Where to Store Towels in a College Dorm (And Toiletries)

When I arrived at my freshman dorm room for the first time, one of the first things that I had to decide on was where I was going to store everything. During that time, I figured out quite a few places to put my towels and toiletries.   

In general, you can store your towels in your closet, your drawers, on your towel rack, on a door rack, on a drying rack, and in the cupboard under your sink. Keep your toiletries in the sink cupboard or drawers, in the drawers of your nightstand, or in a toiletry bag.

There are also a few places that you never want to store your towels, mainly because they’re unsanitary.

Amazon links: click on the “Buy on Amazon” links, not the picture above it.

Notice: Make Your Place Livable LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Do You Bring Towels To College?

Many universities don’t provide towels for their students. In fact, I haven’t heard of any schools that do. That being said, you should bring a set of your own with you to college. Constantly asking your roommate or the other people in your hall if you could borrow theirs would get annoying after a while. Plus, sharing other people’s towels isn’t the most sanitary thing to do.

Also, it’s not like air drying is always going to be an option. More often than not, you’ll have to dry faster than that. Not to mention that, if you live in a hall style bathroom, you’ll want to dry off quickly so that the next person can use the shower.

How Many Towels Does A College Student Need? 

In general, every college student should at least bring three different towels: a body towel, a hand towel and a washcloth. To stay sanitary, use the hand towel after you wash your hands and face, the washcloth for bathing, and the body towel to dry every other part of your body.

How many more towels that you’ll need depends on each student. If you won’t have time to do laundry every week, bring two sets of the three towels that I already listed. If you need an extra towel to dry your hair, bring one. If you’d rather not use your hand towel to dry your face, bring an extra one. I personally like microfiber cloth face towels because they remove makeup really well. Based on your specific routine, only you will know how many towels you actually need besides the three that I already mentioned in the beginning.

Where Should I Store Towels In My Dorm?

1. Keep Them In Your Closet

One of the places that you can keep your towels before you use them is in the closet that your school provided for you. If they have shelves in them, then fold up your towels and stack them on top of each other on the shelf. If your closet doesn’t come with shelves, then it was poorly built and I’m sorry, but luckily you can buy a solution. Buy some portable drawers that will fit in your closet, such as this one:

Fold your towels, or roll them up if they won’t fit while folded, and put them inside the drawer. Now you have a space in the closet for your towels! However, do not store wet towels like this. If stored incorrectly, wet towels can start to grow mold. Here are the 7 places that you should and the 6 places that you should never store your wet towels. 

2. Place The Towels In Your Drawers

Most college dorms already come with drawers, the problem is, they don’t come with enough for most students. If you have the room for them, make a home for your towels in your drawers. You can probably fit them in the same drawer as your clothes. Your smaller towels, such as the hand towel and washcloth, can definitely squeeze into the drawers. Just remember to neatly fold your bath towels or roll them up if you want them to take up less space. If the inside of your drawers are made of wood and the wood is chipping, buy some drawer liners:

To put a protective layer between your towels and the wood. Don’t want them getting a splinter.

3. Hang Them From Your Towel Rack

If you live in a dorm that comes with a private or suite style bathroom, then chances are, they have a built-in towel track on the wall. That is a good place to put your towel. It makes it super convenient to step out of the shower and immediately dry yourself off.

However, if you choose to store your towel here, make sure to leave room on the rack for your roommate to do the same. If you share the bathroom with more than one person and there’s clearly not enough space for all the towels, take turns. When it’s not your turn to use the rack, here are other places that you can put your towel in the meantime.

4. Hang Your Towels From A Store Bought Door Rack

This is another place where you can keep your towels, but you’ll have to buy it yourself. If you can find a place in your dorm to hang a door rack from, then you just created a dandy little towel holding station. It doesn’t have to be a big door rack either. It can be just one hook:

Two door hooks:

Or even more:

Just buy what you think you need and can fit in the room. Don’t try to put them on the door leading into your dorm hall though. That’s usually against the rules. If you have a private bathroom, use that door. If you have a desk with a tall bookshelf attached, hang it from the back of the desk. Get creative to get the job done.  

5. Keep Them On A Standing/Leaning Towel Rack

Maybe your dorm room doesn’t have a place that you can put door hooks on. That’s okay, you have other options. You can buy a standing towel rack, such as this one:

Drape a few towels over it and call it a day. Fold your towels multiple times if you want to fit more than a couple on here. As a cool bonus, this also doubles as a drying rack if you have nowhere else to dry yours out. Just make sure to dry one at a time. If this kind of rack isn’t for you, then maybe you’d prefer a tall rack that you can lean against a wall:

These hold more towels at one time, but they can’t stand on their own. Buyers have also mentioned that they can be a bit wobbly on hard floors. If your dorm comes with a carpet, or if you bought one already, then position this on the carpet to make it more stable.

