I have some well worn kitchen towels-the white flour sack kind- that I inherited when my auntie died and I was in charge of clearing her estate. She was very thrifty so I would guess these might have been from when she was first married in the 1920s or 1930s! They are threadbare, but so soft and absorbant that I use them to wrap and dry things like lettuce. They are unstained.

So I guess I replace towels every 100 years or so!

Check with your local shelter(s). They generally always seem to need towel donations.

Oly, you are after my own heart! Yes, keep ’em, use ’em.

We have textile bins around here where you can leave clothes, rags, towels, linens, anything that is beyond its useful life…stained, ripped, etc. I honestly don’t know what happens to it, I had heard they grt turned into industrial rags, but who sorts it and gets it to That facility? No idea. Just hoping to keep it out of landfill and communities especially in Africa where it just gets dumped and mounds up.

I have a beach towel from when we went to Galveston Beach 1982 tar is still on it never went back there, very nasty place. Have bath towels from 1978 use every week since I only use white linens and towels never need to match to decor. I use pillow cases every week from the 1940’s that my Aunt made for my Mom and Dad as wedding presents . Have Momma’s dish towels as well that I use regularly all at least from ’50-60’s. My car is 2002 and skillets are 1900’s a 1970 sofa… I try not to toss much of anything.

Best old thing I am holding on to is DH… from 1971. ❤️

This is a little different, but friends of my parents had grown up working in a commercial hotel owned by the family , and before the war there were single men who lived at the hotel rather than rent a house or board (there were no actual apartment buildings there).

One of the men had a suite and when he moved out(or died there, I can't remember exactly) there was a small room crammed with dress shirts. He apparently did something like buy 5-7 a week and he would wear a new shirt every weekday and then discard them into this room.

When they are worn out or I am changing decor

Never. They just cycle down. Bath towels become dog towels. Dog towels become rags. Kitchen towels become cleaning towels. And eventually all become scrub the rug from poop and vomit towels. Thankfully I don't need those very often.

When something happens, very rarely thankfully, like maybe I dropped something and spill something atrociously everywhere. I have a pile of dog towels to clean it all up with and last month when I spilled the bottle of fish oil I could throw the towels out.

I don't keep track of when I replace my towels, but I always have some new and unused ones in my linen closets. When I decide to start using the new ones, then I replace those. I have one towel in L.A. that I almost never use because it is so huge, but it lives on my towel rack.

When they start to look like they need to be replaced. Then they are used as dog towels and then rags.

As needed.

Like everything else towels I have bought the last few years just do not last. I have several towels that are in great condition that purchased when I first got married in the 90’s. Two from Gemco which closed in 1988. Purchased new towels a couple years ago for different colors and a more modern look, what a disappointment. They are already needing to be replaced.

I made the mistake of buying some very plush towels a few years ago -- TOO plush. I can't wash inside my ears with the wash cloths because they're too thick, and the 'bath towels' are gi-normous. However, I have plenty of these -- which is another factor in how often you'd replace something: How often is it in rotation?

Re:Costco towels. They lasted very well with guest use at our Maui condo. The biggest reason to replace them was the ever-present guest problem, "Towels Gone Missing", but also stains, mostly suntan lotion. I've used retired Costco wash cloths for dishes.

I have some 10 year old IKEA towels that look nearly perfect. the color and design are exactly what I like. They don't sell that type anymore, so I will be repairing them if they fray at the edges.

I agree with Fori. The textile industry has a huge carbon footprint. It takes over 700 gallons of water to make one cotton T-shirt. I think twice before I buy anything anymore. I buy new things when my style changes or if I really need it, but my style is pretty simple so I don't feel the need to change things up very often.

I'm among those who expect towels to last a good long time, as in multiple decades. I agree with chisue, rotation is important. We have sufficient quantities that any one towel -- which is used a couple times -- is laundered maybe once per month.

I buy in groups of 8. They last for at least 20 years. This stupid "news" is fake.

The only towels I lost were the ones that the almost DIL poured tons of bleach on when they lived with us.

I've written before about Ridwell, which recently expanded into my town. I am unsure how far across the country they are right now, but they are rapidly growing. It's a company that picks up recyclables from your home, every two weeks. These are items that cannot go in your regular municipal or private recycle bins (in most places)...like plastic filmt things like paper towels and TP come wrapped in, plastic grocery and food bags, plastic clam/food shells that ready-to-eat food comes in, batteries, light bulbs and "threads." The threads category is for either reusable clothing (which they donate to appropriate places) or worn out textiles that they make sure gets to a place that recycles them into new textiles.
The plastic bags go to TREX and turned into decking material. Plastic clamshells are recycled into new food containers. Each pick-up day they have one special classification for pick up...so far they've taken corks (goes to manufacture cork flooring), jewelry - donated for resale or given to artists to use to make art, twist ties and bread clasps (I forget where those go), electrical cords and charging cords that are recycled, etc. They have upcoming special pick ups for school supplies and warm winter clothing. They have interesting partners like the Vermont Mitten Company, organizations that help homeless youth and people with disabilities.
It's very affordable and I believe they are really trying to make a difference. It's slow and they are growing as fast as they can, so check to see if they are in your area. I put lots of old towels/washcloths/rugs, ruined clothing in my "threads" bag and know they will be reused and not end up in the landfill. https://www.ridwell.com/about

I love that everyone’s vocabulary includes ’dog towels’.

