Where to store in-use towels so they can dry?


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Old 10-15-19, 06:46 PM
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Where to store in-use towels so they can dry?

Maybe I'm the only person who doesn't wash towels after each use, but it seems wasteful, so I don't. The problem I'm running into is this:

Where the heck do people store their in-use (read: wet) towels in a tiny bathroom?! Our bathroom is mid-deconstruction, so pictures won't be very useful, but it's basically an alley with a vanity+toilet on one side and a tiny (35") shower+a top load washer and dryer on the other side. It's the bathroom that every 1960/70-something ranch style house I've ever been in has, if that helps.

The layout is going to be almost exactly the same, except the vanity will be narrower to accommodate a 16" wide floor to ceiling cabinet to store the clean towels, toilet paper, etc.

There will be 4 of us using this bathroom, so I've got to figure out the towel situation. I've considered over the door, but I'm afraid it will be too heavy with 4 towels on it, plus the door can only open 90* as it is because of the shower, and I'm not sure I want to make it open less than that when it's only a 32" door to begin with.

I know I'm not the only one with a bathroom like this (although having the laundry in there definitely makes it more of a rarity), so I'm hoping someone on here has figured out a good method.
 

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10-15-19, 08:43 PM
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Maybe put some hooks on the toilet side of the new cabinet. Or train everyone to take their towel to their own room to hang them there.

If you have room on the wall, these are nice. Or just throw them in the dryer and the last person turns it on.

32" door??? Must be nice! Hooks on the back of the door... or throw them over the shower curtain. Glass shower doors usually have towel bars on them.
 
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Old 10-15-19, 08:08 PM
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I don't wash my towels after every use either. Fortunately I have the room for several towel bars.
You're on a tight budget for room and without seeing the room it will be tough to offer any real help.
 
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Old 10-15-19, 08:43 PM
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Maybe put some hooks on the toilet side of the new cabinet. Or train everyone to take their towel to their own room to hang them there.

If you have room on the wall, these are nice. Or just throw them in the dryer and the last person turns it on.

32" door??? Must be nice! Hooks on the back of the door... or throw them over the shower curtain. Glass shower doors usually have towel bars on them.
 
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Old 10-16-19, 04:37 AM
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Towel bars are best and hooks are second best. You can hang one bar high and one low on a wall. Also there is usually space up behind the toilet and the back side of the door. If you just don't have room in the bathroom towels can be hung in the hall outside (a bit ugly but functional) and each person can keep their towel on a bar in their bedroom. After forgetting to bring your towel to the shower a few times you'll eventually learn.
 
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Old 10-16-19, 06:01 AM
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I usually hang my shower towel over the shower door after each shower. By the time I need another shower it's usually dry. A folding rack in the hall as PD suggested is a good idea.
 
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Old 10-17-19, 05:14 PM
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XSleeper,

LOL! It's only going to be 32" after the remodel is finished. Right now it's a little less than 30, but I was willing to give up some depth on the cabinet/vanity to get it. Do those towel bar things work? I've found a compact one that swivels that I might be able to work with if it would actually dry the towels. They are kind of $$$ if they don't or if they don't last long.

Pilot Dane,

I hadn't thought of using the hallway, it's already kind of narrow, but it's only for our use anyway, most people use the guest bathroom upstairs (which has the exact same footprint as this one, so I'll have to be creative with towel storage in there when we remodel it next year too...). So I'll have to keep that in mind. Is there a good way to dry them out on hooks? Do I need to install some sort of fan or something? This is a basement, so more humid than a typical above ground floor. I've always had towel bars, so I am completely ignorant to how well hooks would dry in this setting.

Or, and I just thought of this and let me know if it's completely stupid since I haven't thought it through all the way, but could I make the "drawer" on each side of the vanity (the one we are planning to build is this one) that would hold two towels under it, so that the towels hang perpendicular to the vanity and pull out for easy access? It's directly across from the shower anyway, you wouldn't even need to leave the rug. They would probably be visible under the vanity if you squatted down, but I'm not sure it would be that big of a deal. The vanity is only 22.5" deep, so they would be a bit squished on the bars, but some bars are pretty narrow to begin with.
 
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Old 02-19-20, 01:38 AM
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A couple of ideas for small bathrooms, and I have one myself...

First, if you are remodeling it, before you put the drywall in, consider buying sheets of half inch plywood, nailing that up, and then install the drywall. The cost for a bathroom is very low, yet afterwards you can put in a towel bar, toilet paper holder...or grab bars for around the shower and toilet. Please do not laugh, all of us could be just one car accident away from a wheel chair so you never know. Having plywood behind your drywall will mean you can put a screw anywhere you put a fixture and it will hold. What is $100 more for (4) sheets of 1/2 plywood when you can do that?

Another idea is to go with a 36 inch door instead of a 32 inch. Every door in my house, even closets, are 36 inches because again, we are all just one car accident away from a wheel chair, and it is easier to install them when putting in a door than afterwards.

If room for a 36 inch door is an issue, consider putting in a sliding door. Barn doors are all the rage now and can work well. If the door is on the outside of the bathroom, it can really save space inside the bathroom. That is what my 1/2-bathroom has. In your situation (said to the orginal poster), it might gain you extra space to put in places for towels to hang to dry?



 
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Old 02-19-20, 08:12 AM
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The most common solution I've seen is an over-the-door coat rack, hanging on the outside of the shower from an panel (not the door)

 
 

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