6. Keep The Towels On Your Drying Rack

If you’ve check out my post called “Where To Store Your Wet Towels In A Dorm Room”, then you probably came across this contraption:

If you haven’t, allow me to introduce you. This is a handy dandy drying rack that is perfect for drying your towels or just storing multiple dry towels on. Even if you have wet clothes that aren’t meant to be machine dried, this thing can come to their rescue. What makes it even better is that it folds up to take up even less space, making it easy to store in a dorm. Many hotel rooms have a smaller version of this, and they’ve had the right idea for years. I think that they would make a great staple to any dorm. 

7. Place Them In The Storage Cubby Under Your Bed

If you have storage cubbies, bins, bags or some other means of keeping things under your bed, this would make a good spot to keep your towels. They would be nice and out of the way until you’re ready to use them. That’s what makes the space under your bed a prime place for extra storage. If you were planning on positioning your bed low to the ground, you might want to reconsider. 

8. Put Them In The Cupboard Under Your Sink

Some dorm rooms come with a sink, and some even come with a sink that has a cupboard attached. If you live in one of these rooms, just know that you’re pretty lucky. Also note that you have more storage options for your towels. Washcloths and hand towels can easily fit inside of here, but you may have to tightly fold your bath towels if you plan to fit more than one. To neatly store these items and leave room for more of your stuff, you may want to get some containers to put in the cupboard, such as these:

Just know that they might not be big enough to hold bath towels. Your washcloths and hand towels should be fine though.  

Where Should I Not Store Towels In My Dorm?

1. Under Your Bed If You Don’t Have Storage Containers Or Cubbies

Even though it’s safe to keep your towels under your bed in storage bins and cubbies, it’s not a good idea to just sit it on the floor under your bed. This is because, as the weather gets warmer, mold and mildew like to make a home for themselves under there. There are ways that you can prevent this mold growth, but you don’t want to subject your clean towels to the possibility of growing fungus. Keeping them tucked in a container keeps them safe from the mold that could start sprouting up from the carpet. 

2. Laying All Over The Floor

This is a rule that goes for all of your towels and clothes in general. Do not leave them sprawled all over the floor. It’s messy, it’s inconsiderate of your roommate, it makes the room look 10x worse, and it’s just overall a bad habit. You’ll just be getting your clean towels dirty if you toss them on the floor.

Pick any of the options from the “Where Should I Store Towels In My Dorm?” section of this blog post and put your towels there. If you have a habit of leaving your stuff on the floor, then it’s time to form new habits going into adulthood. Start by reading these 15 tips on how to stay neat and clean in college. 

3. In The Hall Style Bathrooms

If the dorm that you stay in uses hall style bathrooms rather than private or suite-style bathrooms, then you won’t have the option of leaving your towel in there. This is for a couple reasons.

The first reason being that it will probably get mistaken as a lost towel and get tossed in the lost and found over and over again. The second being that someone else might think it’s an unclaimed towel and keep it for themselves. The third reason being that there probably aren’t any towel racks or form of towel storage in the bathroom anyways. The fourth reason being that it could fall on the public washroom floor, which is gross. I think you get the point.

Where Should Toiletries Be Stored In A Dorm?

1. In Your Sink Cupboard

Since we’re on the topic of hygienic items, let’s talk about where you should keep the rest of your toiletries. By this I mean the items you use to take care of your personal hygiene both in the morning and at night. These could easily have a home in your sink cupboard as well. Remember when I recommended that you get under-the-sink storage containers? You could easily buy a couple to fit your toiletries in. They could also come in a smaller size to maximize the space you have for more stuff: 

2. In Your Sink Drawers

This is another great storage option that you’ll be lucky to have if your dorm comes with a sink cupboard. The drawers above the cupboard are practically made to hold toiletries. If there’s more than one drawer and you have a roommate, don’t hog all the space for yourself. Try to evenly split the drawers so that you both get the space that you need.

3. In The Drawers Of Your Nightstand

If you have a nightstand with drawers, then that would make a very good spot to keep your toiletries. If the night stand is right next to your bed, then it makes for easy access to the stuff you use in the morning to freshen up. You can also easily organize your hygiene supplies with drawer containers, making this an even better storage option:

4. In A Toiletry Bag In Your Closet

Another great place to put all of your toiletries is in a toiletry bag. I mean, that’s what it’s made for after all. There are plenty of sizes with different pockets, so you’re bound to find the one for you:

As for the bag itself? You can keep that on a shelf in your closet. Of course, if you have other places where the bag will fit, you can keep it there too. I only recommend the closet because that’s where my roommate’s and I kept ours.