Is it okay to want clean towels every day in your hotel bathroom?

Anything is OK. Do you use a clean towel every day when you are at home? Toweling off a clean body doesn’t really leave a dirty towel, does it?

Actually, it does gail. Drying off with a towel exfoliates the skin, leaving dead (and soggy) skin cells on the towel. Combined with the bacteria the is EVERWHERE, it can get pretty gross after enough use. That’s part of what makes a bath towel begin to stink over time.

However, a couple of days of use isn’t going to be a problem. It’s really not an issue until you get past 8+ days.

@Whattodo – I’m of the mindset that you should act in a hotel how you act at home. If you have a new towel everyday at home, fine.

If you honestly believe that re-using your hotel towels is gonna benefit the environment and you feel guilty for being a baby seal killer otherwise based on your own opinion, then you should follow thru with your ideals, and re-use the towels.

If you’re only feeling guilty because of someone else’s hangups about the environment, well, then I helpfully suggest just getting over it. There will always be someone somewhere who disapproves of something you’re doing.

Or do what I do, and revel in your daily hypocrisies. I mean, look, I’m fluthering when I should be working. C’est la vie!

It really does save water and power. According to hoteljobresoruce

‘A typical 100-room hotel can reduce its water usage by 72,000 gallons and detergent usage by 480 gallons, saving up to $20,000 per year,’ Burger says. ‘And this doesn’t take into account savings associated with housekeeping, laundry labor, and linens and towels purchasing.’

Several industry estimates point to savings of up to $6.50 per day per occupied room. With utilities costs rising rapidly, those numbers are sure to grow.

That put’s a completely differen’t perspective on it Marina and also shows that everyone has to play their part to make a change, otherwise one person is somewhat insignificant in something as big as this.

@Skyrail The hotel industry has done all these studies to see which type of wording on the room cards is most effective in getting people to participate. What works best is a card that says “75% of the guests in this hotel are participating in the towel and linen reuse program.” Interesting, huh?

@soundedfury Euuuuww. I change my towel well before the 8-day mark, but did I really need to mentally picture that?

Wow, it is pretty amazing to think of how much psychological thought goes behind these things, I guess you don’t tend to think about it unless you read about it or are in that industry. Thanks Marina, where did you find this (or these) interesting facts? On that hotel site you linked above?

@skyrail No, the information about the studies on the cards came from elsewhere. I have a conference call in a minute, but I’ll look for it for you afterwards.

I so, so strongly disagree with robmandu when he says you don’t have to pay attention
to other people’s moral programs. Sure you do. If you want to disregard them, take the damn consequences (secondhand guilt).
We learn there are ethical things we can do because someone helps us by telling us stuff. What Marina told us here teaches us WHY we might want to re-use our damn towels.
I’m in a bad mood today, but I’m right about this, too.

@susanc, my only point is, you can’t please everyone all the time. Be yourself.

Do you feel guilty you’re not an atheist/pentacostal, vegan/carnivorous, homo-/bi-/trans-/non-sexual, monogamous/polygamist, libertarian/communist/democrat/republican? Of course not. Should you feel guilty? Definitely not.

yes

I use a bath towel about 2–3 times before I get a new one. Not only do bacteria enjoy its moist breeding ground, molds love that environment. So thats why I do try to use it as much as I can but if it gets stinky, it goes in the hamper. You aren’t going to die or get sick. If it doesn’t stink why not use it an extra time or two? It will only stengthen your immune system.

But rob, being yourself has to include improving your behavior when you get
new information, no?

And I too love perfectly clean towels. I adore them. Yummy.

I ask for clean towels always in a hotel. And I love leaving dirty ones on the floor.
As for reusing the dirty ones, depends on what part of your body you dried last…and if you want to use that part to dry your face…

Never feel quilty!