Tuesday, February 2, 2010

White is the new tan (and blue, and off white...)

{out}

{in}

We have a new rule in my house. If the towel is not white, and not new(ish), out it goes. I have been plagued for years by a mismatch of towels from various stages in my life and Jeff's life as well. Worn-looking dark green towels from his bachelor days. Old white towels with blue squares on the trim from when we were staging our condo in Allston to sell it. Three sets we got as wedding gifts that yes, I can now get rid of as we approach our 5-year anniversary. I mean, really, 5 years is a pretty great run for a towel. And please raise your hand if you can even remember giving us towels for our wedding...bet you can't.

I've had this towel jumble for a while and found the perfect solution recently in a magazine -- specifically, in an article aimed at organizing the home. It suggested purchasing only white towels. They can be bleached to look super-clean and will give your bathrooms a "spa feel" (that is assuming, of course, that your bathrooms don't have hundreds of hairbands and torn up toilet paper on the floor like mine do...never seen that at the ole' spa). I know that bleach isn't great for the environment, but I figure that a few glugs a week won't hurt too much.

So today, I put Operation White Towel into motion. I purchased 4 white bath towels and 4 hand towels at Target (bath mats and wash clothes to follow). I brought them home, washed them (and glugged in some bleach, just for good measure) and now they are ready to go. We're all going to use them -- no more kid towels. Just a clean white towel for us all. And when any of them shows the slightest bit of yuck, it shall be promptly replaced. Those are my rules and all towels must obey me.

I am keeping a few old towels for "yuck" clean-up and also a blue set that is fairly new for guests. But those will be kept in their rightful places (basement and guest bath, respectively) and will not come into play in my everyday life.

Ok, then, that's all I have to say about that. Thanks for listening.


6 comments:

  1. I hope you have better luck with bleach than I ever do -- never seems to do much for me. What are you going to do with the no-longer-worthy towels? There must be some great creative use for them...

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  2. we may have read the same article because i am thinking about doing the same thing but with sheets first!

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  3. Oh, I completely agree! I bought white towels for "our" bathroom (kids still use randoms) and they are great. I love bleaching them and feeling oh-so-fresh. I think I might go buy some more . . .

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  4. FYI -- Animal shelters are always taking donations of towels and blankets for the dogs and cats to sleep on. :)

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  5. I have been a white towel and sheet girl for years. The other day, Evan had to color a bed for a homework assignment and he didn't color in the pillow and duvet and I told him to. He said he didn't want to that he wanted it white, like a "grown up bed".
    And I agree with the animal shelter suggestion, I just made a pile.

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