How Often Should You Wash Your Bedsheets? Laundry is a chore that everyone must do. Some people follow every three-day rule and some have a specified day of the week to wash everything.
A clothes washing schedule is versatile and fully depends on your lifestyle but what about other things that need to be washed? When is the best time to wash bedsheets? Is there a rule we should all be following or does it depend on the type of sheets you have?
There are a few basic rules everyone should follow and certain details will vary depending on your sleeping style, lifestyle, and type of sheets.
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Bedsheets accumulate dirt, sweat, and germs just as much as everyday clothes do even if you’re only sleeping! Dead skin cells that fall of the body naturally will stick to your bedsheets. Dust mites are attracted to the dead skin cells we leave around.
While they’re not harmful to you it’s not healthy for you to be sleeping with dust mites that can irritate and dry out your skin. When you sleep you’re also leaving drool, body oils and sweat even if it’s not visible on your sheets.
What ends up in your bed doubles if you don’t sleep alone meaning you’re rolling around in someone else’s excrements.
Sleeping in unwashed sheets for a while won’t make you sick but it’s not a healthy position to be in. All the gunk hanging out between the threads can irritate the skin causing acne and in severe cases eczema.
If you’re susceptible to allergies the amount of dust and dirt particles can irritate them ever further giving you itchy eyes and a sore throat. None of these symptoms are life-threatening but it’s better for your all-over existence to wash bedsheets.
Experts all agree that washing your sheets weekly is the best time. This reduces the amount of buildup within the sheets that can affect you or your partner.
However, with most people’s busy schedules and other things that happen along the way washing every week doesn’t happen sometimes. If you’ve gone over a week or two just make sure to wash your face regularly in the morning and show often.
This way the dead skin cells and normal day grim will come off before your body hits the mattress. It won’t eliminate the natural oils and sweat but it helps reduce the amount transferred.
Making your bed each time you get up for the day is another way to limit the amount of dust and dirt you sleep in. When you shift the bedsheets around and shake them the dust will fall to the floor. For some busy families or individuals doing laundry weekly just isn’t in the cards.
Buying multiple bedsheets to switch out is an alternative. It’s quicker and can be done without much fuss then when you get to laundry you can wash bedsheets before your clothes.
There are a few factors that determine if you should wash bedsheets more than once a week or if you’re okay going two weeks. Wearing pajamas to bed helps trap the dead skill cells as does showering.
If both those things are part of your daily routine you might be able to stretch out washing as the buildup is less than people who don’t. People who don’t move around a lot spread less around the sheets can go a little longer without washing sheets too.
On the opposite end, if you’re immune-compromised or suffer from extreme allergies you may want to wash your sheets twice a week. That way you’ll ensure there isn’t much time for dirt, dirt, or germs to build upon your sheets and pillow.
People with allergies tend to need pillowcases washed just as frequently since your face is sitting right on the material collecting dust. Adding a second wash may even help allergies if you’re not sure what is irritating them so much!
Depending on your lifestyle you made need to wash more frequently or wash less, but you need to wash bedsheets at least once a week to be safe.