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Can You Wash Underwear With Towels? What to Do Instead

by Carter Vale

Yes, you can wash underwear with towels. The machine won’t stop you, and for a healthy household the hygiene risk is small. But it isn’t the best way to treat your underwear. Towels are heavy, linty and rough, and they put extra stress on the elastic and stretch fabric that keep boxer briefs fitting the way they should. If you only change one habit, wash underwear with lighter everyday clothes, in cold or warm water, and keep it away from the dryer’s high heat.

Below: what actually happens when the two share a drum, the exceptions, the right water temperature, how to dry, and how to build a routine that doesn’t take extra time.

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TL;DR

  • Washing underwear with towels works mechanically, but laundry experts advise separating them: towels shed lint, add weight and create friction.
  • Cold water is enough for routine loads. Use the warmest safe setting only when someone is sick or the load is contaminated.
  • Heat is the real enemy of elastic. Air dry or use low heat, and put underwear in a mesh bag if it goes in the dryer.
  • If you must mix, use a bigger load of light items, not a drum packed with bath towels.
  • Wash underwear after every wear, no matter how you load the machine.

Table of Contents

Is it OK to wash underwear with towels?

It is possible, and it is common. In one popular forum thread, people say they run underwear, towels and linens together on hot with no problem. Plenty of households do exactly that, and nothing terrible happens.

The question is what you want from your underwear. One guide on the topic puts it plainly: it can be done, but it is usually not the best routine for fabric care, hygiene control or wash performance. Towels are heavier, rougher and more absorbent, so they change how the load moves inside the drum.

For a cheap pack of basic cotton briefs, that trade-off may be fine. For underwear you bought because it fits well and feels soft, it’s worth a few minutes of extra sorting.

What towels do to underwear in the wash

Three things go wrong, in order of how often you will notice them.

Lint and fuzz

Towels are among the biggest lint shedders in any laundry pile. Smooth synthetic and stretch fabrics tend to pick that lint up. The Spruce advises keeping towels and clothes in separate loads, partly for this reason. The result is a fuzzy film on dark boxer briefs and a rougher feel against the skin, which is the opposite of what a smooth, tagless finish is for.

Friction and weight

A wet bath towel weighs several times what a pair of boxer briefs does. In the agitation cycle it behaves like a heavy, abrasive sponge pressing on small items. Over many washes, that friction wears on the elastic and the fibers, and the shape and fit slowly go. An unbalanced drum also rinses less well, so small items can come out with detergent left in them.

Hygiene concerns

This is the one people argue about most. Towels, especially kitchen towels and gym towels, can carry more grime and bacteria than a pair of underwear. The fear is that it all mingles in the wash water. In practice, the CDC’s household guidance treats ordinary laundry as sufficient for most households. Separate loads and the warmest safe water matter mainly when someone is ill or an item is contaminated.

So the honest summary: hygiene is rarely the reason to separate them. Fit and fabric life are.

When mixing is acceptable

Sometimes a mixed load is the practical choice. It’s reasonable when:

  • the underwear is basic, durable cotton you don’t mind replacing;
  • the towels are clean bath towels, not kitchen rags or a soaked gym towel;
  • you use a mesh laundry bag for the underwear;
  • the drum isn’t overstuffed, so everything can move and rinse.

It’s not a good idea when:

  • the underwear has a high stretch content, a performance finish, or a flat waistband you want to keep flat;
  • the towels are new (new towels shed the most lint);
  • someone in the house has a stomach bug or skin infection, in which case the load needs a different approach altogether (see the temperature section);
  • the towels are heavily soiled or smell musty.

A better way to load the machine

You don’t need a separate load for every garment type. A simple grouping handles it.

  1. Underwear, socks and undershirts, plus light tees. Similar weight, similar colors, same cycle.
  2. Towels, with sheets only if they fit loosely. Heavy, absorbent, shedding. Even towels and sheets are better kept apart because of lint.
  3. Jeans, hoodies and other heavy items. Their zippers and hardware are another reason not to put them with underwear.

If you wash for one person and don’t want to run a half-empty machine, keep a hamper with a mesh bag clipped to it. Underwear goes in the bag all week. On laundry day the bag goes in with whatever light clothes you have.

Turn the boxer briefs inside out, close any flies or snaps, and don’t overload. A drum about three-quarters full lets water and detergent move through the fabric.

What temperature to wash underwear

For everyday loads, cold is a good default. The American Cleaning Institute says cold water (it puts that at about 65 to 75°F) cleans effectively with modern detergents, helps preserve clothes, and can save an average household roughly $200 a year on energy. That’s a useful number, but the main point for your underwear is that cold water doesn’t cook the elastic.

When should you go warmer?

Situation Water setting Why
Regular wear, no illness Cold Cleans well, protects elastic and fit
Heavily sweaty or workout wear Cold or warm, with a full rinse Detergent handles sweat; heat is not needed
Someone at home is sick Warmest setting the fabric allows The CDC advises the warmest appropriate water and drying completely
Towels and bedding Warm or hot if the care label allows Not underwear, so this is one more reason to separate

Note the conflict this creates. If you wash underwear with towels because towels like hot water, the underwear gets the heat too. Keeping them apart lets each get the setting it needs.

