If you have a 'guest bedroom', please answer my trivial question

[YankNCock]

Do you keep the bed made up all the time? Or strip it down and leave it like that until the day guests are arriving?

I like having it made up in case me or DH would unexpectedly need to sleep in there, and it just looks nicer. The mattress has a big tea stain on it, so leaving it uncovered looks awful.

But if I keep it made up, DS (2.5) gets in there while I'm sorting laundry and jumps on the bed or drools on it or something, so if there were clean sheets on it, I'd have to change them again before people use it. And folding laundry on it, you get bits of lint and stuff...and leaving the sheets on for ages I'd think they'd get a bit musty?

So what do you do with your spare bed?

And your towels will be teaming with bacteria and possibly fungal spores.

get a grip wpman!

ours is always made up, but put fresh sheets on when guests arrive. after guests leave, i dont strip the bed until new guests are due. The cat often sleeps on the bed so changing the sheets is a waste of time until people are imminent

"Made up but wash the sheets again before guests arrive."

Why?

I keep the bed made up with clean bedding on, ready for guests (we don't live near family and our friends are scattered so the bedroom gets used a lot). Once the guests have departed I wash the bedding and put it back on the bed when dry ready for the next round.

I don't sadly have a guest room, but think if I did I would have the bed(s) made up. To stop the problem of them getting dirty by children or whatever, maybe you could use a lovely bedspread or something.

See I think it's way way way more revolting to leave the bed made up with used sheets for weeks, possibly months on end, even if you then change it before the next people sleep in it. Surely the damp / stench would then have plenty of time to permeate the mattress...

Oh well. I doubt I'll ever have the time or the inclination to wash sheets twice in one week to cater for stinky boys. So ner

Ooh and I would NEVER let the cat sleep on the spare bed! What if someone was allergic?

My sister lets her very hairy cat sleep on the guest room quilt, so although you get clean sheets and pillow cases when you pull the quilt up to your chin you get a face full of matted black fur.

Now that's really revolting!

"The cat often sleeps on the bed so changing the sheets is a waste of time until people are imminent"

. I hope my friends don't do that. DD is very allergic to cats and we would probably end up in A & E if she slept in a bed that had had a cat on it.

If you don't strip the bed as soon as guests have left, then you ought to throw back all the covers and let air get to the sheets and matress. Leave it like that until you throw them all i n the washing machine.

All beds should be aired every day ideally with an open window. This helps kill of dust mites.

Maybe they ought to make Domestic Science complusory at school again for both sexes- seems to be a lot of slatterns ignorance around over basic household hygiene.

I agree amelia. I am almost obsessive about keeping the beds stripped back to air.

well you can come and stay with me any time and vice versa,.

I can't bear the idea of not airing the bed- do you know how much sweat we all lose overnight? it's bucketfuls- so if all that is never given the chance to evaporate your mattresses and sheets are just

My DH also thinks I am mad for airing the beds!

OP, you need a bedspread.

I air the bed, throw the duvet back when i get out....then the cat sleeps on the duvet :o

Too many children still at home to have a designated guest room, but plenty of spare bedding and use the same criteria as Grumpla ....stinky boy visitors take their chances in the family bed linen, fancier guests get fresh.

bedding is washed weekly really anyhow, so no one is ever that far away from clean sheets!

I use a full size quilt on the bed and strip it after each guest. I grew up in a country where nobody had a spare bedroom but everybody used to have plenty of guests so pull out sofas, futons etc were used a lot. It never occurred to me to have guests to share bedlinen. I normally strip our bed after staying with family and if the case of my DH's elderly relatives I also put it for a wash and out onto the line. Having read the thread I think I will start doing it (stripping not washing) regardless. Just in case . Also I like to have my bedlinen dried outside even in the winter and with British weather it can take a few days.

Oh dear, better not have anyone form mn to stay then. We do put a throw over the bed between visitors which is purely for the cat, so she doesnt actually sleep on the sheets. I dont think we have caused an A and E visit yet .

I do wash all other bedding weekly, so im not that grim, honest

I strip the bed and wash the bedding as soon as visitors leave.

I then put a breathable mattress protector onto the mattress and turn it on its edge so the cat can't use it as a bed. I air and heat the guest room everyday so that the mattress stays fresh.

I would use clean bedding for any guest, even if they were only staying one night.

Grumpla what damp/stench? God you would have to have a very cold damp house to have damp beds! Anyway, we never have guests for more than a couple of nights and usually DH's elderly relatives, so no chance of smelly sheets or any shag stains! I do change my used beds once a week and wash bedding and towels at very hot temp (at least 60, sometimes 90) and air the beds daily. I am aware of people that wash their bedding/ towels at low temperatures.

Our guest room made up all the time, and used as an overflow bedroom for insomnia, snoring, getting away from dc who have wandered into our bed etc.

Would change sheets before and after guests, although we don't have that many (3 or 4 times a year).

We have some Friends where the h is allergic to feathers, so they bring their own duvet and pillows, and I just need to change the bottom sheet. That makes life very easy.

I was always taught to ask if someone wanted the bed stripped after I stayed as a guest. Some people appreciate it, some don't want you to do it.

Our guest room made up all the time, and used as an overflow bedroom for insomnia, snoring, getting away from dc who have wandered into our bed etc.

Would change sheets before and after guests, although we don't have that many (3 or 4 times a year).

We have some Friends where the h is allergic to feathers, so they bring their own duvet and pillows, and I just need to change the bottom sheet. That makes life very easy.

I was always taught to ask if someone wanted the bed stripped after I stayed as a guest. Some people appreciate it, some don't want you to do it.

Duh

You should really vaccuum the mattress once a month as well, to keep the dustmite at bay. If a family member has asthma, and you hoover their mattress weekly, and launder their pillow, it can make a big difference to their wellbeing.

I always think a bed feels damp that evening if you get out and make it straight away! Always turn the covers back to air, then make it a couple of hours later. Maybe I just have a very sweaty DH...

catsmamma I'm glad I'm not the only one

made up all the time. i always change the sheets on it even if the last guest stayed one night, if i knew any one in RL who didn`t change sheets after having a guest and i was due to stay there i would really not like it. It also makes the room look decent.