“Patients may be seen to follow extreme hygiene rituals and use specially sanitized towels packed in sealed bags for every use,” said Dr. Mittal.
Wash your body, Wash your towel
While the soap and water combination may clean your body, it can leave your towel filthy and ridden with bacteria and mold. So, regardless of how many towels you use, the most important thing is to keep them clean and dry.
A moldy stench on your wash towel is a dead giveaway that you either didn’t allow your towel to dry completely or you’ve waited too long to throw it in the washing machine.
“Washcloths typically become soaked and heavily soiled during use. When used to scrub skin, soils from makeup or dead skin cells can rapidly accumulate. Being wet and not just damp (like a bath towel) means there is a longer dry time. This lengthy condition of moisture creates the perfect environment for bacteria and mold to grow to unacceptable levels,” Dr. Kelly A. Reynolds, an environmental health science professor at the University of Arizona, told Buzzfeed in a recent article.