No Stupid Questions

Also, never ever ever use fabric softener on towels. It ruins them by covering them in an oily thin compound that nullifies their ability to absorb water. And it takes so much work and many washings to fix them.

(me... Washing them every 3-4 weeks and reading the comments.)

I wash mine when it starts growing mold. So anywhere from every 3 years to every 6 years.

If you asked my wife, the answer would be that you use them for a day or two tops, but the important part is that you throw them in the hamper wet, and then make sure to put other clothes and stuff on top of them so they sit there damp and mouldering until laundry day comes around.

Our towel bar is directly above the heating grate, so towels, properly hung, will dry fairly quickly there. Considering that towels are typically only used to dry you once you've just thoroughly cleaned yourself, they won't smell like much of anything but maybe soap and shampoo for many days of use, assuming they are able to dry out. But apparently it's more of a priority that they get put in the laundry basket immediately, moisture be damned. I gave up trying to fight that fight long ago.

Once a week is normal, unless you notice a funk. How wet they get, how you hang them, and how well they dry can be factors in this. 

Which towels are we talking about, and how frequently do they get used?

Bath towels, hand towels and dish drying towels will all get dirty at different rates, and get/stay wet at different rates.

Towels should smell clean (clean, not perfumy) and be dry and not feel like they’ve got something on them. The more time a towel stays wet, the more often you wash it. If it gets noticeably dirty, you wash it. This could be anywhere from once a day to never, if it’s just decorative and you never use it.

I use the smell test. If it smells weird in any way, it goes to the wash.

Relevant Dilbert:

After every third use, ideally

I also wash them once a week

I wash towels one week and sheets the next. Everything is on and alternating cycle.

Once a week is fine. You're clean when you get out of the shower, and the towel air-dries as you're not using it. Even where I live - 65% humidity year-round - we only wash the towels once a week.

When I was a kid, it was one and done. I grabbed a clean towel from the bathroom closet every day. Even though I was clean coming out of the shower, I also knew that showering loosens dead skin cells, which I was rubbing all over the towel. Over time, those skin cells would decompose, giving off a musty smell. I learned that from my dad, who almost never changed his towel. Ick. It made me extra paranoid about reusing them, so I swapped towels daily.

When I became an adult and had to do my own laundry, I realized just how miserable it was trying to wash 7 towels every week. (Why did my mother let me use so many towels as a kid?!) So I started reusing them. I used a towel for a week before throwing it in the laundry.

Now, I'm recently retired in my late 30s and shower every 2-3 days (or anytime I leave the house). Since I'm not showering as frequently, I will reuse a towel for about 2-3 weeks before replacing it. If I go to dry off after a shower and the towel smells a bit musty, I'll toss it on the floor and grab a fresh towel instead. I think I'm on week 4 with my current towel, but it still smells clean, so I'm not too worried about getting a few more showers out of it.

I'm only using the towel to dry off when I'm clean from showering, I use it at least a week. I do hang it from a rack where it dries well.

How often should you, I cannot tell. I do it when it's no longer white, and the idea of using it starts to seem repulsive. This strategy has worked for over a decade.

Face towels (washcloths) really only one use and then wash. Body towels I switch about once a week but I live in a dry climate and they dry fast. I also use a linen towel which is very absorbent but also dries much faster than terry. Kitchen towels I change depending on how I used them - normal use (drying hands), every couple of days. Cooking? Change after I am done cooking.

Just to add to the answers here, remember to strip your towels once a year. That funky smell when they’re dry may be your delicious human oils penetrating deep and impregnating the fibers. Sebum rots and goes rancid, producing that musty closet smell.

Really depends how dry you make them. If you're not able to dry and they stay damp all day I would throw them in the washing bin after a day or 2. If they dry out easily, maybe a week. But the smell test if best.

I usually go for once a week to once every two weeks. But I do have a heated towel dryer, and k think that helps to keep bacteria to grow in them. My advice is to make sure you hang your towl somewhere they can air out well

Once a week for me too.

I shoot for 2-3 uses for body/shower towels.

Hand towels, etc I try to grab/replace when I'm doing other laundry. Sometimes more often in the kitchen though, if say I've been cooking a lot and they start feeling wet or funky.