To avoid cross-contamination, it is optimal to wash bath and hand towels separately with kitchen towels. All towels must not be combined with clothing, bath mats or any other type of material for sanitary purposes. You can wash bath and kitchen towels together, but you should wash them at a higher temperature (60°C or more) to eliminate germs. When washing towels and clothes together, do not use fabric softener.
While they are good for clothes, they can leave a film on tea towels, making them unhygienic for regular use. The Family Handyman explains that when the silicone oil component of fabric softener sticks to the towel fibers, it makes them slippery, greasy, and less absorbent. Tea towels can also pick up soap when washing dishes and hands. Rinse and dry thoroughly before adding to the laundry.
While it is common to separate clothes according to color and fabric, few know that bath towels and tea towels should never be washed together. The simple answer is no, you shouldn't wash your dirty sheets and towels together in the same load of laundry. To ensure that the tea towels are well cleaned, it is best to wash them at the highest temperature suggested on the fabric care label. If you wash kitchen and bath towels together at a lower temperature, you end up covering your bath towels with kitchen germs.
As kitchen towels are constantly in close contact with a variety of surfaces, such as the kitchen bench, this bacterium can be transferred to the bathroom or hand towels if they are washed together. It is safe to say that there will be germs, bacteria and food on the kitchen towels, so it is necessary to wash them at a high temperature to kill germs. Kitchen towels are used for all kinds of things, from drying dishes to sometimes even cleaning surfaces. Tea towels also tend to get pretty nasty over time with food products and random spills, so mixing the two varieties of towels means you may be creating something like a cocktail of bacteria.
However, with all the dishwashing work, household chores and major kitchen tasks that these absorbent towels provide, they also serve as an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. If you wash bath and kitchen towels together, it is better to wash them at a higher temperature than your normal wash. According to Gagliardi, for germ-infested kitchen and bathroom items such as mop heads, dishcloths and cleaning cloths, wash them as a separate load from regular laundry.
