Dirty Dressing Gowns: The Hidden Nasties That Could Be Lurking in Your Fluffy Robe

Dressing gowns, bath robes, whatever you want to call them, they’re somewhat of an institution in British culture. Cold? Put your dressing gown on. Ill? Put your dressing gown on. Sad? Put your dressing gown on. Getting ready for a night out? Put your dressing gown on. Post-shower and getting ready for bed? You guessed it…put your dressing gown on.

A dressing gown is the perfect item of clothing for many situations, with the blend of comfort and cosiness unmatched by any other item of clothing - and with varieties including fleecy, silky, lightweight cotton, novelty, sexy boudoir, and waffle ‘spa robes’ on offer, there’s almost a dressing gown option for every occasion.

However, despite being loved by so many, we can often stray into the territory of taking our dressing gown wearing a little too far – for example, wearing your gown to pop to the shops for a late evening snack because you couldn’t bear to leave it at the front door…just us?

We also have a sneaking suspicion that we’re probably not washing our dressing gowns anywhere near as much as we should be given the amount we wear them, and that they may well be more like gross hunks of fabric by the time we eventually decide to retire them, rather than the fluffy, luxurious gowns they began as. So are we washing our dressing gowns thoroughly enough? And how dirty actually is the average dressing gown?

We worked with professional macro photographer Matthew Doogue to find out, and reveal how much grime, food and makeup can accumulate on our robes over time. In our investigation to find out how dirty dressing gowns of the world are, we also spoke to microbiologist Dr Joe Latimer about why this could be damaging for our health. We also surveyed 1,500 people to uncover just how much we are wearing our dressing gowns – and importantly, how often (or not) people are washing their robes.

As the experts in all things spa life, we also wanted to share our top insider tips on how you can keep your own robe looking spa gown fresh and fluffy all year round.

According to our research, we’re right to think that dressing gowns are worn for many more activities than just sitting and watching TV, or when getting ready to go out. While 38% of respondents said that they turned to their dressing gowns during a sick day, and almost half (49%) said they’d eaten a meal while wrapped up, some of the other responses were a little more surprising.

Dressing gowns are generally seen as an ‘indoor’ item of clothing, however they’re generally associated with relaxation more than activity. Despite this, many people will gladly pop them on whatever they’re doing in the house, with 35% saying they’ve cooked a meal while wearing their robe, 36% saying they’ve cleaned while wearing one, and 8% even admitting that they’ve worked out while in their gown.

Some people do push the boundaries of the saying ‘in the comfort of our own homes’ and take their dressing gowns a little further afield, with more than a quarter (27%) wearing their robe to take the bins out, and 16% wearing one in the garden. However, 56% of respondents have gone one further and left their property entirely, with 11% admitting to driving a car, 10% visiting the shops, and 9% going for a walk all with their gowns firmly in situ - though it’s clearly the younger age groups that feel more confident to do so, with a fifth of respondents aged 16-24 admitting to doing each of the above.

For some people, their dressing gowns are featured even in the most intimate moments of daily life, with a quarter of people (25%) regularly wearing their gown with no clothes on underneath, and 11% confessing to taking part in sexual activity while wearing theirs.

The Situations Where Dressing Gowns Are Worn The Most

Considering the range of activities that we’re clearly doing while wearing our dressing gowns, we could assume that they need washing quite frequently - particularly if cooking or cleaning while wearing them!

But how often are we really washing them? According to our survey, one in five people (20%) who wear dressing gowns said that they wash their gown once a month, which was the most popular frequency of washing. A further 19% of people who wear them said they wash theirs once a week, while once every two to three weeks was the preferred option for 13% of people.

However, more than a quarter (27%) said that they wash their robe less than once a month, but do wash it occasionally (at least it’s more than never!).

When looking at the cities that wash their robes most frequently, Belfast residents come out on top, washing their gowns a whopping eight times per month on average - do they ever let it dry?! Leeds residents follow in second, washing theirs an average of six times per month, with Londoners opting for the same frequency.

However, at the other end of the scale, those in Plymouth wash their dressing gowns just once per month on average, meaning that they’re being washed eight times less than in Belfast – though they may well be worn just as much. Beyond this, more than 6% of people in the city confess to never washing their dressing gowns at all.

Nottingham residents are the next most infrequent washers, at an average twice a month, with Bristolians in third spot.

Which Cities Wash Their Gowns The Least (And Most)?

Interestingly, age also seems to play a significant role in how often we’re washing our gowns, with 25 to 34-year-olds washing them the most of any age group at an average of eight times per month, followed by 16 to 24-year-olds, also at eight times per month. However, from this point the number of washes per month seems to decrease with age, with 45 to 54-year-olds washing their gowns three times per month, and those aged 55 and over washing them twice in the same period.

