Cleaning expert warns against 'gross' tea towel mistake that can make you sick

14 October 2023 , 10:30

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An expert has revealed how often we should wash tea towels (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Tea towels are amongst the dampest and most highly utilised items in your house. As such, they are the perfect environment for bacteria to grow and fester. Making sure we wash them regularly is therefore very important - but how often?

One expert has revealed how frequently we should be laundering out tea towels - and shared a warning over the tendency to put dirty tea towels in the usual laundry pile.

Professional organiser Anita Birges has shared her top tips for cleanliness on bodyandsoul.com in which she urges people to keep dirty tea towels away from other items.

"Repeat after me, never throw dirty tea towels in the laundry hamper on top of clothes," she writes. "Gross. Enter: the down-and-dirty bucket. This is a bucket I use to collect things like microfibre cloths, tea towels, hand towels that might be used for the floor. It all goes in my down-and-dirty bucket which then gets washed in a load once a week on a high temp to blast germs."

Elsewhere in her post, Anita also advises how frequently you should be washing other regular household items, including bath towels which she says she be laundered every five to seven uses.

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"Ugh. Forget the sniff test and get real! These items are hanging around the bathroom, the dampest place in your home, soaking up all that moisture which is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria," she writes. "Also note, the guideline is based on uses, not days. The reason for that is pretty obvious, some people shower more than once a day, whereas others may not. Once those towels are in the wash, make sure it's set to a hotter temp."

Pyjamas, meanwhile, should be washed every three uses. "This pyjama washing guideline applies if you're not the type to sloth about in your pyjamas all evening and well into the morning. You're fine to wash with other similarly coloured clothes, and if they get a red wine stain, they'll need to get tossed in the hamper, stat."

This guidance comes after it was revealed there is a 'magic hour' for doing laundry, when energy costs are at their lowest and we can save some money. However, it does involve getting up early - as you'll need to put your washing machine on between 7am and 8am.

Laundry experts have claimed that a staggering 85% of us do our washing when energy prices are at their highest, between 8am and 10pm, meaning many of us are flushing money down the drain as we don't make the most of the quieter hours of the day when prices are often lower.

Gemma Strong