You probably don’t use residential laundry services for your bath towels, but you still need to wash them properly to keep them intact and perform their best. Mistreating your towels can cause their fibers to pull apart and reduce their absorbency. Keep them in the best shape by washing them after an appropriate amount of use, similar to your jeans and other wash and fold laundry that don’t need immediate washes.
Use bath towels 3-5 times before washing them
Bath towels should be washed frequently because bacteria can quickly build on wet fabric. Waiting longer than five uses can also cause the towel to smell mildewy or rank. No matter how clean you are when you use the towel, the moisture will play host to bacteria that can cause acne breakouts or leave you less clean than when you were in the shower or tub.
As for face towels, you should toss these smaller towels into the wash after every use to ensure you’re not rubbing bacteria into your face after a wash. Freshly washed towels actually are better at absorbing water than old towels, as their fibers have plenty of air between them.
Wash your towels with warm water, half the usual detergent to prevent buildup, and skip fabric softener to keep the fibers durable. Then pop them in the dryer for a medium to low heat until all the moisture has evaporated. You want your towels dry to the touch to avoid mildew forming before you even use them.
Wash floor mats weekly/monthly depending on use
The absorbent mats on your bathroom floor should be cleaned depending on your tub or shower use. If your household consists of 1-2 people who each shower once a day, you can wash your mats every week or two. If your bathroom sees a lot of use, you might want to wash every week, especially if you have kids.
To wash floor mats with rubber backing, apply stain pretreatment to necessary areas, then wash it in your washing machine with cold water and on a gentle cycle. Dry it on low heat to prevent the rubber from melting, or if the rubber backing is cracked and starting to peel, hang it in the sunlight to dry. Cracked rubber can peel and clog your washer and dryer, and will reduce the lifespan of your floor mats.
Don't mix with clothes
Bath towels and face towels should be washed in an exclusive load, and floor mats should be washed together. Don’t mix either towel load with your regular laundry. Each laundry category has its own wash care routine. Lumping them together won’t balance your laundry load and could cross-contaminate the towels, and you don’t want bacteria from your floor mats mixing with your face towels or intimate wear.
Keep your laundry apart in different piles: whites, colors, delicates, face and bath towels, floor mats, outwear, etc. Keeping laundry with the like will also make your work faster, as all the items in one load will go to a similar place after they’re dried and folded.