Well, I don't have dog towels, but rather cat towels. For muddy paws and gack.

Oly, I love that! Looks like they are not in my area...yet. hopefully someday.

When they look like they need to be replaced, they get replaced. I tend to replace hand towels more frequently. I like a thinner wash cloth instead of those really thick plush ones when they’re new, so I don’t really care if those start getting thinner.

eta, we no longer have a dog, but I regularly take old bath and beach towels to the shelter.

I have toweling I bought at a flea market in Austria-rolls of thick cotton toweling you cut to length and hem, hoarded away and then sold for nothing by the descendants. That was fifteen years ago. I use them for drying or covering things. I have hand woven I use for drying and a ton of cotton wash cloths and hand towels from Costco that I use for all the messy stuff. They have to fall apart before they get tossed. Bath towels are forever.

Funny bath towel story: I got fancy towel sets as wedding gifts and had a particularly fancy set from my Great Aunt Short. EX husband brings some grimy oily thing into the kitchen and somehow spills gooky oily goo on the floor-not fancy flooring or anything just regular government issue ugly vinyl. He runs shrieking through the house to the bathroom (ignore whole drawer of old rags in kitchen or even dish towels) to dig through the stack of folded towels in the cupboard bypassing our daily towels, good old towels each had before marriage, and worn old towels, to reach the bottom to grab the never used fancy pink and floral bath towel with the ruffles and satin ribbon bows to run back to the kitchen to swab up the muck on the floor destroying the towel. The floor was fine. He could not understand why I was so upset.

I don't have a dog, but I use a lot of old towels for cleaning (instead of disposable cleaning items). the oldest towels go in the garage. those get so full of paint and glue, I wouldn't even be able to give them to the textile recycler. but they do certainly get used up to their fullest potential!

This reminds me that when my grandmother turned 80 she was gifted 2 fluffy new towels and she loved them! She hadn’t had new towels in probably 30 years and thought hers were “good enough”. Definitely recommend as a gift to a senior who needs nothing.

I also do not have a dog, but I use old towels for mopping floors. I attach them to a sponge mop with diaper pins. My houses are not dog friendly, and neither is my landscaping.

My house in L.A. had a horrible stench from the previous owners' dog urine that I thought I could get rid of but could not, and I was nauseous from the smell for months. I should have replaced the carpet in the master bedroom with something else, but I could not afford that at the time.

"Our own personal bath towels don't last even three years. However the towel only gets used once for drying off, and the second time it is used for completely drying off the inside of the shower alcove." The number one thing probably the only thing that wears towels out is washing them. I might suggest a squeegee for the shower walls and a hook to hang towels on in between use. They dry in 24 hours, no need to wash as they are only wiping off clean water. Bet your water bill is cut in half too!!!

“Because of issues with internecine theft, we have assigned each member of the family a color for their towels.”

I tried that years ago and the fact that i knew who was taking the towels back to boarding school or college didn’t mitigate the situation at all, lol. When we moved here I decided to chuck all colored towels and buy white ones for all five bathrooms—- bath sheets,towels, hand towels and face cloths. I keep them all in baskets in the laundry room where they go after being washed. The cleaners distribute them amongst the bathrooms and exchange them for used towels. It’s one system that actually works; guests use the same towels we do, none are assigned to any specific room.

As to replacing towels, I don’t plan to. When i embarked upon the ”white towels for all” scheme i bought enough towels to stock a mid sized hotel. I should never have to buy another in my lifetime. (My hair turbans are another thing entirely 😎)

I recently replaced Simply Vera Wang bath towels from 2010. Before that we had towels from 2003. Now we have (2) sets of 4 hand/bath towels used for 6-mos (Oct-Mar, Apr-Sept) in seasonal colors. This extends our towel lives. These will last a longgggg time.

What also matters is the care and washing of said products.

Bath to dog. Dog to household. Household to trash.

Now let's do clothes because fast fashion is killing our planet.

I haven't owned a bathrobe in 20-odd years.

I too have all white towels, always have. I replaced my last batch after seven or eight years. I am not thrilled with the quality of my new set. They are fluffy and nice, but there is bunching at that decorative thingy at either end, and I really don't like that. I am considering Japanese waffle weave towels for the next batch.

My towels go to the vet or shelter when I am done with them.

