We all admire the pictures of bathrooms shown on the internet. A nicely organized bathroom having different types of fluffy towels hung and folded in style is a trend many people love to follow.
Storing towels in the washroom to utilize space has been a thing now. Also, who doesn’t want the comfort of having a towel handy after a refreshing session?
But is keeping towels in the washroom a healthy habit? Should you hang towels over the toilet? Even if you keep towels inside a bathroom what’s the best way to do it?
We’ll cover all these questions by providing much other information so that you can balance both hygiene and comfort together!
Should you hang towels over the toilet?
You should never hang washed, used, unused any type of towels over the toilet since it’s an unhygienic act. Every toilet flush spreads aerosolized germs that can transmit into the towels stored there. Using those germ-filled towels can cause infection, fever, and other health issues.
Folded or hung towels inside the bathroom is a common scene in almost every house. The main reason behind this act is to get the towel easily after freshening up.
Moreover, modern bathroom ideas of creating storage in a bathroom are another thing that keeps this practice going.
If you too love to keep your towels in the restroom, you should stop the practice right now. Because hanging or keeping a towel over the toilet isn’t a healthy habit at all. Instead, it’s a bad practice that can lead to many health issues.
A toilet is known to be the most suitable place for germs to grow in. Since it’s almost always damp and dark mold, bacteria, yeast, mildew, etc. can develop here.
With every toilet flush the germs are released and they take place in the nearby things such as your towels.
These germs can reach up to six feet so even if you’re storing the towels on a towel bar over the toilet, it has a chance to be contaminated with the toiles germs and the bacteria, mold living there.
Thus people using those towels can face various health issues such as infection, rash, sickness, etc.
So towels, whether they are washed or used, should never be stored near the toilet and definitely not over a toilet. It’s best to store towels outside the bathroom.
But if you have no choice than keeping your towels in the bathroom, you should store them in a closed cabinet or box.
Is it sanitary to hang towels above the toilet? Is it gross to store towels above the toilet?
Many people hang towels on towel racks above the toilet. That’s a very wrong habit and totally unhygienic.
A Flushing toilet can cause a huge number of aerosolized droplets all around the toilet. These germs can spread up to 6 feet away.
Toilet germs and bacteria can pollute the surfaces around the bathroom as well as the towels hanging above it. Using these towels can make you sick, infected.
Damp or dry towels kept above the toilet can be a safe shelter for germs, bacteria, yeast, mildew. Whether you hang the towels or fold them in a basket, they are unhygienic.
So when you use a towel from the storage above the toilet you’re just contaminating yourself with germs. And we guess that sounds yucky and alarms the sanitary sense of anyone!
How high to hang the towel bar over the toilet? Where do you hang a towel bar above a toilet?
Hanging towels over the toilet isn’t encouraged. You can’t and even should not put a towel bar over the toilet due to hygiene issue. But if you really do, ensure the towel bar is hung correctly.
A towel bar should be at least 42-inch and a maximum 48-inch-high from the ground. This is the ideal height of a towel bar that any average height person can reach.
To make the towel bar accessible for kids or shorter people you can keep the rail at 30 to 36-inch height.
The standard height should be followed to hang towels in a bathroom. Setting the towel bar near the sink and bathing area is recommended for convenience purposes. But wherever you hang the towel bar, keep the height between 42 to 48 inches.
Three reasons why you should not hang towels over the toilet
Whether it’s for easy access or storage, many of us have been used to hanging towels over the toilet. If you too have a towel hanging over the toilet, it’s time you stopped doing so. Why? We’ve three reasons against that.
This is an unhygienic practice:
The toilet is the most suitable breeding place for bacteria, molds, mildew. Toilet with every flush releases million of aerosolized germ that spreads almost all over the toilet.
These terms along with the bacteria, mildew can contaminate the towels hanging over the toilet and make them unhygienic and unsafe to use. Using them can make anyone face skin issues, infection, and many health problems.
The towels will not dry well:
Toilets are always damp since there is no proper airflow or windows to take away the moisture.
If you keep the towels on the towel bar after using them, they don’t dry properly because of the humid weather inside the restroom. So next time when you’ll use the towels, they will feel damp.
The towels will stink:
The germs generated from toilet flush along with bacteria, yeast, mildew that grew in the restroom prefer the towel surface as their harbor. Moreover, the debris from our bodies somehow remains on the towels.
Since the towels can’t dry properly due to lack of air and heat, this dirt, build and germ makes them their living place. Thus the towels stink making your restroom awfully smelled.
How to hang up bathroom towels?
Hanging up towels in the bathroom might sound easy but if you’re dealing with a small space you may find it complicated.
But to help you out we’ve shared a few easy yet creative towel hanging ideas here step by step.
Choose your towel bar:
Before starting choose a towel bar or hanger according to your requirements. If you are going to put more than one towel, choose one with multiple railings.
First do the normal fold:
To do the basic technique you’ve to spread the towel on a plain surface. By holding the longer sides fold it so that the edges are in the middle. Repeat for both sides then carefully hang it on the towel bar keeping the hanging ends symmetrical.
Try a storage-friendly way:
For bathrooms that have a limited space keeping an extra small towel becomes a big deal. But following this idea you can keep two towels in one hanger.
For this step, you will need a small towel preferably in a bright color, and a bath towel. Fold the bath towel the way mentioned above and hang it. Then fold the small towel vertically and put it over the bath towel already hanging there.
Make the most of the space:
If you’ve numbers of towels to hang, the “Ladder Hanger Idea” is perfect for you. Take old or new ladder according to the space of your bathroom, paint it and in every step you can hang a towel.
Where should hand towels be placed in a bathroom? How to hang decorative towels in the bathroom?
Hand towels should be kept where you’ll wash your hands. That means the perfect place for a hand towel is on the wall near the basin or sink or the water source. But keeping the height of at least 6 feet from the floor is suggested to maintain hygiene.
Hand towels or small towels are used a lot during the day and so they are less or more wet all day. It would be great if that place has a good airflow so that the towel doesn’t remain damp.
Many people like to show their collection of fancy towels for example embroidered ones or traditional ones in the bathroom. Spacious washroom looks give an aesthetic vibe if you know how to hang those decorative towels rightly.
To hang towels that have attractive work all over the fabric, you can use a railing or ladder so that it shows.
For towels that have a design at the edge or end, roll them, put them on a small hanger, and spread the ends. Colorful towels can be hung for decoration by maintaining a color combination.
Final Thoughts:
Keeping towels in the toilet is a very unhygienic practice. The toilet is a harbor for bacteria, mildew, yeast, etc. and with each toilet flush a large number of germs are generated. All these germs, bacteria settle on the towels stored and hung in the toilet and make them unsafe to use.