Spring cleaning happens but once a year and the time when you switch from winter bedding to summer duvets is usually the perfect time to give your bedroom a clean. But is a seasonal hygiene blitz really enough to ward off the dust, dirt and smells? Most of us wouldn’t like to think that we’re surrounded by filth, but official research suggests your bedroom may be filthier than you want to believe. So, how often should you change your bed sheets, pillows and duvets to maintain a healthy home? We’ll leave the nature of the stains to your imagination, but suffice it to say that bed sheets can get pretty dirty. Yet only a third of Britons wash their sheets on a weekly basis according to YouGov research – and one in ten only change their sheets once a month! Clean linen will result in a better night’s sleep, as well as better hygiene. Your body naturally sheds millions of skin cells when you’re asleep and that can easily result in irritated skin and eyes if you don’t take care.
That’s why our laundry experts recommend washing your sheets once a week to make sure you get your beauty sleep. You spend a third of your life asleep, so you probably don’t want to snuggle your head into a pillow that’s stained and flecked with mildew. Washing pillows at home can be tricky though and you may end up with lumpy sacks of misshapen fluff if you aren’t careful. To strike the ideal balance between softness, longevity and cleanliness, most pillow manufacturers recommend treating your pillows to a clean four times a year – or every three months. Up to a third of a pillow’s total weight can be made up of dead skin and invisible moulds, so it’s definitely worth getting it taken care of at a proper dry cleaners for the best results. When it comes to mattresses, it’s less about cleaning and more about replacing them. According to Mattress specialist Dreams you need to replace your mattress on average every eight years – and you need to turn it over much more regularly than that.
Leaving a mattress on one side for too long will cause it to become misshapen, meaning a poor night’s sleep and days of potential back pain. Over 28% of us are sleeping on mattresses that are more than eight years old and far more than that wish they could get a better night’s sleep! You spend the whole night nuzzling and cuddling into your duvet, but over time your duvet will soak up more than its fair share of dead skin and sweat – gross! That’s why it pays dividends to clean your duvet regularly and to make sure your summer and winter duvets are packed away clean. Washing and drying duvets can be a major hassle to tackle on your own, so it’s recommended to send it out to the professionals every three months. If you’d rather do it yourself then it’s important to air it our properly, with plenty of fresh air until it’s absolutely bone dry. Putting it away any earlier will encourage mildew to build up. Prefer the easier route to fresh bedding? You can book a Laundrapp collection today to get your bedding collected, cleaned and delivered back to your door anywhere in the UK!
Have you ever wondered when you should replace your mattress? While it is often hidden under sheets and a comforter, your mattress receives nightly wear and tear. Over the years, this constant use will break down the foams and support system, leading you to not get a good night’s sleep. Do you often wake up feeling like you didn’t sleep? Or is your body stiff or sore in the morning? These are signs that your mattress is no longer providing the support your body needs to fully relax and rest all night. When your mattress stops providing comfort and support, you will toss and turn more often, leading to a poor night’s sleep. Next time you are changing your sheets, inspect your mattress. If your mattress looks worn, lumpy or has visible sags, it is most likely time to replace it. Whether you want to sleep sitting up or you find the couch more comfortable than your bed, this is a sure sign that you need to go mattress shopping. Many people who prefer sleeping in a recliner might benefit from an adjustable bed where they can enjoy the support of a mattress while sleeping slightly upright.
If your mattress is 7 years or older, then a new mattress will likely improve your sleep. Technology advances have changed the foams and support used in today’s mattresses. Plus, your body has most likely changed within that time. If you have gained or lost weight, started having health issues or even gotten married, it is time to purchase a new mattress. While it may not seem important, if your partner is tossing and turning all night, there is a good chance your mattress isn’t providing adequate support. Plus, a partner who is tossing and turning can interrupt your sleep if your mattress no longer reduces motion transfer. A new mattress will not only improve how you sleep at night, it can greatly improve your quality of life.After a long, hard day, there’s nothing like curling up in 600-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. But, if you’re like many other people out there, you’re also curling up in dead skin, bacteria, fungus, mites, and fecal matter. We polled 1,187 readers on how often they wash their sheets and change out their pillows, and while 44 percent of women said they wash them once a week, 31 percent said they wash theirs twice a month and 16 percent said they do so just once a month.
Meanwhile, 32 percent of women said they almost never switch out their pillows. Keep this field blank Enter your email address You may unsubscribe at any time. At minimum, you should wash your sheets once a week, says Philip Tierno, Jr., Ph.D., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University's Langone Medical Center. That’s because the second you crawl into your sheets, you’re infecting them with your constantly-shedding skin (you lose millions of skin cells per day!), lotions, makeup, sweat, hair, and anything you’ve picked up during your day, like pollen, pet dander, fungal mold, and dirt particles, says Tierno. All come with a not-so-healthy dose of bacteria—for instance, sweat can carry fecal matter and E. coli from your poop shoot to your sheets—which grows the longer you postpone laundry day. RELATED: The 10 Biggest Face-Washing Mistakes What’s more, the sweat and skin attracts dust mites, and gives them food to munch on and multiply, he says.
The thought of cozying up with a bunch of mites is enough to give most women the heebie-jeebies, but the bugs themselves don’t actually hurt you. What can is their poop: It can exacerbate allergies and asthma. And, even if you don’t have allergies, it can cause you to wake up in the morning with red eyes and a stuffy nose, he says. “A lot of people don’t realize that they spend one-third of their life exposed to these allergens,” says Tierno. That’s a lot of time to be lying in a bed of mites and poop. RELATED: How Many Germs Are Exchanged Each Time You Kiss But, even if you wash your sheets once a week, you could still be sleeping on top of a bed of nastiness: Over time, gravity takes over and these particles and bacteria seep their way into your mattress and pillows, he says. Sure, you could just toss your mattress into the dumpster and buy new pillows, but the easiest way to prevent bacteria from accumulating (and to keep anything that’s already in there from getting to you) is to buy mattress and pillow covers, says Tierno.