Washing Bed Sheets
Learning how to wash bedsheets is fairly easy. Knowing when to wash bedsheets is an entirely different story. To be perfectly honest, many people don’t wash sheets and pillowcases often enough.
It may not seem like a big deal because most of the time you’re just sleeping in your bed. However, there are several reasons you should wash bedsheets on a routine basis. Ready to learn how often you should wash sheets and, more importantly, why they need to be cleaned so much?
How Frequently Should You Wash Sheets?
In an ideal world, you should wash sheets and pillowcases on a weekly basis. If you’re shocked by that information, don’t worry; you’re not alone. In fact, a poll from Women’s Health showed that 47 percent of respondents only wash bedsheets once or twice a month.Why Do You Need to Wash Bedsheets So Often?
You might think you’re clean when you exit the shower, but the human body is always up to something kind of gross. As you sleep, for example, you’re also shedding skin cells and dropping hair and eyelashes. In addition, some people drool or have allergy problems, meaning there’s really no telling what’s on your bedding when you wake up in the morning. That’s not even taking into consideration the times when you crash into bed without showering.It’s also only the tip of the iceberg.
Along with all the daily bits and pieces your body is shedding, you’re also spreading a lot of other things on your sheets. If you have a fungal infection — like athlete’s foot — that’s going to rub off on bedsheets. Do you tend to sweat as you sleep? Your sweat could pick up fecal matter as it drips and deposit it on your sheets. And if you have pets… well, you know good and well Mittens is going to do some grooming as he sits on your pillowcases.
You know how it always feels so great to climb into bed after putting on a freshly cleaned sheet set? Well, that’s because those sheets aren’t covered in all the things you’ve left behind for the past month.
Tips to Help You Wash Sheets, or at least change them, regularly
It’s not that difficult to wash bedsheets if you have a washer and dryer in your home or a laundry room in your building. However, life gets busy sometimes. Prepare for hectic weeks by having a spare set of sheets that you can put on the bed when you don’t have time to wash the dirty set.It’s a little more difficult to wash sheets weekly if you have to trek to the local laundromat, though you could always use a drop-off service. If you have to wait between washes, you probably shouldn’t go any longer than two weeks. Here again, you can buy an extra sheet set to use when the first gets dirty so you’re not sleeping in all the cells, hair and body fluids you and Mittens have left behind.
So, now that you know why linens need regular laundering… when was the last time you washed your sheets? If you can’t say, then it’s been too long. Get those sheets and pillowcases in the washer ASAP!
