To think it’s unhygienic to change bedding every six weeks?

[Lycidas]

Had this discussion with SiL. She insists we can do it fortnightly because we only have one DC (they have three), and it’s too much effort to do it more often with so many beds to change. Pillowcases do get changed weekly. She’s obsessive about cleanliness in most other domestic areas so it’s quite surprising to me...

Who on earth would wash their modern bedding on 90 degrees every week. Whether it's one person in the bed,or two, it is not necessary, unless you both work down the coal mines,and don't have a bath or shower.

My ex used to get these boils all over his body before he moved in with me but then when he did they nearly stopped altogether. He changed his sheets when I nagged him enough at his place. I do it weekly.

I just don't have the space to dry all the bedding once a week, on top of normal laundry. 🤷‍♂️

3 beds, I do one of them each week. More in summer when it's hot, but then I can easily dry on the line.

I do change pillowcases more frequently though.

Did you think to ask her how often she washes her towels and whether she uses a loo brush? For efficiency purposes.

And whether she has a dishwasher?

I just can't bring myself to get excited about this, tbh.

6 weeks is a bit too long for me really, but I'm not disgusted by it. What I would really find very yucky is if all the mumsnetters who claim they and their spouse always sleep naked were to leave it 6 weeks. I can't sleep without pants and nightwear, it makes me feel vulnerable. In winter I'm even more togged up against the cold so not much if my skin touches the sheets. If I slept naked I'd want to change the bed at least twice a week

Who cares?

🙄 it’s really fine. I agree with @bridgetreilly

Um, I can't remember the last time I changed my sheets. (Six weeks sounds about right though.) Can't be bothered half the time, means I have to use the tumble drier which is useless. (House share so I have no say in the matter, the washing machine is also crap.)

I just can't imagine weekly boiling of bedding. Ruble drying it, then ironing it.
That's like 3times it's been heated. If you cool washed it then tumble dried it the dryer part would kill anything on it.
Ironing bedding. God save me.

Where are all the people explaining that you're killing the planet if you wash sheets too often? (Unless I missed some...)

I don't see the problem, so long as neither they nor the bed smell or look dirty. Definitely don't think it's a hygiene problem.

I've no idea how people go for 6 weeks without changing. That is just gross

Exactly the same way that you go without changing them every night duckie.

I grew up in a household with no washing machine, never mind a tumble dryer, and we certainly didn't have modern nonsense like duvets. My mother disapproved of them because "people don't wash them". Which was a pity, because we didn't have central heating either.

We kept warm in the winter with a complicated arrangement of layered bedding. Soft cotton sheet, then cellular blanket, then itchy woollen blanket where you couldn't feel it, another sheet of some kind, all covered over with an authentic 70s bedspread.

If you think my mother was washing and drying all those sheets as often as every six weeks during the winter, you're having a laugh.

I survived, and never developed any boils.

For those struggling to dry stuff, why not change the sheet one week and the duvet cover the other?

I used to change bedding weekly but now am too weak to make the bed - I can strip it though. So I do this and my cleaners make the beds for me when they come once a fortnight.

I think every six weeks is nowhere near enough. Dead skin particles and hair sebum mixed together cannot smell very fresh. Then there’s poo crumbs and other secretions.

JamieVardy
But she didn’t need to. Top sheet was put to the bottom. Bottom sheet and pillow cases changed weekly - at least that’s what it was growing up. Bedspread / blankets etc could be washed in the summer, much like duvets, although I tend to wash mine twice a year as I have a lot of duvets.

Clean bedding night is the best feeling ever!

Friday is bed change day, 1 king size and teen DSs strip and remake their own, even the cat's bed gets a wash.

We change ours when we feel the need.
Pillow cases more often.

Fortnightly is fine in my book. Pillowcases are done weekly

Definition of unhygienic:
unhygienic
adjective
UK /ˌʌn.haɪˈdʒiː.nɪk/ US /ˌʌn.haɪˈdʒen.ɪk/

not clean, in a way that may cause disease:

Do she or her family get ill with dirty-bedding related illnesses? If not, it's not unhygienic. Some people might have a problem with it - perhaps if they have an infectious skin disease or asthma (though I think that tends to be more due to the duvet/pillows itself rather than the linens). But for most people it's not an issue.

Nah, can’t get bothered by this, you’re being daft.

Mummyoflittledragon

She's no longer here to ask, but I don't recall that she changed the bottom sheet as regularly as that! It got changed occasionally, I think. My mother was very houseproud, but when you have to handwash and wring out everything in the bath, compromises have to be made.

I do remember the big ritual of changing the winter bedding once the weather warmed up.

I don’t really care what anyone else does, but I change my bedding as often as I can because I love the feeling of clean sheets. I sleep much better in a fresh bed.

It used to be a couple of times a week, but I try hard to be a bit more eco friendly now and so limit myself to once a week. I’m also one of those weirdos that showers twice a day. I know it’s meant to be bad for my skin but it just feels so much nicer....I unwind and sleep much better after a shower and I don’t feel awake until I’ve had one on the morning.

Im not one of those Mrs Hinch types, I promise.

“Honestly, I can't get excited about anyone else's laundry habits.“

Absolutely. Haven’t you got stuff going on in your own life or something? I cannot imagine wasting headspace on someone else’s linen.

It really isn't a big deal to put pillowcases, sheets and duvet cover in the washing machine, surely? But that is the trivial part of changing beds, is it not?

How often do people wash the covers of their sofas? They must get their share of shed skin cells etc.

I religiously change my bed every Christmas and Easter, plus on my birthday if I can be bothered.

This is obviously a joke before I get run off Mnet.