How Many Towels Do You Need?

Photo by Daniel M. Hendricks, found on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons

This week a friend did some decluttering and cleared out two-thirds of her overstuffed linen closet. And also this week, I saw a Twitter discussion about towels — specifically, how many you “should” have.

Someone on Twitter asked: “what is the correct amount of towels to own?” And Yashar Ali replied:

As a couple you should own a minimum of the following

10 Bath Sheets
10 Bath Towels
10 Hand Towels
20 Wash Cloths

Preferably more

This sparked a lot of jokes, but also some thoughtful comments about how people’s towel needs differ.

There was a lot of discussion about the need for dog towels. As Kurako Sekiko noted, “Also dog towels. Lots of dog towels. Or dog sheets, whatever.” People with cats, goats and other animals also chimed in. Many noted that these use-with-the-animals towels are usually just old human-use towels.

Others, like Deb, mentioned the need (in some locations) for beach towels:

As a Floridian you should own a minimum of the following

19 beach towels
5 pool towels
3 car towels
6 dog towels
1 Marco Rubio Sweating towel

Preferably more

And Dr. Jennifer Gunter mentioned another kind of need:

Does that include navy blue sex towels? Because I recommend 3 of those for anyone who menstruates or partners with anyone who menstruates. Bath sheet size is best. Makes period sex clean up way easier.

Some people brought up the subject of storage space, and whether or not you have convenient laundry facilities. As one person wrote:

I’m looking at all the towel talk and we have like 6 bath towels and 2 hand towels and a bunch of washcloths and it’s just fine. We also live in an apartment with limited storage space and somewhat expensive shared laundry

Ultimately, as with almost everything we own, you need to make your own determination of what’s right for you. If having more towels would make your life easier, you might want to add to your stash. Or if you have a bunch of old towels you never use, you might consider donating them to your local animal shelter.