How often to change the beds?

[dalziel1]

I saw a news article recently that said that about a quarter of people "admit" to changing the beds monthly. I do that and I didn't realise it wasn't nearly enough!

How often are we supposed to wash the pillow cases, sheets, duvet cover etc? The article implied weekly was about right. But in my case that would be around 3 more loads of washing every weekend.

That can't be right, can it?

Ever week here and always has been- and all on a hot wash of 60 or 75C.

Some of you might find more time for housework and washing if you got off MNet

Seriously, time is not the issue surely? If you have a machine you bung it in and get on with something else.

All our bedding is washed weekly
Anyone who says it's not 'dirty' needs to re think. Dust mites build up quickly and even if you can't see them that is why you need to wash bedding more often. Unless you and your kids jump - literally- into bed after a evening bath or shower then the bedding will be grubby off their feet, etc etc.

And if you sleep naked or semi naked the sweat from being in bed 8 hours will be on the sheets.

Also- I used to blame other people's kids for the thread worms my DCs always had when they were at school because the only way to get rid of them is to change the bedding OFTEN and wash all the linen on a hot wash and dust the bedrooms. We did but clearly other families didn't bother and my kids kept being re-infected for years.

I watch the weather and choose the best day for line drying at a weekend.
All bedding in and out and off the line in a day ( or two), other things like towels the next day. Clothes as and when, but usually at least 2 dark washes and 2 white washes per week.

It takes time for me to strip the beds, load the machine, hang it out, bring it in, iron it and get it back on the beds. If it rains then its a pain to get it dry as the tumble dryer is not enjoying life in the garage!

Also, my water and elec bills are really quite high - £400 on water pa for 4 of us. I think the laundry must be a big portion of that - and I only wash monthly (although the bedding is currently drying on the line now since I was shamed into action after read this thread this morning!)

Bed linen x 6 beds once a week
protectors x6 once a week
Bath towels changed 2 twice a week. Each person has there own
Hand towels in downstairs toilet and kitchen changed daily
Flannels everyone has their own changed every day
Tea towels & dish cloth changed daily
Matresses turned & steamed 3 monthly.

All the above washing is wahed at 60c apart from tea towels/cloths they are washed at 95c No tumble dryer,drying cupboard or heated clothes horse.

Our water rates- not on a meter- are around £650 a year.

It takes 3 mins to strip a king size bed. 2 mins to bung in the machine, 1 minute to take out, 5 mins tops to hang out depending on length of garden.

All my bedding is white Egyptian cotton. The colour of the pillow cases after 1 week shows they are dirty- from hair and sweat. I don't know how anyone can bear to sleep in sheets that have not been washed for a month. Putting is non too politely- they must stink.

No, they really don't stink. Honestly!

TBH I wash the fitted sheets much more often, plus the pillow cases on all the beds. But quilt covers and mattress protectors are monthly (and I don't count - i just do them when it seems to have been a while).

Every Friday here. Fresh clean sheets ready for the end of the week and the start of the weekend.

I dunno about all this weekly cleaning. It sounds excessive.

50 years ago there is no way it would have happened. People didnt have the facilities.

And now we have all these allergies, and autoimmune problems. I think we need some yuk in our lives to keep our immune systems from getting bored!

retires to bed in sheets at least 3 weeks old

Iron it? and I don't know about other people but I have more than one bed set per bed.

At the end of the day people have the right to he as clean or scruffy as they want and if people want to live like they did 50 years ago then crack on. Makes no odds to me

I would like to add we have never had thread worms in this house!!

Sunday's here. Always ours, but may leave the DCs for a week if reall busy.

Am confused about mattress protectors and pillow protectors, WTF are they? And hoovering the mattress never knew I was supposed to do that.

Biscuits don't you have anything between your mattress and your sheet?

Mattress protectors are - well, to protect your mattress. They (usually these days) go on like fitted sheets, but they are MUCH thicker and stop bodily fluids going into the mattress.

I don't use pillow protectors because I think it makes them too stiff, but I use two pillow cases.

Hoovering the mattress helps to keep the bed bugs down.

Fortnightly. Can't be bothered to fight with the duvet more often than that.
Towels as needed (but we don't share towels, except the hand towel).

It's a large household, quite a lot of sport/running going on, dogs etc. I do two loads most days and frankly, I cannot be arsed to do more.

Also, the planet probably doesn't need me doing more, either.

Top (main) bedding once a week
Mattress/pillow protectors (I also have extra pillow slips between protectors and top pillow slips) once a month
Towels - every two days (maybe three, depending upon how often they've been used in that particular bathroom) I do the sniff test - have a very keen nose
Duvets - once every six months (but the protectors every two months).
(Simply because the protectors can go in the w/machine, duvets HAVE to go to the launderette)

There is nothing nicer, frankly, than getting into a new, crisp, freshly-laundered bed .... Makes that shitty day feel SO much better

weekly. Every 2-3 days in summer when the nights are hot.

No Chipping I didn't realise I was meant to. What bodily fluids go into the mattress? Is that the same with pillow protectors then? Im confused about the whole thing now.

There is nothing nicer, frankly, than getting into a new, crisp, freshly-laundered bed
Exactly. My best part about Sundays. Makes the inevitable Monday morning coming feel better.

There is nothing nicer, frankly, than getting into a new, crisp, freshly-laundered bed
Nope. As stated above, I disagree

And ironing?? Bed sheets? Really??
No way, José.
You just go in them and roll around and turn in bed and they are all wrinkly again.
But then again I am a total slattern ironing-refuser

I do all beds and a cot weekly
All towels and flannels evey other day,everyone has own. And I do bath mat aswell at same time.
Hand towels and tea cloths daily.
I do all this with 5 kids some days my washer doesn't stop for more than 10mins. Prob do on average 3-4 loads per day. Then all sheets and towels on top of that which are another 6 loads. My kids all wear clean clothes every day and every night couldn't handle not washing my sheets weekly. X

All bedding and bath towels are washed weekly. Tea towels changed daily, hand towels every other day. We do 20 ish loads of washing a week (2 adults, 3 children). Our super king bedding is two loads, two loads of kids bedding, two of towels, two of swimming kit and daily one or two loads of clothes. I am honestly baffled how some families can do less than 10 loads per week.

I agree that it's lovely to get into a nice clean bed. That's why I change mine monthly, otherwise I wouldn't appreciate the fresh clean sheets as much.

Ours get done every few weeks.

I can fit more than one set of bedding in at a time though, definitely with the children's. I don't think it would have to add three loads to your total?

Biscuits It's YOUR bed, you don't 'have' to do anything. Bodily fluids - really, need I explain?? It's just a nice protective layer to keep your mattress cleaner and fresher, entirely up to you whether you want to do this or not :)

I like getting into a fresh new bed.
but I don't like it as much as I hate doing laundry.

and I find airing propely helps. fresh air to get rid of the stale night air. and a good shake of the duvet.

pacific a woman after my own heart

Plus, we are also saving the planet at the same time.

20 loads of washing a week?