Do You Use Same Towel for Body and Face After Shower?

r/

Reading some stuff on Reddit, I’m clearly clueless on some of these things.

So, after I shower, i use the towel that hangs over my shower to dry my face, body and hair. Is this normal? Is this weird? What are other people doing?

I’ve read that, for example, people will change their pillow case every night, which never occurred to me as something that people do. I’m ordering some more pillow cases because changing them is relatively painless and it’s pretty inexpensive.

The issue is I’ve had a recurring dermatitis right below my eyes, the dermatologist told me to put hydrocortisone on it whenever it flares up. He was 90% sure that this was caused by hair dandruff, but when I went back in he said the hair looked better after using prescription shampoo a few times per week – less redness and scaling – when I asked if that means i stop using the prescription shampoo, he said no and I am supposed to use the prescription shampoo on my hair once a week forever for maintenance.

This just seems crazy to me that one day I wake up with a dermatitis and then I’m on prescription shampoo and prescription cream for the rest of my life.

Since i’ve learned that I’m clearly not the cleanest person, it seems worth trying to see if being cleaner would resolve these types of issues?

I’m also wondering if anyone has resolved a dermatitis by making cleaner lifestyle choices? If so, what exactly did you do?

Comments

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  2. After-Chair9149 Avatar

    Outside for face. Inside for body/butt. Never cross the streams

  3. Username89054 Avatar

    I think two things are plausible. Some people need to use a separate towel to dry their face off and an overwhelming majority of people use the same towel and it doesn’t hurt anything.

  4. Dieselgeekisbanned Avatar

    Changing your pillow every night… I guess do what makes you feel the best, but to me it’s a form of OCD, and then acting like everyone else is “dirty” As for a towel, yeah I dry my face off first and work my way down. Also coming out of the shower I’m going to assume you’re clean. It’s not like you’re just wiping your dirty ass and then going straight to your face with a towel.

  5. realhighlander Avatar

    Using the same rag for your face, body, and hair? That’s not a towel, mate, that’s a microbial buffet. You’re basically scrubbing your face with whatever horrors your left arse cheek coughed up last Tuesday.
    Most people dry their face with a separate towel.

  6. Traditional_Entry183 Avatar

    I use one towel for everything. Change them every other day.

  7. watermelonyuppie Avatar

    Dry face, then body.

  8. Euryheli Avatar

    Do you wash yourself well? Then one towel is fine. These people who need multiple towels must not be washing their entire body.

  9. Cczaphod Avatar

    middle above the waist, edges below the waist for me. I don’t want to keep track of sides.

  10. RepeatAggravating524 Avatar

    I use a new towel for every shower and I do that twice a day. I change the pillow case weekly.

  11. dracopanther99 Avatar

    I use a different towel for my hair because otherwise all my shed hair goes all over my body. Then another towel for my body, I’ve just got out of the shower and am clean so why does it matter

  12. SeveralConcert Avatar

    Yes but face first.
    Towel resets itself after one day and I change it after one week

  13. passerbycmc Avatar

    Dry face then body, also if it matters that much maybe you need to scrub more and use more body wash.

  14. Redtex Avatar

    Yes, because I actually use soap beforehand

  15. Herr-Trigger86 Avatar

    You’re good. I’ll use the same towel for two to three showers then replace it.

  16. BeastoftheBlackwater Avatar

    1 towel here. I go order of Face, hair, chest, legs, dick and balls, butt. I wash my sheets once a week , including my pillowcase. But I also don’t have dermatitis- might be a good idea to exercise more care in those regards.

  17. overindulgent Avatar

    My girl and I use the same towel… Wash it every third day or so.

  18. born2bfi Avatar

    Contrary to popular belief I’m quite clean after I take a shower and I towel dry from my head down. Change the towel when I do my laundry weekly. I don’t shove my towel in my ass crack to dry it and never had a problem

  19. Ok_Pangolin_180 Avatar

    One towel, dry my face first then my body

  20. Rough_Brilliant_6167 Avatar

    Just get a pack of those inexpensive hand towels for using for your head and face 😁

    They’re easier to grab a fresh one each time and easier to wash after each use !

    I use those because I have a tendency to get really fine body hairs in my eyes super easily which then get stuck to my contacts and ruin my life completely, lol. So keeping my face super clean is a must

  21. aguylike_adam Avatar

    Middle for face.

    Left and right Edge for body and hair.

  22. Bigbeardhotpeppers Avatar

    If you get out of the shower and doubt that your entire body is equally clean then wash your body better. For an entire generation joking about eating ass I really have doubts about everyone’s hygiene.

  23. Green-Agora Avatar

    I have towels for my face/upper body and towels for lower body. Upper body are light colors and bottom are darks so there’s no guessing game. I don’t like the idea of drying my crack and then tomorrow using the same towel to dry my face, no matter how clean I am post shower.

