How often should you wash your towels?
Is once a week enough to wash your towels? Or, like some, once a month?
Perhaps you should reach for a clean towel daily?
With the pandemic still a recent memory last year saw an unprecedented global rise in over a dozen communicable diseases.
One contributing factor cited by the American Medical Association was hygiene, specifically the role of the humble bathroom towel.
Professor Elizabeth Scott is a professor of biology and co-director of the Simmons University Center for Hygiene & Health in the Home and Community.
The manager of a groundbreaking 1982 study examining the bacteria lurking in hundreds of homes, she filled in Sunday Morning's Jim Mora on the dos and don'ts of our fluffy fibres.
"Every time we use a towel, bacteria are being transferred from our skin to the towel, potentially from our respiratory system if we're coughing and sneezing, potentially from our gastrointestinal system.
"Consider that we touch every single part of our body with a towel."
So how often should we wash our towels?
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The American Cleaning Institute recommends washing your towel after every 3 to 5 uses.
Scott thinks this is overdoing it. Instead, she recommends once a week as a loose rule of thumb.
"In a healthy household where no one's suffering from any infections once a week is okay."
However, this comes with a few caveats.
"In a situation where anybody is suffering from any kind of infection, skin infection, respiratory infection, or gastrointestinal infection, then it's really important for those individuals to have their own towel and for that towel to be washed daily, or even more frequently."
"Anyone who has a skin infection with something like staph aureus, really should not be sharing."
Towels should also be washed at a high temperature and kept thoroughly dry - this is doubly important for those with infections.
"I have seen studies where pathogens have been recovered from fabrics that have been cold, washed, but dried in the sun."
And if you can, avoid hanging your towel near a toilet.
"And there is quite a lot of research going on into the potential contamination of the environment surrounding a toilet when it's flushed.
"There definitely is evidence that the surrounding environment, immediately surrounding the toilet bowl, can get sort of an aerosol splash.
"So the way around that really is to do with the high temperature. That's the best way to eliminate bacteria from towels."
She notes that along with the kitchen sponge, the often overlooked and overshared kitchen towel is also a common source of infection spread.
"In my experience, have their own bath towel, but they tend to share hand towels."
Because while a nasty bug might be merely inconvenient today, many of these common infections are set to have devastating impacts over the coming decades.
"The UK government has signalled that by 2050, some 10 million people around the world will die of infections that cannot be treated any longer because bacteria are so resistant.
"So any way that you can reduce your risk of infection in your own environment is another way of preventing having to use antibiotics.
And above all - remember - wash your hands.
"Washing with soap is the gold standard."
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Poll: Are Kiwis allergic to “exuberance”? 🥝
In The Post’s opinion piece on the developments set to open across Aotearoa in 2026, John Coop suggests that, as a nation, we’re “allergic to exuberance.”
We want to know: Are we really allergic to showing our excitement?
Is it time to lean into a more optimistic view of the place we call home? As big projects take shape and new opportunities emerge, perhaps it’s worth asking whether a little more confidence (and enthusiasm!) could do us some good.
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41.2% Yes
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34% Maybe?
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24.8% No
Suellen's Sweet Christmas Tradition
The festive season is the perfect excuse to indulge your sweet tooth and to bring something truly special to the Christmas table. For Suellen’s family, that showstopper is Croquembouche !
An impressive tower of cream puffs bound together with delicate spun sugar, this classic dessert is a favourite at weddings across France and Italy and a much-loved Christmas tradition at home.
Click read more for the full recipe.
Auckland Transport----Free weekend travel for kids Making family outings easier
Did you know kids aged 5 to 15 can ride buses, trains, and ferries for FREE every weekend and public holiday with an AT HOP card?
But wait, there’s more! Load a child concession onto your child’s MyAT account and unlock 40% off weekday travel too. Managing their HOP card is super easy: create an AT HOP profile under your MyAT account, enter their birthday, and you’re good to go.
So, grab those HOP cards, tag on, and start exploring, because family adventures shouldn’t come with a price tag!
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Great news for Auckland’s tertiary students!
From 14 December, tertiary students will enjoy even bigger savings! The tertiary discount is increasing from 20% to 40% off AT HOP adult fares on buses, trains, and most ferries.
If you already have a tertiary concession loaded on your AT HOP card, there’s nothing you need to do, the increased discount will be applied automatically.
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Summer Rail Upgrades
27 December 2025 to 28 January 2026
We’re upgrading your rail network this summer as we get closer to more trains, more often, when City Rail Link opens up in 2026.
27 December – 18 January: Full rail network closure.
9 – 26 January: Partial rail network closure.
27 – 28 January: Full network closure for City Rail Link testing.
Rail replacement buses will be available throughout the summer rail upgrades to keep you moving.
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IKEA Sylvia Park – What to Expect Now That It’s Open
If you’re planning a visit to IKEA Sylvia Park, consider taking public transport.
Train: Eastern Line - it's about 19 minutes from Waitematā to Sylvia Park.
Bus: Six routes serve the area. Five stop directly at Sylvia Park shopping centre, and another stops on Carbine Road, close to IKEA.
For bulky purchases, home delivery is available to help reduce congestion and parking queues.
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Enjoy the festive season without the fuss.
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