Like the feeling of fresh, clean sheets – but hate having to change your bedding? Wondering how often should you change your bed sheets and what happens if you don’t do it regularly? Well, the short answer is: it depends. However, on average, once a week and if you’re not doing it yet, now’s the time to start!
How often should you change your bed sheets?
To remove sweat, dead skin cells, and the number of dust mites (they reproduce quickly!) we should wash our sheets at least once a week. You might pull that by every two weeks if you never eat in bed, take showers before going to sleep, and do not have any allergies or acne pro skin. But even then, your pillowcases should still go into the washing machine every single week.
Why should you change your bed linen regularly?
Unless there are obvious stains from your toddler using your bed covers as a towel to clean her hands, you might think that they are pretty clean. However, your sheets, pillowcases, and covers accumulate large amounts of dirt, dead skin cells, body oils, sweat, and dust mites. So unless you want to be sleeping with thousands of little creatures, wash your bed linen regularly.
Washing your bedding often is especially important if:
- You shower in the morning – because you bring some of the day’s grease and grime into bed with you at night.
- You or someone in your household has allergies – dust mites feed off dead skin cells found on pillowcases and sheets, this can aggravate one’s symptoms.
- You have oily skin or acne – pillowcases are the home of many bacteria. Dead skin cells, sweat, and residue from skin or hair care products make our bed sheets, especially our pillowcases, a breeding ground for it. So if you have acne or oily skin, consider changing your bedding, especially the pillowcases, more often.
The best way to wash your bed linen
We can wash most fabrics at a warm temperature of 40 degrees as this helps to remove dirt and natural body oils, but a 60 degree wash will be better at killing germs. Set the temperature to 30 degrees if your sheets are silk.
Dry sheets and pillowcases in direct sunlight if you can. According to the experts, you should also run a hot iron over pillowcases to kill any leftover bacteria. But let’s be honest, you do not have time for that. (Neither do I; I don’t even remember when was the last time I’ve ironed).
Keeping bed linen clean between washing
If you want your sheets to stay as clean as possible in between the washes, you should:
- Not eat or drink in bed: I know that’s easier said than done once you have a toddler running around the house with a pack of crackers.
- Have a shower before going to bed: to avoid bringing all the day’s grease and grime into bed.
- Or at least wash your face: to avoid having dirty pillowcases that can cause or aggravate acne.
Tips for washing your bed linen:
- Make and follow your laundry schedule so you know when, and what needs to be washed. This way you won’t forget to wash your bedding and towels (that need to be washed regularly too).
- Dry your bedding outside if you can. Not only will they have a crisp, natural scent but also UV rays can help kill bacteria.
- Add a few drops of tea tree essential oil when washing your bedding. Adding tea tree oil to your laundry detergent can be a great way to give your bedding a little extra love. Not only does it have antimicrobial properties, which means it can help kill germs and bacteria, but it also has a refreshing, invigorating scent that will leave your linens smelling amazing.
Ashley
January 16, 2023Great information & I love tea tree oil! 🙂