The Great Mumsnet Laundry Debate, Part I. £300 Love2Shop voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[PoppyMumsnet]

To celebrate Fairy Non Bio’s sponsorship of the Mumsnet Talk App, we’re launching the Great Mumsnet Laundry Debate – as with all great series, it's a three-parter. Part I is about how often you wash your bed sheets (as we know, always a hot topic on Mumsnet).

We all know that washing bed sheets can be total faff: there’s stripping the bed, then there’s putting the wash on (are you a warm 40C or a hot 90C type?) Then there’s hanging it out and the struggle for drying space (unless you use the dryer ?) After that there’s folding - and, for the super-keen, perhaps even ironing. Finally, there’s getting the darn things back on the bed.

So - how often do you wash your bed sheets? And how often do you wash your DC’s bed sheets? Do you have a specific process? Perhaps you change pillow cases weekly, but sheets and duvet covers every two weeks? How often do you change your mattress protector ( again)? Do you use softener?

Whatever your bed sheet-washing process, do share it with Fairy Non Bio in the thread below, and maybe even give us a live update from the Mumsnet Talk App as you're waiting for the load to finish .

Everyone who posts will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

T&Cs apply

Fitted undersheet every week - really easy, take it off in the morning, wash, hang to dry and put it back on before going to bed. No folding or ironing necessary (not that I would iron sheets anyway).

Duvet cover once every other week, unless otherwise indicated. Same for pillow cases, alternate weeks. Good for bulking up the load, too. Similar process to undersheet, take off in the morning, wash, dry, and put back on the bed in the evening.

All bed linen is white/off-white in colour, so goes on a 60 degree wash.

Now, my drying situation is a bit different from most folks. I have a tumble dryer but only use it in cases of emergency, if I don't have time to hang and dry. I have an Aga style stove in the kitchen with a home-made rack-and-pully on the ceiling above it. Hang on the rods, then pull up, so it's about 4 feet above floor level (sling over again when cooking, but it's usually pretty dry by then). Would prefer to dry outside, but weather here in Scotland is too unpredictable and wouldn't be able to go away and leave it out.

No DC, so no dilemmas about when to do theirs.

Hanging to dry instead of tumbling also means fewer creases, which is more comfortable as well.

I don't use fabric softener. We have very soft water (rainwater, effectively, coming from a private water supply - a loch up the hill) which is peaty. If I would use fabric softener, it would leave big beige blotches all over the fabric because it needs a proper rinse to clean it and that's not how the fabric softener mode works.

I wash on 60 cotton wash with areil bio and purple Lenor
Dd and ours get washed every 4 days

Forgot to add I don't iron bedding it goes on the line if it's dry or dryer if it's wet

I wash my sheets once per fortnight - more often if the weather is hot or someone is ill.
I wash them on 40 degree washes and really prefer to dry them on the washing line if possible as they smell so good then!

Two beds here, both get changed every two weeks, on 40 or 60 degree non-bio short washes. We have quite a few duvet sets so no rush to wash/dry all at once if the weather's bad. We have outdoor drying space, and a pulley inside. We used to have a small tumble drier but rarely used it, then the cat peed in it one day and we never replaced it.

In case of d, v or both, everything goes in a long, hot bio wash as soon as the bed's stripped.

I don't iron bedding, but will sometimes do the top pillowcases if I'm feeling indulgent. I think that clean sheets on the bed after a good blowy afternoon on the line is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Once a week, one double bed, a single and a toddler bed here that all get done together. Wash all the sheets at 60C with softener, then tumble dried as we live in a flat. Plenty of spares in the cupboard for when those nights happen!

Fortnightly.
I use Fairy Non Bio with a scoop of supermarket own brank oxy powder on 60c. Used to do 40c, but then I read that anything less than 50c doesn't remove anything living that might have found its way onto the bedding - e.g bed bugs. You just end up with cleaner bugs.
I do iron everything except the childrens fitted sheets as they're a total faff to iron. Actually I cheat iron the big stuff by folding it into four and only ironing the surface bits. It's good enough.
In all honesty I probably don't need to change the toddlers bed very often at all as he's in mine and DH's bed most of the time.

