Necessary germ protection So often you should change your towels

Whether after showering or hand washing - towels are used several times a day. But these are not always as fresh and clean as they look, but are fast becoming a popular playground for bacteria and fungi. Therefore, you should regularly change and wash your hand and bath towels.

Towels provide a collection point for germs
To wrap yourself in a soft towel after bathing is a nice feeling. Less beautiful, however, is the idea that the fluffy cloth may be a true germicide. Because towels quickly become a gathering place for germs of all kinds. By drying off the body and hands, dirt, dead skin cells, bacteria, dandruff and saliva secretions get into the textile fibers and get stuck there. If the towel is then hung in the damp bathroom for a long time and can not dry properly, it creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and fungi.

Towels should be washed regularly so they do not become germs sponges. (Image: TR / fotolia.com)

Smell is a sign of change
Although most germs are not a direct health hazard, if they multiply, they can increase the risk of infection. Especially when small children live in the household, it is therefore important that the hand and bath towels are changed regularly and thoroughly washed. If these can be dried completely, they should be replaced after a maximum of three uses, recommends the microbiologist Philip Tierno of the New York University School of Medicine.

Drying is important because "a damp cloth is growing," explains the expert in an interview with the "Tech Insider". "Whenever odors appear, microbes grow there. If the towel begins to smudge it should be washed, "says Philip Tierno.

40 degrees washing temperature is not enough
On the advice of the consumer center Hamburg hand and bath towels should generally be washed at 60 degrees to effectively eliminate germs in the laundry. A washing temperature of 30 or 40 degrees, however, survive the pathogens mostly unscathed. (No)