Washing bed linens feels like a tedious chore. But with modern washing machines, there’s less excuse not to swap them out more often.
Researchers have found that most people change their sheets less often than recommended. Studies say you should use clean linens at least once a week, or at minimum every two weeks.
Why is this important?
The average person spends a third of their life sleeping. That makes our beds among the most used items in daily life.
According to New York biologist Philip Tierno, our nighttime resting place quickly turns into a “botanical garden” of bacteria and fungi because of the “lovely” combination of sweat, dead skin cells, and dust mites. Can we really ignore that?
These unwanted bedfellows can lead to eczema, allergies, and asthma. Tierno says they can make you sick even if you don’t usually have allergies. So he recommends washing your bedding weekly.
Washing is especially important during the summer, when we sweat more and face extra triggers like hay fever and pollen.
Alok Vij, M.D., a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic, says other reasons to wash bedding frequently include pets, how much people in the household sweat, any allergies or asthma they have, and whether they sleep naked.
Manal Mohammed, senior lecturer in microbiology at Westminster University, recommends washing bedding in warm or hot water (40–60 °C), changing pillowcases every few days, and letting the bed air out in the morning by removing the sheets for a while. That makes the surface less hospitable for bacteria and dust mites, IFLScience reports.
How often do people change their sheets?
YouGov data show less than a third of Britons wash their bedding weekly (28 percent). Thirty-six percent do so every two weeks, and one in ten changes sheets and pillowcases about once a month.
Single British men fared worst: BBC reports 45 percent of men in that group change their bedding no more than once a month.
A 2017 survey of U.S. residents found nearly half (44 percent) wash their bedding one to two times a month; one in ten does so quarterly. Five percent said they change their sheets only once or twice a year.
