Do the Sniff Test and Save the World!

Yesterday morning I gave partner’s towel a sniff. I know what you’re thinking – live life on the edge, well I did. I gave it a great big sniff to decide whether it needed to go into the wash. Now, I have a theory: towels don’t get that dirty. I’m talking about the towel you use to dry yourself off after a shower. I mean, am I missing something here? How do they ever get dirty? Surely, in theory, we could leave a towel unwashed for months and nobody would die…or even notice. Bath towels fill up a wash. They take a fair bit of drying, depending on their quality of course, and if you tumble dry them, you are harming the planet – apparently. All this when they have only ever been wrapped around a squeaky clean bod.

I admit that a problem may arise if a clean towel is not properly dried. It then retains a horrible fusty sort of smell and this brings me back to why I gave partner’s towel a good old sniff. I am not going to tell you how often we wash our bath towels in this house, for fear of reprisal. I saw that very question asked on a parent forum and I was amazed by how many people replied: every day. Now, either they are lying, or like nothing better than to wash a towel. I like nothing better than giving the towels a sniff and a nod and pouring a glass of wine, or making a cup of tea, whilst simultaneously congratulating myself on doing my bit towards saving the planet. Not through any particular Eco reason, just because I can’t be arsed haven’t got time to wash six bath towels every day.

Unfortunately, on this occasion partner’s towel failed the sniff test and had to go straight into a 90 degree wash. I blame the weather, it’s getting confused and thinking it is November and so nothing is drying properly. However, in the normal run of things, if everyone just did the sniff test on their bath towels, the planet could be saved!

I’m not sure that the sniff test can be equally applied to sheets. When the kids were younger, thanks to a regular cycle of bed wetting, nosebleeds, worms and nits, their sheets got washed very regularly. Nowadays though, there is no other reason to wash their sheets than: shit, I haven’t washed their sheets for weeks. Please no hate. They all shower/have their baths at night. They go to bed clean as whistles and really can’t generate that much dirt, by simply lying asleep.

Don’t worry, although I apply my above theory to bath towels and kids’ bed sheets, hand towels, tea towels, dog towels and our sheets are washed very regularly, but I am not going to tell you how often, just in case I am judged.