A HYGIENE expert has sparked a massive debate on how often you should wash your towels. 

Known as Madame Sweat on social media, the woman shared a clip of a man putting a load of laundry on as she gave a stark warning. 

She explained that bath towels in particular are very absorbent and hold moisture.

“If you only wash your bath towels once a week, you might want to change your wash schedule when you hear this,” she said. 

The woman said they are a “breeding ground for bacteria,” including mould, mildew and “even E. coli”.

“A microbiologist has told me that they’ve swabbed bath towels on day one and found 250,000 bacteria,” she continued.

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Citing Inside Edition’s investigation, she revealed that after an entire week, the bacteria count had gone up to 650 million on Marisa Hunter’s towel. 

TikTok user @madamesweat went on to share the simple hack to prevent so much bacteria build up.

“It’s as easy as just putting vinegar and baking soda into your wash cycle,” she said. “And wash two bath towels per person, per week.” 

“How often should you wash your bath towels?” she added in the caption of the video. 

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According to Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, towels are one of the biggest breeding grounds for germs. 

He recommended that you wash your towels in hot water every three days instead of waiting a week or two. 

The revelation has sparked a massive debate in Madame Sweat’s comment section, however, with many left divided. 

“Y’all aren’t washing your towels after every use?” one person questioned. 

Another said: “Once every two weeks has been good for 42 years. Still going strong,” followed by a strong bicep emoji.

A third wrote: “Once a week. I use a wash rag/ dry with it. Towel gets leftover and hang dry.

40+ years and I'm still here”.

“some people never wash them at all,” another pointed out. 

While a fifth suggested: “Need a sticker that changes colors when it’s time to wash, then resets after it’s washed”. 

Meanwhile, cleaning expert Sarah Dempsey, from MyJobQuote.co.uk, told Victoria Plum: “The recommendation is that you should wash your towels after three uses. Of course, you can wash them more often but, generally speaking, this should be sufficient.

“Although you may not see surface dirt on your towels, they still absorb sweat, body odour and skin cells – all of which can cause bacteria to grow on the material.

“Hand towels may accumulate dirt and odour more quickly than bath towels, so may need washing more frequently.”

She added that you should be replacing your towels every two to three years. 

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“Sometimes you may notice that your towels still smell musty, even after you’ve washed them, which is, along with fabric thinning and fraying, an obvious sign that you need to buy new towels,” she added. 

How often do you wash your towels?

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