How Often Should You Change Your Sheet Bedding?
How Often Should You Change Bed Sheets?
Personal hygiene is an essential habit in our day to day living. Every morning we get out of bed and go to the bathroom to clean up, we change our clothing every day, we should also consider changing the sheets often so as to have a proper hygiene habit.
It is something that we often neglect, especially young people who have just become independent and do not give much importance to their bed sheets.
Consequences Of Not Changing The Sheets
We spend about 50 hours a week in bed. During this time, as it happens dusing the rest of the day, our bodies tend to expel substances constantly such as sweat, dead cells, saliva, genital fluids, hair, urine ... and endless dust and dirt that end up absorbing the sheets and covers. In addition, all this dirt ends up in the mattress that is much harder to clean.
It is also very common to find among the sheet bedding, remains of cream and makeup, which can decay and become corrupted. All this favors the proliferation of microorganisms such as mites (and their feces), bacteria, fungi, which can be very harmful to our health.
Known dust mites can cause allergies, breathing difficulties, and even asthma. In addition, if the person sleeping has a wound or cut, they can become infected when rubbed on the sheet as it is not totally clean.
How Often Should You Change Bed Sheets?
It has already become clear to us that it is very important to maintain correct hygiene in bed, change sheet bedding and covers very often, and wash the cushions and bedspreads. But ... How often?
Luckily, health specialists have also asked this question and investigated the case. Most professionals warn us that, at least, we should change the sheets once a week.
It is true that this frequency will depend on each particular case. If you live in a hot climate zone and usually sweat at night, consider increasing the frequency with which you wash the bedding.
Also, keep in mind what you wear at bedtime, clean pajamas will also serve, in part, as a barrier to certain fluids such as sweat or urine. Many people sleep naked, and according to several studies, this is a beneficial practice for the skin, because it breathes and removes dead cells more easily. But of course, these dead cells and the sweat that we give off if we do not wear pajamas stays directly on the sheets.
How To Wash The Sheets Correctly
Once we have removed the dirty sheets from the bed, we must wash them correctly to eliminate all the dirt and kill fungi and bacteria. First, before putting the sheets in the washing machine, carefully read the label, because not all fabrics can be washed in the most intense programs of the washing machine.
As a general rule, almost all cotton sheets resist intensive programs. It is recommended to wash our household clothes at a temperature of at least 60 ° C. If we wash the sheet bedding at a lower temperature, we may not be able to eliminate all the microorganisms. In addition, we must use a quality detergent that removes dirt but is not too abrasive with our skin.
If we also iron the sheets, we must make sure that the heat of the iron kills all those microorganisms that we do not see and the washing machine has not managed to eliminate.
Air Your Bedroom Every Day
Aside from washing your sheet bedding regularly, its best to ensure that you aerate the bed every day. This way, the heat and humidity that we have accumulated in the bed will disappear, and mites and bacteria will not proliferate so easily as well.
To do this, open your bed completely by stretching the sheets to make it airy, and do not forget to open the windows properly. Ventilate the bedroom for at least 15 or 20 minutes before making the bed, as this will help ensure that your sheets are cleaner and more hygienic before changing them. Also, do not forget to clean your mattress periodically.
In addition to washing your sheet bedding regularly, it is also important to wash your pillows, duvets, and comforters frequently, preferably in warm water. Consider buying new pillows every 2 years and changing the mattress every 5 years, as this will also help the health and quality of sleep.