  24. mofreek Avatar

    The towel forgets everything after a couple hours.

  25. X-o0_0o-X Avatar

    If you showered right, there’d be no difference between the skin on your balls and your face.

  26. MarcusXL Avatar

    I use my hand towel for my hair/face, then a bath towel for rest of the body. Swapping both towels out every few days. Probably not strictly necessary but I just got into the habit.

    However some people don’t wash their legs and feet, in that case I think it’s unhygienic to use the same towel on the face as on the lower body. Is something bad going to happen because of it? Probably not. Just seems a bit nasty to me.

  27. shugEOuterspace Avatar

    one towel is normal & fine. more is not rational.

  28. orlybatman Avatar

    I have a towel that I use for my lower half, a separate towel I use for my upper half and hair, and then a face cloth I use to dry my face.

    For pillows I bought silk pillows, since they’re the best for your skin and hair. I use them 4 times, rotating and/or flipping every night so that I am sleeping on clean fabric every night.

    >The issue is I’ve had a recurring dermatitis right below my eyes

    Have you been checked for allergies? Do you have dry eyes and are rubbing them a lot?

    I had some issues around my eyes for a while and it turned out that I had dry AF eyes. Between the dryness and my rubbing them I was creating skin issues. After getting some treatments for dry eyes, maintaining a routine for dry eyes, and training myself not to touch my face, the problem went away and has not returned.

  29. oodopopopolopolis Avatar

    I have sensitive skin too. I’ve cut out perfumey things and dryer sheets and all that, as well as gotten a water softener. Sometimes I’ll have a breakout for no discernible reason. Could be other medications you’re on, could be reaction to supplements you take, anything. For the eye dermatitis (which I occasionally get as a side effect of chemo drugs), I use vaseline. A day or two or that, twice a day, and it’s gone. I also have hydrocortisone for when i get other dermatitis flare ups randomly.

  30. princeofpoland Avatar

    I prefer a separate, small towel for head/face and a body towel. Not that I don’t trust my cleaning skills, it’s just preference I’m kind of a germ freak and might have some tism

  31. Constant-Drink-8717 Avatar

    Yes, but I start by wiping my face. You never know 🫥🫥

  32. Spiritual_Extent_187 Avatar

    I only use one towel for everything for 37 years lol

  33. Sum-Duud Avatar

    I use the same towel

  34. doot_youvebeenbooped Avatar

    I dry top to toes. I use a face towel only when patting my face after face wash/daily cleanser (which I don’t use daily and just am inconsistent on 🙃)

  35. jwrice Avatar

    Yep.

    Only use the outer side of towel for hair, face, stomach, arms.

    Flip over and use inner side of towel for back, groin, rear and legs.

    Once done, fold towel with outer side exposed.

    It’s pretty easy to determine which side is inner and outer if you look at the stitching in one of the corners.

  36. LaunchGap Avatar

    I designate a side of the towel for hair face and the rest for body. I go by which side the tag is on. For scalp, non sulfate shampoo bars got rid of my dermatitis for the most part. I wash my hair only once a week now, still rinse in the shower everyday. Some non sulfate shampoo bars still irritate my scalp so it took some trial and error to land on the right one.

  37. Capital_Education_58 Avatar

    Yup. But I swap my towels out every other shower. Start with my hair and work my way down.

  38. aaron-mcd Avatar

    It never occurred to me to use multiple towels for the single task of drying off. Dry face, dry everything else, dry face again if I feel like it because who cares I’m clean anyway, then wrap around hair like a turban.

    We own two towels. One for me, one for my wife. Linen, quick dry travel towels. They get washed whenever we go to the laundromat. Oh, wait we have one more towel dedicated to floor use.

    Pillow cases are washed every few weeks, maybe every other trip to a laundromat.

  39. DoubleResponsible276 Avatar

    Definitely be a cleaner person. I recall in HS a friend had the nastiest acne and we kept telling him to change his pillowcases or at least wash them for once. It wasn’t until we were adults did he start to do that and some results started to show.

    As for the towel, I have 2 that I rotate and wash every week. I know people will think that’s gross or too much, but it works for me.

  40. Junior-Appointment93 Avatar

    I use the same towel for my whole body. Start at the face, dry off my back and stomach, legs and feet then the pelvic area

  41. Theperfectool Avatar

    Yes. The towel forgets everything by morning.

  42. JP36_5 Avatar

    Same towel – always dry from head down – naturally way to do it anyway as gravity causes water to go down your body.

  43. Low-Captain1721 Avatar

    I use the same big bath towel in the bathroom which I use for everything however I change after every two days or 4 showers. 

    Always wash towels on a long wash at 70 degrees with bed linen about once every 5 or 6 days. 

