30-05-2025
Doctor issues urgent warning against daily bathroom habit that can lead to illness and infection
A doctor has warned against sharing towels with members of your family, revealing it can lead to infection and illness.
Dr Hussain Ahmad, who works for click2pharmacy based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, said that the dampness from the shared towel can cause fungi to grow.
If one person has an infection such as athlete's foot it can easily spread around the household and cause others to become infected.
Speaking to Metro, Dr Ahmad added that sharing towels 'might seem harmless' but can cause infections to be 'passed on easily'.
'Even things like cold sores or warts can in theory be transmitted this way, though that's less common.
'The worst thing that could happen is you pass on an infection that keeps bouncing between you both, or ends up needing treatment.
'Fungal infections between toes or in the groin area are common with shared towels.'
A furious woman recently went on the anonymous British parenting forum Mumsnet to vent about how her partner had used her pink bath towel after having a shower.
A furious woman recently went on the anonymous British parenting forum Mumsnet to vent about how her partner had used her pink bath towel after having a shower
She wrote: 'Am I being unreasonable to think my husband should use his own towel when showering/bathing? I've told him so many times to use his own towel.
'He just doesn't seem to get it. I only changed the towels this weekend and now he has used both of ours, so I'm going to have to get another clean towel tomorrow morning!'
The woman then asked other Mumsnetters whether she was being unreasonable for getting angry with her husband - but many admitted that sharing towels is normal in their household.
One person wrote: 'We have communal towels. I don't care who in the family is using it as long as it's hung up afterwards.'
Another penned: 'Well after 40 years of towel sharing and not caught anything, I've risk assessed and happy to continue!'
A third said: 'Well I never realised that people in a family household had their own towels. We just have shared towels. Are we the weird ones?'
The NHS also warns against people using the same towel - especially if one person is ill and feeling under the weather, as germs can easily spread to healthy individuals.
However, others could not believe that people were using each other's towels and were on the woman's side.
The woman then asked other Mumsnetters whether she was being unreasonable for getting angry with her husband - but many admitted that sharing towels is normal in their household
However, others could not believe that people were using each other's towels and were on the woman's side
One wrote: 'That would really annoy me too because it's not hard just to reach for your own towel is it?
'My husband washes his hands in our bathroom and instead of using the provided hand towel uses my large bath towel that is hung on the bathroom door.
'When I use my towel it's always got lots of wet patches!'
Another penned: 'That would annoy me too.
'Either keep your towel somewhere else or just get another towel out for yourself when you shower.'
A third said: 'I would rather walk to the airing cupboard naked and dripping from the shower than use my [partner's] towel!! And I would hate it if he used mine. You're not [being unreasonable] at all.'
A fourth commented: 'I found this out about my [husband] too and was horrified. I have a main towel and a hair towel. I don't use the hair towel on my body and feel it's 'clean' - I caught [my husband] with it round his waist and drying very thoroughly.'