Check the care label on every pair. Cotton basics tolerate more than stretch blends.

Should you wash underwear with other clothes?

Yes, with the right clothes. Underwear with t-shirts, socks and other light items is fine for most people. Avoid pairing it with anything abrasive or very heavy: jeans, canvas, towels, fleece.

A few other habits help:

Perspective: why we care about the wash

We designed our boxer briefs to stay put. The leg doesn’t ride up, there’s no tag to scratch, and the four-way stretch moves with you. All of that depends on the elastic and fabric surviving the laundry.

Perspective: why we care about the wash — overview diagram

We see the same pattern again and again. A man buys underwear that fits perfectly, then a few months later it feels looser, fuzzier or tighter in the wrong places. The product usually isn’t the problem. The problem is heat and friction: a hot cycle, a towel-heavy load, then a hot dryer.

So our advice is boring and works. Cold or warm wash, a mesh bag if you share a load, no softener, and low heat or air drying. Towels get their own load. It costs you maybe ten extra minutes a week, and the underwear keeps the fit you paid for. If you want the full routine, we wrote it up here.

— Tim

Air dry or tumble dry underwear?

Heat does more damage than washing. Elastane, the stretch fiber in most boxer briefs, loses its snap when it’s repeatedly exposed to high temperatures. One underwear-care guide says air drying is the gentler method because heat can reduce elasticity and let fabric stretch out more quickly.

Air dry Tumble dry (low) Tumble dry (high)
Elastic life Best Good Poorest
Time Several hours 30 to 50 minutes Fastest
Shrink risk Lowest Low Highest
Best for Stretch and performance fabrics Cotton basics in a hurry Towels, not underwear

How to air dry underwear

  • Shake each pair out and smooth the waistband flat.
  • Hang it from a rack or line, or lay it flat on a towel or drying rack. Hanging by the waistband can stretch it, so for heavier pairs, laying flat is safer.
  • Leave space so air flows. Ace Laundry notes that crowding items stops air circulating, and that a mesh bag keeps small pieces from blowing away on a line.
  • Avoid hot radiators and a direct heat source.

Indoors, a rack in a ventilated room works. Boxer briefs are thin and usually dry in a few hours.

If you use the dryer

Put underwear on low heat in a mesh bag, and don’t dry it with towels. Towels take far longer to dry, so the underwear would sit in heat after it’s already dry. Take it out when it’s just dry. We explain the heat issue in our piece on whether boxer briefs shrink.

A simple weekly routine

  1. Keep a mesh bag in your hamper for underwear and socks.
  2. On laundry day, run underwear with light clothes, cold water, normal or gentle cycle, mild detergent.
  3. Skip softener and bleach unless the care label allows them.
  4. Run towels separately, warm or hot if the label allows.
  5. Air dry the underwear, or tumble on low in the bag.
  6. Rotate pairs so no single pair gets washed more often than needed.

That’s the whole system.

Quality matters too

Care can only do so much. Fiber content and elastane percentage determine how well a pair tolerates washing in the first place, and our guide on what to check in men’s underwear fabric covers this. If you want to know what stretch percentage feels like, see our elastane explainer.

If your current pairs ride up even when freshly washed, the issue may be fit rather than laundry. That’s covered in our guide to underwear that rides up.

Built for repeat washing

The Contour™ Signature Boxer Brief is $19.99. It has a non-rising leg, a tagless finish and soft four-way stretch in a breathable, lightweight fabric, made to keep its fit and softness wash after wash. Follow the routine above and you’ll get the most from it. If you’re replacing a drawer of pairs that have lost their shape, it’s a good place to start.

FAQ

Can you wash underwear with towels?

Yes, it works, and a clean household can do it without a hygiene problem. It isn’t ideal, though. Towels shed lint, add weight and increase friction, which wears on elastic over time. If you do mix, use a mesh bag and a roomy drum.

What is the best temperature to wash underwear?

Cold is fine for routine loads and is gentler on elastic. The American Cleaning Institute describes cold as roughly 65 to 75°F. Go to the warmest setting the fabric allows only when someone is sick, per the CDC, and check the care label first.

Can you put underwear in the dryer?

Many pairs can go in, but not on high heat. Use low heat and a mesh bag, and remove them as soon as they’re dry. Stretch and performance fabrics last longer if you air dry them.

Is air drying better than tumble drying?

For underwear with elastane, yes. Air drying avoids the heat that weakens stretch fibers, so the fit lasts longer. The trade-off is time: expect a few hours on a rack instead of under an hour in the dryer.

Can you wash underwear with regular clothes?

Yes. Pair it with similar light items such as t-shirts and socks, not with jeans or towels. Sort by color, use a mild detergent and wash after every wear.

Sources

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