Did you know that for 60 years that the United States was completely free of bedbug infestations? In more recent years, however, bedbugs seem to have made a comeback. But bedbugs aren’t the only critters that can infest your sheets if you don’t wash them often.
If you don’t often follow sheet or mattress cleaning tips, your bedsheets might be full of dead skin cells, dust mites, sweat, and saliva, among other things. Even if your sheets look clean, they probably aren’t which is why the question, “How often do you wash sheets?” is so important. To learn how often you should wash your sheets and how to wash sheets, keep reading more below.
How Often Do You Wash Sheets?
How often you wash your sheets will depend on how often you use your bed. In general, most people tend to spend about 8 hours, more or less, in their bed. That’s a long time to be stuck in one place, especially if you sweat a lot or toss and turn at night.
Most of the debris that ends up on bedsheets won’t be visible to the naked eye, although you might be able to smell it. However, by the time you are able to smell the stench of your sheets, you probably should have washed them a long time beforehand. A good rule of thumb to follow is to wash your sheets once every week.
Why is once a week such a good frequency to wash your sheets? Because a surprising amount of body oil, dead skin cells, hair, and other materials are able to build up on your bedsheets by that point. The longer you leave all that dirt on your sheets, the more opportunities you give that dirt to seep into your mattress.
Since mattresses tend to be much more expensive than bedsheets, it’s better to keep your sheets clean before they end up dirtying your mattress. More than that, it is much harder to clean a mattress than it is to wash some bedsheets. You can also benefit from clean sheets in a variety of ways.
For example, even if you don’t have acne-prone skin, you might still end up with acne because of how dirty your sheets are. With all those dead skin cells and oil, it makes sense that your pores would get clogged by sleeping with some dirty sheets. You also won’t have to deal with smelly sheets in the morning either.
Are There Exceptions to the One-Week Rule?
As with everything in life, there are a few exceptions to cleaning your sheets once every week. One of the most significant exceptions is when you don’t sleep in your bed every night. In this case, you are obviously not rubbing your skin cells and oil all over your bedsheets as often as people normally do, so your sheets will remain in better shape for a longer period of time.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can go months without washing your sheets. Instead, you might be able to go about two weeks without washing your sheets. If you rarely sleep in a bed, you might be able to go more weeks without washing the sheets, although this is an uncommon scenario.
There are also some people who should wash their sheets multiple times every week. For example, if you tend to sweat a lot during the night, you might be in this category. Allowing sweat to soak into your sheets for an extended period of time is never a good idea.
Eventually, that sweat might soak into your mattress, and then you will have a more difficult problem to deal with. More than that, the moisture and warmth of your sweat make for the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, insects, and even certain types of fungus. Since you likely don’t want to be sleeping with all of those undesirable critters, it’s best to clean your sheets about twice every week if you tend to sweat a lot.
If you allow your pet to sleep with you in bed, you might also want to wash your sheets more frequently. Even if your dog or cat is as clean as can be, they can still carry ticks, fleas, or other insects.
What Is the Best Way to Clean Sheets?
How to clean bedding is a relatively simple task. As with most things made of cloth, you should be able to throw your sheets into the washer machine without any trouble. If you have more delicate bed sheets such as those made of silk or satin, you should be sure that the washer machine is on a delicate setting.
If you have sturdier sheets made of cotton or polyester, feel free to set the machine to a bulkier setting for a deeper clean. If you don’t like the idea of putting your sheets in the washer machine for whatever reason, you are, of course, free to wash your sheets by hand.
While this might take longer, washing your sheets by hand will give you the chance to inspect your sheets for any stains or damage. Or you could try hiring a professional cleaner to do the work for you if you don’t have the time to do it yourself.
Everything You Need to Know About Keeping Your Sheets Clean
How often do you wash sheets is an important consideration when it comes to keeping your bed free of insects and dirt. By keeping your sheets clean, you won’t have to worry about ruining your sheets or mattress in the future.
If you are concerned about your dirty sheets but don’t have time to clean them, contact us and learn more about our services.
