Bed changing & washing… how?!

[Myeyeballsareonfire]

We are a family of 6 (4 children). 2 eldest DC have single beds, 3rd has a double, 4th is co sleeping. We (the adults) have a king size.

There are plenty of changes of bed clothes for the single beds, but we only really have one set of bed clothes for the double/kings.

I cannot figure out how people are managing to change beds weekly! Please tell me how?!

As it stands we do at least 1 full load of washing daily. With very changeable weather conditions here, the tumble dryer is also used frequently.

Bedsheets for each of the bigger beds are a full load each.

The ‘eco’ wash on our machine takes over 5 hours (absolutely insane, but there we are!), and then there’s drying time to factor in.

How the heck are people finding the time to change weekly?!

is it shorter cycles? More bedclothes? Lies?

Surely you need two sets of bedding for each bed. Three if possible.

We are a family of five although two out of three "children" no longer live at home much. I've never done bedding weekly. Always fortnightly. Also, I never use the ridiculously long eco cycles. They are so long that I can't see how they can possibly be so energy efficient as the manufacturers claim.

I dried stuff outside on the washing line where possible, otherwise indoors on clothes horses. Tumble dryer used as and when needed too.

2 sets for each bed. I don’t think I’ve ever used eco wash. Kids are in charge of removing their sheets each change day. Cleaner makes up beds. I wash and dry (might take over a day) ready for next week.

Thanks everyone. Ok more sets seems to be the way.

At the risk of sounding like a diva, I absolutely refuse to get polycotton. So we use the covers we have to absolute death before replacing as cotton ones are expensive!

Also very glad to hear that weekly sounds excessive to others 😆.

We already have a large capacity machine and dryer, the size of the covers/sheets/pillow cases really fills up a load to allow for effective washing.

I live in a very wet place, so drying outside can be extremely time consuming!

Thanks for all the tips!

Beds all stripped on waking on a Sunday morning here, replaced by Sunday afternoon with a fresh set all round. the removed ones are washed as and when they can be and put away.

You definitely need a spare set. I also only buy cotton - I buy plain white so can always find it on offer/in the sales.

I change them every 10-14 days unless something's happened, but often change my pillowcase more frequently, which is easy.

Ours are 100% cotton, on a superking sized bed - pay around £35 a set for them in Dunelm sales.

Kids have singles.

I have two sets but I've also fine back to the old way of bedding. There is now a sheet under the duvet which gets washed every 1-2 weeks - we all shower before bed as opposed to in the morning. The duvet cover gets washed every 3-4 weeks although it could be longer. Am in Scotland and its rained every day bar 1 since 1st October so no outside drying.

I love my bedding, I have way too much so changing bedding isn’t an issue.

Id scrap the eco wash, put them on the fastest wash you have. Prioritise the sheets and wash all together, they can be drying while the duvet covers are being washed. If they aren’t dry in time then if you have one, throw a flat sheet on under the duvet inner for the night or even just the duvet.

We don’t have a dryer, if we need them dried quickly they go on radiators, otherwise they just go on doors if they can’t go on the line. I have done big loads at the dryers outside the supermarkets before, they are great for doing big loads.

Definitely buy back up sets. How do you cope if a vomiting bug hits the house? Or the DCs have an accident. We’d be lost without spare bedding. I’ve lost count the number of times DH & I have changed bedding in the middle of the night.

I really don’t understand your question? I wash the bedding, dry it and put it back on. Every monday. Use the 1 hour cycle.

You need a tumble dryer OP and to use a shorter wash cycle.

Spare sets for everyone, sheets changed every two weeks, (half one week and the other half the next), it's too much to try and do them all in the same day!

I also use the delay function on my washing machine for sheets so they start washing at 3am and are finished when I get up at 7am...

More than 1 set of bedding and when it's dry unfold cover pillow case and. Sheet together with each other so it's easy to find after.

Thanks all.

We have a tumble dryer, and so use it!

I guess what I’m saying to those who aren’t understanding the question (someone said that, not me being snippy) is that we already do at least one full load of washing and drying daily, otherwise it completely builds up to unmanageable levels (children do a lot of activities).

Trying to factor in washing and drying of bedding (and towels come to think of it) is tipping us over the edge!

Even if we did have spare bedding, with the bedding requiring a wash of its own (due to size) it’s just bedlam! And potentially culminating in at least 3 additional loads weekly, so washing at least 10 times a week?!?

Change the sheet and the top set of pillowcases more regularly than the duvet cover and the bottom pillow cases, then I only have to wash once to change the beds twice.

Two weekly and stagger it (so not all done on the same week)! We do our bed one week then DC bed the next etc.

There is someone who changes all her families sheets every day on MN.
Life is too short. I would rather drink wine with friends in the time this would take.

Do it on a 2 weekly cycle? So week 1 you do your king size and 1 single bed, next week the other double and other single.

Cotton bedding is not more expensive than polycotton. I also won't use it. Asda are great for cotton duvet covers

£24 for a king sized brushed cotton set:
direct.asda.com/george/home/bedding/duvet-covers/sleepdown-brushed-cotton-stag-and-trees-duvet-set-in-grey/GEM1018658,default,pd.html?cgid=D26M04G04C02

£25 for a king sized plain set:
direct.asda.com/george/home/bedding/duvet-covers/grey-100-cotton-sateen-duvet-set/GEM806055,default,pd.html?cgid=D26M04G04C02

Two sets of bedding
Changed every other week
Eco cycle takes 3 hours

Quick wash and then tumble dry. 30 min wash 90 min dry. No Eco here

And I can't be arsed with eco when you've got a laundry mountain. It doesn't even save that much on ours. If you're using tumble dryer anyway that's where all the electricity is going.

Depends on what you sleep in! If you wear pj's then longer than a week should be fine. DH and I sleep naked so weekly but we do have more than one set of bedding...

Wash and dry bedding all together at Morrison's or the petrol station with big machines.

Treat your house like a hotel/holiday cottage - once a week/fortnight do a bedlinen change.

Have 2 sets for each bed, so you take off the linen, replace it, and then do the job of washing and drying it all together.

On the designated day everyone takes off their own bed linen and replaces with clean. Obviously kids may need a bit of help with this depending on age.

Don't use the eco setting but consider a fast wash if you have it. Hang it over bannister/doors/outside to dry.

Don't iron. If this bothers you, get a throw to put over each bed. Wash that every few months only.