Is Sharing Always Caring?

This rule doesn’t always hold true especially in the case of towels. Sharing items in the bathroom can be very unhealthy and dangerous.

The simplest answer to this question is “NO”. It may seem nontoxic, but a towel can harbor lots of bacteria that grow in a humid, warm bathroom environment. If you share a towel with someone who has contamination caused by bacteria, you’ll be exposed to those invisible germs, which puts you at threat for getting the same infection. In some cases, you can get sick from the bacteria, even if your towel-sharing partner isn’t affected by any contamination.

The human body is enclosed in germs, even after bathing. Those invisible germs come-off of your body as you dry yourself, and stick to the towel until someone else touches it.

On top of being unhygienic, sharing towels also opens you up to new potential ailment. Your body is used to its own germs, and they are generally undamaging to you unless you have a medical condition. However, drying off with someone else’s towel puts you in the exposure to new germs that your body isn’t used to handling. As a result, you might get ill.

Beyond the probable health risks, there is a few other reasoning not to share towels. One of them becomes clear if you think about your own drying routine. You have no idea of knowing, which parts of the towel they used for which body part. This is contemplation that makes most people uncomfortable and is often enough to deserve using separate towels.

Rubbing a towel against your skin can also shed dead skin cells and hairs. Even if they don’t make you ill, you most likely do not want those mites touching your skin, especially after freshly cleaning off in the shower. This is just one other reason you shouldn’t share towels with anyone, even not with your closest family members.

A bath towel seems safe. After all, you have cleaned your body immediately before using it. However, your body can still carry lots of bacteria, fungi, and other invisible germs. Those tiny particles can live in the towel and can spread to the next person who uses it, causing skin infections and problems. Bacteria can enter the body through cuts, sores and open wounds, which can potentially lead to some illnesses.

The type of bacteria that causes staph infections develops in towels. This is one of the more serious results of sharing towels. If the bacteria enter through an open wound on your body, you can face an infection that is often opposed to antibiotics.

Towels may also spread bacteria that cause acne and skin infections. While not as serious as a staph infection, this is a skin issue that people don’t want to deal with and can be avoided by not sharing towels.

Fungi can also live in wet towels, including the type that causes tinea cruris, or jock itch. The athlete’s foot is another fungal infection that can be spread through the usage of shared towels.

Pink eye also spreads through towels, since the cloth comes into contact with the face. Towels may also enclose coliforms, which are bacteria associated with fecal matter, and E. coli bacteria, which cause food poisoning and urinary tract disease.

Not sharing towels is the easiest way to prevent spreading infections; you may also see, Is It the Time to Replace Your Towels? to know when you should discard your towels.