To leave bedding on for two weeks?

[Eliza22]

Not riveting this topic, I know!

I've been unwell recently, still not great but a bit better. I'm a SAHM and care for my ds who is 14 with autism and OCD. It can be exhausting.

Obviously, as I'm not working, I do all household jobs/gardening/errand running etc and DH is often away. This weekend, I though f**k it! I'm NOT changing the beds (I usually do all beds on a Sunday). My question is: do you strip and change your beds weekly? Also towels... We each have bath sheets which get changed twice weekly. My niece recently stayed and went through 4 bath sheets in 2 days. We shower morning and evening (though ds just showers and hair wash each morning).

There are some OCD people out there. It's not needed more than every few days to every couple of weeks. Will people please think of the environment, all the wastage of water, electricity and all the detergents going into the water (unless eco friendly, though personally don't find them effective enough). Check if your stuff needs a wash don't simply throw it all in mindlessly. My tip is panty liners then trousers can last a few days if no spills

2 weeks is ok and totally fine. 3 weeks is not.

In my person experience!

I have to admit, to do every set of sheets and towels/bath mats, along with all the clothes, daily I do have four washing machines and four tumble driers, and am lucky enough to have an au pair to keep putting through the loads through the day.

Also all pillows and duvets every week... I would do those daily too but that's going a bit far I think... I double duvet/pillow case them though for extra hygiene.... I'm not a sweaty type but we all do sweat and sweat does seep through stuff.

No idea how people manage with animals... My carpets get shampooed twice weekly and the water that's used is never clean once the shampooing been done even with my rigorous 'no outdoor shoes' indoors policy!

Ps no we aren't actually doing the washing, but we are unmaking and remaking beds, sorting, hanging out washing then folding and putting away. If you're busy with your young children and have plenty of other stuff to do its bad enough to keep up with all household chores, cooking, working and looking after children as it is. Stop beating each other with a stick. We're all mums doing our best. Don't need to change beds and towels to some people's OCD standards to be clean. We all wash and change our clothes regularly.

I don't even wash my clothes after one use, let alone towels. Trousers last for a few wearings (barring spillages) - that's why you wear knickers. Tops last at least two wearings, more if I have a vest or undertop of some sort (again barring spillages). Bras can be a few days. Knickers every day. Skirts and jumpers - lots of wearings, as nothing much to make them dirty (always have a long sleeved t-shirt underneath a jumper). Clothes never seem to last very long with loads of washing and it seems expensive and unenvironmentally friendly, too. And doubly so with bed linen and towels.

Would be different if they were getting things spilled on them more often, or children who wet the bed or are sick, or food being eaten in bed, or anything like that, but if it's just you, things don't get very dirty!

Flashbang you shampoo your carpets twice a week? how do you find the time, really?

Also, (I'm not trying to be a knob) but what do you think would happen if you didn't shampoo them so frequently?

And you have four washing machines? Erm, why? Is that just so you can do all of that washing?

Once a fortnight is enough. If i was more into housework stuff I would change them more often but I'm not. And towels after every use. That is mad.

4 washing machines and 4 tumble driers? Are you in the UK?

Bedding and towels get changed weekly.

Anything more than 2 weeks is disgusting - all those dead skin cells and bed bugs. Not to mention bodily fluids! UGH

Flowers, if you think washing your sheets infrequently gives you bed bugs, heaven help you if you ever get them. Just like nits, they are not an indication of cleanliness.

Nobody has ever had 'I wished I cleaned and washed more' on their gravestone

flashbang is that a joke? How many people live in your house with four washing machines?

Do you live in a desert area?

How would a home get so filthy it needed the carpets shampooing twice a week? Do you have lots of hairy pets?

First Thursday of each month here, the cleaner does them. They are never grim when they are changed. DH and I shower in the morning every day and we exercise most days so generally shower before bed too.

The kids shower every day too and are only 9 and 7 so don't sweat loads at night. I would imagine when they are a bit older theirs will need changing more often which is fine of course.

Obviously if they need washing in between then I do it of course. Towels I do when they need to, generally every week.

We are very clean people IMO but we have a huge number of sports kits to be washed every week I cannot imagine being able to fit in washing the bedding weekly too (ours is a super king bed which I have to wash in two goes as the sheets are black and the covers are white).

If I was lucky enough to be able to afford staff and if I had a laundry room with a dryer and if I had proper big linen cupboards to store all the fabulous bedding I keep seeing in catalogues then I would have my bedding changed daily. I love a fresh bed!

As it is it's just me, two sets of bedding and perennially unreliable weather for drying. So not as often as I would like (depends on the weather mostly tbh!)

You shampoo your carpets TWICE A WEEK? wow, I'd be thinking it a lot to wash my carpets twice a year!

Wow. We change our beds every Sunday. Strip them in the morning to "air" and then re-make them just before bed. Each bed has two sets of clothes :)

As for pillows and duvets they get washed about 4/5 times a year.

Bedding is roughly 2 weekly. Towels are a couple of times a week.
Definitely do not iron them.
There must be a reason for 4 washing machines - do you live in a hotel?!

Does nobody have a heated towel rail - if you do they really don't need doing more than once a week

Queenbean
Sorry, I've been out.
I HAVE to do it because the sheets involved belong to people with disabilities.

Well, we have a largish utility room so they all fit in there... A couple of big ones for the duvets. Maybe it's OTT but i like to walk around in bare feet so don't want them getting dirty...

I have to say I don't do it myself though - i have a cleaner come daily for a few hours... As for animals - no! Never understood how people can live with creatures that sniff each others' behinds and catch wild animals in their mouths - eugh

People who wash their towels after every use- so in a family of 4- you must be doing a wash just for towels alone almost every day!?
If you all shower every day, that's 28 towels a week. Seriously?hmm*

Yep,that's my world. I have tried breaking the habit but DS' and DH insist on putting a wash on. At least they peg it out when the weather is nice.

heated towel rail = germ breeding ground! All that moisture and heat!

Flashbang....are you Dot Cotton?

Really? I've had towels on them for the last 30 years at least and they're always dry, never smell musty and none of us have ever had infections

flashbang I hope your children don't have this sort of anxiety about "germs". Living in a student house could be very interesting for them if they pick this up from you. Carpets twice a week and 4 washing machines... only on MN!

heated towel rail = germ breeding ground! All that moisture and heat!

Like a tumble dryer?

Oh how the other half live.