The Overlooked Bathroom Item To Declutter For A More Organized Space

You might be following our deep cleaning checklist to keep your bathroom's fixtures as good as new. However, all your efforts will be for naught if you don't declutter a few items. And we aren't talking about clearing your countertops (although that's incredibly important). You must pay attention to things that fly under the radar but take up precious real estate in your bathing chamber, like towels. Though they seem innocent enough, they can contribute to clutter if you keep more than you need or refuse to bid worn ones goodbye.

To elaborate, you must only keep the towels, including bath and hand ones (washcloths, too, if you use them), that you use on a regular basis. You also want to store an extra set. This way, you won't have to use your robe as a substitute or drip water all over your home while making your way to the linen closet. Moreover, you must get rid of towels that are past their prime and sport holes, tears, or frayed edges. It's also a good idea to remove ones that deposit lint on your skin during every use or those you don't like anymore. Turn a few into rags for cleaning and drying your bathroom and donate the rest to an animal shelter, for example. 

The primary reason you shouldn't store extra towels in your bathroom is that they'll clutter the space. But that's not the only reason. Bathing chambers are humid and often host mold and mildew. Storing your spare towels in this environment makes them susceptible to these issues, compromising any clean ones. Plus, the damp atmosphere might make the towels smell awful.

Even if you try to solve the mold issue by determining the best type of fan for your bathroom and improving ventilation, there's still the problem of invisible germs. Simply put, nasty bacteria and fungi from the toilet that spray out during a flush might take up residence in your towels without your notice. For this reason, you should always keep your towels inside a cabinet or in baskets or bins that come with a lid instead of leaving them on an uncovered surface. As a bonus, this practice will also minimize visual clutter.

There is no definitive answer to the number of towels you should keep in your bathroom. It'll ultimately depend on multiple factors, such as the available storage space, whether there's only one bathing space, your washing preferences, and your laundry schedule. You'll want to store the ones you can comfortably fit in a cabinet or on a shelf, but don't cram them into the space unnecessarily. Moreover, if you're the only person using the space, you'll want to keep a bath towel handy and an extra one in case you need it when the other one is wet or out of commission. Similarly, if you share the bathroom with your partner, children, or siblings, store one bath towel for each person plus one more. Remove the rest from the room.

Coming to washing preferences, if you don't launder your towels daily, you can adhere to the above rule about only storing one extra. However, if you prefer washing your bath towels after every use, you might want to store two extras to reduce the frequency with which you need to restock. Follow a similar logic for your washcloths. Since you want to change out your handcloths every week (or after a maximum of 10 days), you'll need only two hand towels per bathroom. Regarding your guest bathroom, you only need to stock towels if you host your family or friends regularly. On the off chance you like to treat them like royalty and don't put out the basic towels you use, you can keep any special ones safe inside your linen closet.