How often should you change your bedsheets?
Every one to two weeks. Weekly if you sweat at night, share the bed with a pet, or have allergies; every two weeks is fine for most couples.
What builds up
A person sheds skin cells and loses roughly half a litre of moisture a night. Both feed dust mites, whose droppings are the usual trigger in house-dust allergies. Add hair, body oils and whatever the pet brings in, and two weeks is about the point where a bed stops being fresh.
When to go weekly
- Someone sweats a lot at night, or you have been ill.
- A pet sleeps on the bed.
- Someone in the house has a dust-mite allergy, asthma or eczema.
- In summer, when nights are warm.
How to wash them
60 °C kills dust mites; 40 °C does not, though a hot tumble dry gets close. Cotton takes 60 °C without trouble, so check the label rather than assuming. Wash the pillowcases with the sheets: they take the most.
The rest of the bed
Duvets and pillows want washing two to four times a year, and pillows are worth replacing every two years or so. A mattress protector is easier to wash than a mattress, which is the point of it.
Stop keeping this in your head
RoofRoutine remembers rhythms like this one for your home, and tells whichever of you is meant to do it. Your partner needs no account.
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