    Get good quality towels & linen – well worth it 👍

  44. chilld22 Avatar

    Changing my diet specifically removing sugars cleared my face up and got rid of my inflamed joints.

  45. Smeeble09 Avatar

    Yes, but one end for face, one end for private area, middle for rest of body.

  46. InternetExpertroll Avatar

    I have a lot of towels. The first tower is dry head to toe then wipe my ass, then finish using a second towel. Ass is always last and never reused.

  47. Pimp_Daddy_Patty Avatar

    Yup, because my entire body, not just my face, is clean after I shower.

  48. Jesta914630114 Avatar

    Find a decent anti flake shampoo and also wash your face twice a day. I have dermatitis no matter what I do, but it does much better if I wash my face more often than once a day. That hydrocortisone just thinned out my skin and made it like paper. Never gain. Just shower every day and wash your face morning and night and see that helps.

    Also, eating cleaner organic food helps with my skin issues.

  49. tiemeupplz Avatar

    Read up on what dermatitis is, it might clarify some things for you.

  50. IndependentTeacher24 Avatar

    Thats fine i do the same. Who the hell wants to do all that laundry.

  51. AshenCursedOne Avatar

    I use one towel for hair and face, a second one for the rest of the body, and a third to stand on.

    I changed my pillow case every couple days when I used to have bad acne, also when I had scalp inflammation. It helped a lot. The pillow would be disgusting and greasy after two nights due to the creams I applied on my face and scalp, also all the oils produced by the inflammation, so I had to keep changing it. Nowadays I change it weekly in winter, and maybe twice a week in summer, depending how sweaty the nights get.

    For dealing with scalp inflammation, Nizoral every 3 days and Betacap fluid daily for a couple weeks, that is usually enough to get it go away for a while. Usually will flare up again a couple times a year, mostly caused by wearing hats a lot, or being in unhigenic places, or eating poorly, e.g. around xmas when I have a lot of chocolate.

    As for acne, I permanently cured it by taking Isotretinoin for almost a year as prescribed by a dermatologist. Usually it’s a 6 month treatment but my acne was pretty persistent.

    As for the using of multiple towels, I’m a quite tall lad with pretty hairy legs, and used to have quite long hair style, so one towel wasn’t enough. Now I have short hair but the habit remains. One for the head on for the rest of the body.

  52. GreatAxe Avatar

    OK you should not be using the same towel for all Ideally. There’s some transfer that’s unavoidable, and most body towels are coarser than you think.

    My suggestion for towels is to use a microfiber salon towel for your face, and pat dry, not scrub. Those are your face only towels. Also try not to scrub your hair dry, you’re doing more damage than you think.

    Pillowcases, get silk pillowcases. There are mulberry silk ones that I use which are affordable. Change weekly, minimum.

    Wash both of these things cold/cool, and hang dry. They’ll last much longer and not get all beat up.

    As far as the medicated shampoo, you need to find the root cause for the dermatitis, and fix that. Those medicated prescription ones are a tool to kill off extra factors.

    You’re correct that a large amount of this can be mitigated by a cleaner lifestyle, just remember that it will take months to start seeing significant improvements. Nothing to be ashamed of, just the beginning of a new standard. Good luck my guy!

  53. Timely-Profile1865 Avatar

    I use the same towel for everything after shower but I always dry in a certain order.

  54. DrShocker Avatar

    I don’t use a towel on my face, I’m not sure why I would need to

  55. Forfty Avatar

    One towel to dry them all

  56. Gear21 Avatar

    Yea but I use the part above the ridges for my face.

  57. RecognitionSoft9973 Avatar

    Get a double-sided towel from IKEA. Use one side for your face, the other for your body. Simple

    > I’ve read that, for example, people will change their pillow case every night, which never occurred to me as something that people do.

    This is excessive. I wash my pillowcase weekly. I only enter my bed after I’m showered, so my linens don’t get as dirty.

  58. arifghalib Avatar

    Have you tried visiting a skin health nutritionist? My sister sees one and her skin has done a 180.

  59. jorceshaman Avatar

    I don’t know about for medical conditions but I dry my face/hair then rest of my body with drying my ass last.

    Then I put that towel in dirty laundry to be washed because I find it to be odd using the same towel twice after rubbing it against my ass.

  60. RVNAWAYFIVE Avatar

    Sure no skin problems since high school so who cares

  61. op3l Avatar

    Get out of shower

    Towel on face. Then dry hair(or what’s left of my hair) then shoulders, arms, hands, chest, back, then move on down to legs front and back, then the junk area.

    One towel is all you need.

  62. CA_vv Avatar

    Dry your face first.

    Then your body.

    Wash your body well enough that it’s as clean as your face.

    Towel forgets everything by next time you shower.