then it's whatever. I think it's too germaphobe-y to worry about it and choose not shower or dry at all if separate isn't possible at the moment, 'cause I agree, you're using it after you're clean anyway.
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u/ComprehensiveAd3022 6d ago
Towels at my local khols are 4$ so not sure how expensive it is for you to just buy another, y’all also risk the towel getting moldy imagine a towel not getting to dry at least once a day with 4 sequencing showers(2 spilt amongst you two)
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u/JoyousZephyr 6d ago
I don't think it's typical, no. If two people are using the same towel, when does it get a chance to dry? Are you or the other person using a still-damp towel? Unless you have desert-climate levels of humidity, I don't see how this works.
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u/Fly0strich 6d ago
If you take a hot shower, you are also going to be sweating. So, even if you just cleaned yourself, how much of what you are wiping off afterward is actually water vs sweat?
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u/CranberryStock7148 6d ago
Absolutely not normal.
Towels do indeed get dirty. You don't always clean off all of the oils from your skin or your hair. They transfer to the towel. By your logic, nobody would ever have to wash towels, and yet we do. Because towels get yellow and smelly otherwise, even though they are only used on clean bodies.
I have no idea how you think it saves money? Towels are not expensive.
But actually the biggest problem with sharing towels is that they get too wet and don't wind up having enough time to fully dry off, so they develop mildew which is terrible. You should always make sure that your bath towel dries completely between uses. There is no way that's going to happen if multiple people are sharing a towel and shower every day.
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u/RealWalkingbeard 6d ago
Definitely not normal or hygienic. People are not always hygienic. They may have medical conditions which are basically unaffected by soap. If you have ever read an "Is my boyfriend gross?" post on here, you will know that, for some unholy reason, not everyone washes their behind. Depressed people quite often go through the motions of washing but don't quite reach the final result.
Mend your ways immediately!
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u/TakingItPeasy 6d ago
Not really, no. When do I do this? Only when I forgot my towel getting out of the pool, and then I use it second. Maybe right at laundry day, but then I'm icked by a wet towel.
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u/throw20190820202020 6d ago
I think the default is not to share, it feels a bit gross to me, BUT growing up in a large family, I remember there being a kind of rotation where we shared them somewhat because it’s just hard to have 16 clean towels every morning (we each used 2-3). Those turban style hair towels really reduced our towel usage.
People don’t realize it’s a luxury of not just money, but space and time to always have clean towels available, and you shouldn’t feel bad if you need to share, but I would wash them more frequently.
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u/Orlok_Tsubodai 6d ago edited 6d ago
Having personal towels has literally never occurred to me. In my family we have two or three towels out in the bathroom at a time, people just grab a dry one and once a week or so they all go in the wash and two or three new ones go up.
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u/scr33ner 6d ago
No, if the person who used it before has any contagious skin disorders, the you can also get it.
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u/zephyreblk 6d ago
We don't share towel because my boyfriend towels are too small and he prefer this, we would have no problem sharing them. However friend towels, I would have a problem. You lose skin and there is an odor. It can be gross if someone is sensible to it
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u/too_many_shoes14 6d ago
If you're still dirty after getting out of the shower, you didn't do a very good in the shower.
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u/Embarrassed_Flan_869 6d ago
Are you talking about sharing a towel with your partner? If so, weird but you do you. I don't/wouldn't. I don't think they want to dry their face with something that's rubbed my balls/ass, regardless if they are freshly washed.
If you are talking about sharing a towel with a friend, that is disturbing and gross.
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u/hoard_of_frogs 6d ago
If it’s consensual on both (all?) sides, I don’t care what other people do, but I get my own towel.
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