How often do you launder your linens? According to a 2015 Women’s Health poll, most people wash towels and sheets fairly often—though perhaps, not as habitually as they should. "Just like with our clothes, actively used linens, especially those that touch food or skin, should be washed more frequently, while less actively used linens, like decorative hand towels or seasonal comforters, can go a bit longer," says Maeve Richmond, founder and head coach of home organizing company Maeve’s Method. Recommended washing: Every three or four uses Recommended washing: Every one or two weeks Recommended washing: Every week Recommended washing: Every two or three days. Since hand towels are usually A) hung in a high-traffic, germ-friendly room, and B) used by multiple people for a variety of reasons, it’s just good sense to throw them in the washing machine more frequently than most linens. After all, do you really want to dry your hands on your grandson’s toothpaste marks?
Recommended washing: Twice a year 6 Unusual Uses for Mouthwash 11 Surprising Uses for Rubbing Alcohol 7 Uses for Dish Soap Beyond the Kitchen Sink HuffPost Parents offers a daily dose of personal stories, helpful advice and comedic takes on what it’s like to raise kids today.They are the items we use every day - in fact, we couldn't do without them. The dishcloths we clean our dishes with - then the tea towels we use to dry them. Sheets on our beds and the duvets and pillows which keep us comfy at night, as well as the pyjamas which make us extra snug. We all need a towel after showering and a toothbrush to keep our pearly whites, well, white. And undies - unless you are Joey from Friends, of course. But all these life staples can harbour some real nasties. The question is: how often do they all need to be changed? More than a quarter of men and seven per cent of women wear briefs for two days before washing them, according to a Kelkoo survey. But used pants contains microbes that can cause urinary tract infections, pneumonia and blood infections, as well as E-coli and thrush .
After every single wear – no exceptions, says Dr Lisa Ackerley visiting Professor of Environmental Health, University of Salford . “And replace them every year.” Machine wash at 30-40C using a detergent with an AOB (activated oxygen bleach) product, says Professor Sally Bloomfield, Consultant in Hygiene and Infectious Disease Prevention, and at 60C if a family member is ill. Or add an anti-bacterial product such as Napisan or Dettol’s Anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser. The average 18 to 30-year-old man wears the same pyjamas for 13 nights and young women 17 nights before washing them, according to a recent survey. “Pyjamas are worn right next to the skin – and we shed skin cells, filled with micro-organisms, at a vast rate,” says Prof Bloomfield. “These organisms are usually harmless but if they get into the wrong place they can cause problems.” For example, E-coli bacteria transferring from the bowel to the urinary tract can cause cystitis. Every two wears – or at least once a week.
Machine wash in the same way as underwear, says Professor Bloomfield. Nine out of 10 UK dishcloths tested in a Dettol study were heavily contaminated with bacteria. More than half harboured E.coli while a quarter featured an organism called Pseudomonas spp. which can cause minor skin and eye infections and potentially life-threatening illness. The average used dishcloth harbours four billion living germs, contains six times as much bacteria as toilet handles and is hailed as the “bug superhighway of the kitchen” according to the Hygiene Council. Rinse thoroughly and air-dry after every use. Don’t drape over bacteria-ridden kitchen taps or leave in the kitchen sink. Each night, rinse with an anti-bacterial laundry cleanser or wash at 60C or more. Air or tumble dry. These are one of the leading causes of cross contamination. “Cloth towels could quickly and easily become contaminated at significant levels, including microorganisms that can lead to food-borne illnesses,” Science Daily reported.
“Other researchers found that salmonella grows on cloths – even after they were washed.” Change every day – and don’t dry your hands on them! Launder at 60C or above, separately to regular towels. Bath towels absorb dead skin cells and natural bacteria from our bodies and warm, damp conditions mean this bacteria thrives. Sharing towels can spread bacteria and viruses such as Staphylococcus aureus (which can cause skin infections), cold sores and Athlete’s Foot. Bath towels should be washed after every three uses, insists Philip Tierno, New York based microbiologist. Wash with sheets at a high temperature, 60C or more, and an anti bacterial product. A recent YouGov poll says more than a third of us only wash our bedsheets once a fortnight. “Beds can become reservoirs of human cells, bacteria and bodily excretions. Humans shed half an ounce of skin each week – and a lot of that will be in the bed,” says Dr Ackerley. Warm, moist environments are also ideal breeding grounds for dust mites, with the average bed containing 10 million of them!
Their faeces can trigger allergic reactions. Each morning, pull back the duvet and open the window to release moisture and humidity. Change your sheets each week. Wash at 60C to kill mites. A staggering 45 per cent of us have never washed their pillows and duvets – despite the fact a third of the weight of a two year old pillow is made up of dead skin and dust mite faeces. According to Johnson Cleaners: “Duvets can harbour live and dead dust mites, skin scales and fungus, which can lead to allergies such as rhinitis and infections such as conjunctivitis.” Duvets should be washed every few months – or at least twice a year, says Sara Wadsworth from The Fine Bedding Company, and replaced every five years, pillows more frequently – every two to three years, Scrub! If the duvet has synthetic filling, wash at 60C to kill off dust mites. Feather fillings need professional dry cleaning twice a year. “The average toothbrush contains around 10 million germs – from bacteria to the flu virus,” says Dr Uchenna Okoye, clinical director of London Smiling Dental Group .