I replace my pretty dish towels every few years, except for the white WS ones which wear like iron.

“Because of issues with internecine theft, we have assigned each member of the family a color for their towels.”

I tried that years ago and the fact that i knew who was taking the towels back to boarding school or college didn’t mitigate the situation at all, lol.

You may have more civilized family members. Everyone had a clean set of towels in their room when the maid left. The reason for the color coding was naked opportunism; literally. When one needed a towel, they would grab a clean one from the room over, instead of their own damp one cultivating single celled organisms on the floor.. Then deny it. With the color system, you were caught red-handed. Or blue-toweled. Busted.

Bunny, The only robe i have is white terry, which i use in lieu of a towel.

But Mtn, what do you do when your only robe is in the wash?!!!

Oooh, towel theft amongst themselves….that’s a whole different level than stealing them from the house. If mine had done that I wouldn’t have had to lift a finger because they would have sorted it out themselves, probably with bloodshed.

Bunny, no robe? We have overnight guests and family so often I have to have several nice pajama / robe ensembles or else I feel obligated to get dressed before I venture out of our bedroom.

I buy good towels which last for years. My bath towels must be 12 yrs old and are still thick and fluffy. I am fussy about bath towels and only use them once after a shower/bath. Then they get washed. Hand towels probably every two weeks.

In the last few years I've decided I like microfiber type towels because they dry you quickly and are thin feeling. We live in Florida and it is very hot. I still have the thick towels from when we lived in NY but somehow they seem too thick and heavy for Florida. I like the microfiber towels better.

Jane

No robe. Hoodie and sweatpants instead.

Just fyi :-), I adore bathrobes and have about 20.

Yes, to donating old towels to the animal shelters! One of the neighborhood real estate agents has a drive spring and fall for any types of donations, including sheets and towels.

We still have a few original towels from our bridal registry in 2006, but most of those are gone. MIL did seasonal work at Macy’s and Belk, so we have some towels from when she worked there. I used to always buy JCPenney towels. Have no idea what the quality is now of JCP.

We wash towels a lot. DH will not reuse a bath towel, but we have a pretty good stack we rotate through.

I do need to get some washcloths because some of ours are getting holey and threadbare. Last time I was in BBB they had very little inventory, so I need to check back. I can also look at Target,.

In 2005 I received a generous gift certificate to Restoration Hardware so I bought a lot of towels and bath mats. They were made to last a lifetime and are threatening to do so.

I am fussy about bath towels and only use them once after a shower/bath. Then they get washed. Hand towels probably every two weeks.

I am just the opposite. I'll use a bath towel for maybe 4 days, but like to change out the hand towels daily, as they are used by multiple times daily by two people (DH and me).

Agree about the RH towels! Our RH store closed maybe 15 years ago and I bought some towels there on clearance. They are wearing like iron!!

Bluebell, yes, wearing like iron. They also weigh like iron, very heavy towels.

Lots like likes here for W-S towels. It is getting time to replace my kitchen towels, so which W-S do you like? The terry, the waffle-weave, or the woven? I think Cook’s likes the woven for just about everything, even as oven mitts.

When they fall apart. Or get too stained.

“It is getting time to replace my kitchen towels, so which W-S do you like?”

I’ve had several of both their waffle weave and jaquard for at least 15 years and they’re still going strong.

Bunny, i have those velcro wraps

My wife replaces towels after I abscond with enough of the older ones to use as rags in the shop. She might buy 2 or 3 every 5 years. Probably even less now that our son is living on his own.

only when needed

I replace my bath towels when they need replacing, and that's a lot of years. Every once in a while I'll get a pair of something colorful just because. Older ones get other lives as cat towels, work towels, then shop/garden towels/rags... then at the very end they either end up in the compost heap or in a shooting target/butt.

I replace the kitchen towels more frequently. They get crapped out a bit quicker from kitchen mishaps. Those too get another life or few for other. Floursack ones in particular get reused like cheesecloth for a while first before going on to other. I get a pack of floursack and embroider up a new set now and then. Right now it's a 10 pack, and I'm doing them up with a variety of happy cooking items and foods :) My microfiber ones will probably last me for decades since all I use them for is under drying racks and lining trays for canning jars during processing.

I'm still crying about my favorite dish towel that fell apart! It was so absorbent for drying dishes. I got it from the flea market, it was unused but you could tell it was OLD. I loved that thing...HAHAHA! They just don't make towels like that anymore. It was very soft and thin and sucked up water like nobody's business.

I'm with Deb, replace when they fall apart!

Oh, nuts! Do you mean that i should replace the hand towel that was my Nana’s? It is still perfectly fine…maybe slightly faded…..but she died in 1963.

I have some kitchen towels from TJ Maxx that won’t come clean- eventually I guess they will be dog towels. As for bath/ etc. I am ’the maid’, and have a long list of priorities- not much getting done lately with 14h workdays.