How many showers per towel: 1 in 3 online shoppers uses the same towel for a week (2026)

Only 2.2% change their towel after every shower. Among online towel shoppers, one in three uses the same bath towel for a week.

Dermatologists recommend washing a bath towel at least once a week. 1,202 Casa da Toalha customers said how many showers they use the same towel for before changing it, between 9 September and 16 October 2026. Most change it between the second and the sixth shower. A portrait of people who buy towels online, not of the whole country.

The study in five numbers

"We always assumed people changed their towel every day. The data shows something else: most change it between the second and the sixth shower, and one in three stretches it to a week. People with more towels at home change them faster."

Ana Carolina Nielson, founder of Casa da Toalha

Finding 1: the rule is to change between the 2nd and the 6th shower

56.8%

Of 1,202 customers, 29.5% change their towel every 2 or 3 showers and 27.3% every 4 to 6 showers. Adding the 2.2% who change after every shower, 59.1% of customers use the same towel for at most six showers. In July 2026, experts interviewed by NBC News recommended washing a towel every two to five uses; that is almost exactly the range where the majority sits (the answer option goes up to six showers).

Post-purchase survey (Fairing), all customers, 9 Sep to 16 Oct 2026, n=1,202. NBC News Select, 20 July 2026.

Finding 2: one in three stretches it to a week, and only 3.7% go beyond

33.9%

"One week" was the most chosen answer, with 33.9% (408 answers). Another 3.7% (44) go past a week. The Cleveland Clinic, one of the largest hospital systems in the United States, recommends laundering the bath towel or swapping in a clean one at least once a week (dermatologist Alok Vij, September 2024). By that yardstick, 93.0% of customers change within a week or within six showers, and only the 3.7% who go past a week are clearly outside it (someone who answered in showers could, in theory, take more than a week to reach the sixth shower; the question does not measure days). The same source recommends changing sooner in hot, humid weather or when someone is ill. Another 3.0% said it depends on the time of year: in the heat the towel dries and gets changed sooner, in the cold it lasts longer.

Fairing, n=1,202; Cleveland Clinic, Health Essentials, 11 September 2024.

Finding 3: people with fewer towels stretch each one further

57.8%

Crossing the same person's answers, 57.8% of those who own a single bath towel use it for a week (26 of 45), against 34.4% of those with two, 32.2% of those with three or four and 29.8% of those with five or more. The one-towel group is small (45 people) and counts as a signal, but the ladder is regular: the more towels at home, the shorter the declared time each one stays in use. It is an association, not proof of cause.

Fairing, cross-tabulation between the towel-count and showers questions, same order, 9 Sep to 16 Oct 2026.

Finding 4: people who change towels faster in the bathroom buy new towels faster in the shop

64.6%

Among those who change their towel every 2 or 3 showers, 64.6% buy new bath towels at least once a year (203 of 314). Among those who use the same towel for a week, it is 35.1% (122 of 348). Among those who go past a week, 20.5%. Bathroom rhythm and purchase rhythm move together (an association; the survey does not measure income or washing).

Fairing, cross-tabulation between the showers and purchase-frequency questions, same order, 9 Sep to 16 Oct 2026.

Finding 5: people who change every 2 or 3 showers place bigger orders

R$ 408

The average order of someone who changes their towel every 2 or 3 showers was R$ 408, 16% above the R$ 351 of someone who uses it for a week. Those who change after every shower have the largest order of all, R$ 446, but it is a group of 27 people and counts as a signal, not a headline.

Fairing, total order value including shipping, 9 Sep to 16 Oct 2026.

How to cite this study

Free to use with credit, CC BY 4.0 licence

Casa da Toalha. "How many showers online towel shoppers use the same towel for", October 2026. Open data CC BY 4.0. Available at: www.casadatoalha.com.br/pages/how-many-showers-per-towel-brazil-2026

The charts and the table on this page may be republished with the credit above. Aggregated data available for download below.

Method and limitations

The question appears on the order confirmation screen, for all customers of the shop, and each customer answers once. The answers come from customers of a single Brazilian online towel retailer, across every state; about 89% were first-time customers. It is not a survey of the Brazilian population: it is a portrait of who buys towels online. The same person also answered the other two questions in this series, which allows the cross-tabulations between habit and purchase (995 orders with all three answers).

The groups "just one shower" (27), "more than a week" (44) and "depends on the time of year" (36) are small and may change with more data; that is why they count as signals. The question measures what people say they do, not what they do: habit surveys tend to pull answers towards the more hygienic side. The average order is the total order value reported by the shop, including shipping. Over the same period, the average across all orders in the shop was R$ 354; respondents to this question spent R$ 378 on average, slightly above the general average. Percentages are computed on the counts, so the sum of two rounded percentages may differ from the aggregate by 0.1 point. The medical recommendations quoted come from public sources in other countries, linked in the FAQ, and serve as a yardstick, not as a diagnosis.

Last updated: 19 October 2026.

Open data: the table with every figure in this study, with no identifiable customer data, is available as CSV: download the study spreadsheet (CSV). CC BY 4.0 licence. Free to use with credit.

Frequently asked questions about this study

Casa da Toalha since 2009

About Casa da Toalha and press contact

Casa da Toalha is a Brazilian online shop specialising in towels and bed, table and bath linen. Founded in August 2009 by Ana Carolina Nielson, the company is based in Brusque, Santa Catarina, and holds a registered trademark with the Brazilian patent and trademark office (INPI). On Reclame Aqui, Brazil's main consumer reputation platform, it has earned the RA1000 seal, most recently recorded in June 2026; the rating is recalculated every month and the valid figure is always the one on the official profile. Since 2026 it has published an annual study on the Brazilian towel market, with open data. More at casadatoalha.com.br.

Press: financeiro@casadatoalha.com.br. All editions at www.casadatoalha.com.br/pages/estudos.

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