AIBU about changing my sheets?

[CarmineRose1978]

I had a conversation at work this week with a few of my colleagues about how often we change out bedding. I and several of my friends say they should be changed once a week, once a fortnight at least. But a couple of my younger colleagues (I'm talking 28, so not teenagers!) said they change theirs every couple of months to every four or five months. Ditto their towels because "they are clean when they get out of the shower". Were we unreasonable to a) practically boak and b) tell them they're old enough to know better, in no uncertain terms? Should we have held our peace instead of hoiking our judgey pants sky high?

This thread has got a bit dirty hasn't it, maybe it needs a wash?

limited I would have said bio powder at about 40deg (I seem to recall that the enzymes stop working if you wash much hotter than that) and set it for a long wash, option 1 on my hotpoint machine which is about two hours.

My DH is a filthy farmer and the above brings our lovely white cotton sheets back to pristine condition every time without fail

My whites ALWAYS go dinge. So annoying. I've tried everything.

That is gross.

They are sleeping with so much bacteria and dead skin I'm surprised they don't have bed bugs.

Eughhhhh to the towels.

Thanks ANecklaceOfRaindrops.

A few years ago someone on MN recommended Morrison's bio super concentrated liquid which was on ridiculously cheap special offer. I bought gallons and stashed it in the shed.

I really like it. It cleans and has a nice smell and I still have a few bottles left.

But maybe I need something different for persistent stains.Can you recommend something?

I promise you that I'm not a pervert. I'd just really like to get my lovely Descamps softer-than-anything sheets clean

What sort of sex stains are these? You've really got my mind racing. Semen is fairly harmless to sheets, is it not?

Oh FFS Nannyplumismymum bedbugs? Stop being so alarmist.

I'll admit to changing my bedding and towels daily because I like to, there's nothing like fresh sheets, but mostly I do it because after a night of hot flushes it just makes getting into bed the next night a whole lot nicer all round.

All other beds in the house are done twice a week but everyone has clean towels daily and as many as they need. But if people did want to change their sheets more often they can as long as they do it themselves.

Towels go stale very quickly here, its something to do with the water, and getting two showers a day out of one towel would be about the limit.

lovelyboots It's not corrosive but as at it's so persistent.

I was going to ask everyone who says towels don't need washed very often, how do you stop them smelling?

My towels are always hung up to dry properly, and are (obviously!) only used on clean skin. I don't use fabric softener on towels either, as I understand it leaves a residue which reduces the effectiveness of the towels. (And, on that note, I only use Ecover fabric softener on other washing, or home made stuff, because Lenor etc all smell like petrol to me).

But anyway, depsite trying to look after my towels as best I can, and trying not to be a drain on the world's resources through needless washing, my towels smell bad after a couple of uses. They get that biscuity smell, it's horrible. And at point into the wash they must go. I had enough of that when I was a student, living in accommodation with no washing facilities and where the laundrette was several miles walk away and was a last resort.

So what's the secret? How do I stop them smelling?

But you kill 'em in the washing machine probably.

Eeeeurgh crafty

In a word, YANBU!
Bed-linen once a week (naked sleepers).
Towels at least once a week (naked showerers), often more frequently.
CH set on twice a day, with only the bathroom radiator turned on, to keep towels dry.

ObfusKate

Bedbugs don't give a toss how clean your sheets are.They're after your blood, not your sweat deposits.

She's right.

I don't really mind if I get bed bugs in my bed but how do I stop them getting in DS's cot? Hoover the matress and cot?

You won't get bedbugs from just not washing. They don't spontaneously germinate. You get them from visiting somewhere that has them, and bringing a couple back in your luggage. Once you do have them, the whole family are screwed. They wouldn't stay in just your bed.

Wow a lot of people spending a lot of money on electricity. Once every three weeks for full set here but sometimes change the bottom sheet inbetween. 60 degree wash minimum to kill the bed bugs and vacuum the bed and mattress. I pull back the duvet and open the windows most days too. A made bed is a breeding ground for bugs. Also a pj wearer which helps. Life is too short for a weekly sheet change (especially the duvet which is my pet hate to put back on). I have a shower every morning so don't get the big deal.

Oh, or receiving second-hand furniture with them in. We're talking mattresses or settees here, not tables. Something upholstered where they could actually pass undetected within the interior.

Do not panic about tables and dining chair.

I should add I do change my pillow case more regularly. And I use ecoballs instead of nasty detergent x
Sons cot sheets are twice a week.

That's fucking disgusting. Age is irrelevant. Once a week here. More in this weather!

are bed bugs at all common in Britain? I don't know anyone who has ever had them seen loads in Australia though

His sheets get changed more coz his is a druelly, vommity baby and he has sensitive skin.
Each to their own. no need to insult.

They weren't common. Pesticides pretty much wiped them out. But they're returning to Britain due to international travel.

A Guardian writer's account of how he picked them up on holiday.