According to microbiologist Dr Joe Latimer, based on the amount we’re wearing our dressing gowns, we should probably be washing them much more often:

“Nearly half of the people in the survey said they wash their dressing gowns once a month or less. If these are the same people putting out the bins and cooking in their dressing gowns, that’s a long time for an unpleasant population of bacteria to grow. Washing your dressing gown regularly, especially after it gets grimy, is important to help remove bacteria, dirt and food particles from the fabric – make sure to use hot water and good laundry detergent too for an effective clean.

“Bacteria thrive in warm, moist environments, so unfortunately the damp conditions after a hot shower can help the bacteria on your dressing gowns to grow. Sweat and moisture from your body can also create the ideal conditions for bacterial growth, leading to unpleasant odours and potential skin irritations. As such, even if your dressing gown is ‘clean’ or between washes, it’s important to make sure it stays nice and dry and avoid hot damp environments to reduce the growth of microbes.”

So, if you’re someone that leaves your dressing gown on the back of the bathroom door, it may be time to find a new place for it to live.

Despite our survey revealing that many people are in fact washing their robes on a fairly regular basis, we know there are many people that don’t wash them at all or may allow them to become rather grubby before they do so. To take a closer look, we sent a very well-loved and worn dressing gown to a macro photographer to see exactly what our dressing gowns may look like under a microscope.

Making you a touch queasy? Us too.

The images clearly show makeup and hair around the collar, an area of the gown which often makes contact with our faces, or easily picks up splashes of cosmetics if worn while getting ready for a night out. The cuffs show similar levels of grime accumulated from where they come into contact with both our skin, and other surfaces, while we’re wearing the gown. Similarly, the bottom of the gown, depending on the length, is likely to pick up debris too, either from the floor or other areas.

As Joe explains: “The survey results revealed that many people engage in activities that can contaminate their dressing gowns throughout the course of a day, or week. A significant number of people admitted to taking out the bins or cleaning the house while wearing their dressing gown, which exposes the garment to unpleasant bacteria from waste and surfaces. Additionally, those who confessed to cooking and eating in their dressing gowns will be inadvertently transferring food particles onto the fabric. Although we may not even notice them, as we can see from the photos of the gown, these spills, crumbs and remnants of meals can definitely stick around and provide a feast for the microbes lurking on our collars and cuffs.”

The armpit section of the dressing gown is also one to note. It’s natural for our bodies to produce sweat throughout the day, and as the armpit is often one of the warmest areas, that also sweats the most. As it’s also an area that’s in very close contact with any material that’s worn, it’s only likely that it may get a bit grimy.

Though using deodorant and other antiperspirant products can make us feel fresher, these products can also transfer onto materials in close contact and create build-up if they aren’t washed too regularly. According to Dr Latimer, areas such this are the perfect place for any nasty bacteria to live: “Sweat and moisture from your body, such as in the armpit area, can also create the ideal conditions for bacterial growth, leading to unpleasant odours and potential skin irritations. So, the less said the better about those sweaty 8% who have worked out in their dressing gowns!”

A spa robe is often seen as the pinnacle of luxury on a spa day, with the fresh white waffle robes seen as a key characteristic of a spa, with many ‘white robed’ people roaming the poolside and corridors. As we know a thing or two about spas, we also know how to keep a spa robe in tip top condition. Here are our top tips for keeping your robe fresh and fluffy for longer:

1. Keep it gentle - Particularly when it comes to fluffy robes, the fabric needs to be treated with care, so using a gentle wash is the best option when putting it in the washing machine. We also recommend using a mild washing detergent, as anything too harsh could strip the fabric and make it lose its softness.
2. Don’t wash above 40° - When washing, 40 degrees is the maximum that you should be setting your machine, any higher than this and you risk damaging the fibres in your robe.
3. Wash it on its own - If you can, try and give your robe a wash all to its own! Dressing gowns retain a lot of water due to their thick, absorbent material. Washing them alone ensures they’re not competing with other clothes for space in the drum, helping them to wash and rinse more thoroughly.
4. Use a hanger - Though it can be tempting to throw your robe into the tumble drier, it’s actually best to pop your robe on a hanger and allow it to dry naturally. Using a hanger will help to maintain the shape of your robe and make sure it sits just right when you next put it on.

If your dressing gown has seen better days, why not treat yourself and spend a day in a crisp fresh spa robe instead, by booking onto a spa break?

Methodology

We partnered with Censuswide to survey 1,500 nationally representative UK respondents. Each respondent was asked how often, if ever, they wash their dressing gown, and which activities they do while wearing it. Answers around frequency of washing excluded ‘N/A - I do not own a dressing gown’ responses. Survey conducted in October 2024.