Every 2 weeks here. Washed at 30 with an occasional 40, dried outside mostly. If the weather is too bad, its hung up inside. Rarely use my dryer.

I aim for fortnightly, but IRL can be a bit longer by the time I get around to it.

It all goes in at 90 with detergent and napisan (no fabric softener). Tumble dried then into the airing cupboard.

Fortnightly on a Thursday. But more often in the summer when it's easier to get dry.
I wash at 30, but every so often I'll do it at 60.
I iron pillowcases and duvet covers, and keep meaning to find the YouTube vid showing how to fold the fitted bottom sheet.
We had white bed linen at our holiday home last week, and I now yearn for the same at home. But I'm aware that I'll need to wash and iron more frequently and might need to force DH to wear a hat in bed to protect the whiteness.

very simple
every other week. one week dc's bedding one week dh's and mine.
always on a friday so it's lovely for the weekend.
alway bio powder&softener (ecover flowers)
lots of airing in between.

Fourtnightly in theory. Two of three DC have continence issues so often more than once a week, DH has psoriasis so bleeds regularly and so I probably do two sheets loads a week but a proper get everything back to matching change is roughly every two weeks sometimes three if i'm fed up with multiple loads of washing.

The matress protectors roughly every two or three washes unless beds been wet then, hopefully obviously, washed with sheets.

I wash at 60, dont generally iron sheets or covers but do pillow cases.

Occassionally i use fabric conditioner but we're not to keen on things being heavily scented so it doesn't go down well.

Fortnightly for us, weekly for the DC.

Not as often as I think I should! Every couple of months? Generally when I think when did I last change the bed or when I lie in dd1's bed to cuddle her and think your bed smells!

Every week here, I dribble on my pillow and dd sleeps naked, so I figure we need it!
Softener for mine as I like the smell but not dd's as she has ezcema.

tumble dry in winter, outside dry in summer.

I only have one bedding set for me - so it needs to go on first thing to be dry by the evening!

All bedding gets washed fortnightly, not necessarily altogether due to drying space - I might wash our duvet cover one week and sheet the next in winter. 40 degrees.

DC2 bedding gets done more frequently if leaky nappies, milk dribbles etc.

Ironing? Hahahahaha!

I run a B & B ( their sheets get changed every time !😀)
We use the same bedding as its not fair that the residents have nicer bedding than us , so it's Egyptian cotton all round
Washed in cold water with biological liquid detergent , no conditioner
Usually dry outside , though will hang on landing and them tumble dry if it's wet
Always gets ironed not particularly well
The DC are at uni , I think their bedding gets washed once a term , when they bring it home ...

Change all bedding every 2-3 weeks. DH is a sweater so I do his pillow, pillow protector at the same time. I wash the bedding on 90 and add softener then line dry if weather permits, otherwise into the tumble dryer they go. Nothing is ironed ever in this house.

My bedding twice a week. Nothing better than getting into a fresh bed on a Sunday night. Dds bed the same, but DS needs his changing every other day...he sweats terribly and is prepubescent so if it isn't changed frequently the smell permeates around the house and hits you when you come through the door!
I wash all bedding at 40 unless someone has been ill, then I use antibacterial detergent in with it.
DS has eczema prone sensitive skin so his bedding and Otho g need to be washed desperately in non bio, with no dryer sheets etc.

Oh and I tumble dry everything.

Most beds are done fortnightly but sometimes children's beds are done more often if they have been particularly sweaty or snotty.
Sometimes use fabric softener just to keep the "fresh smell" going for longer.
We try to dry them outside when possible but use the tumble drier when this isn't possible!

Fortnightly and alternate kids beds with our double each week.

Once a fortnight, only DD and myself and we each have a king size bed, so hers one week, mind the next. 40degrees, non-bio as I have allergies and softener. Line dry or in the winter heated airer. No ironing folded and the nice warm airing cupboard for a fortnight.

All bedding changed weekly. Washed 40 degrees, non-bio powder with no conditioner, spun twice in winter, dried outside when at all possible. Dried on a rack (or on a radiator) in the bathroom if raining.

I don't iron bedding but fold it neatly and put it in the airing cupboard - generally looks fine on the bed.

Mattress and pillow protectors are washed every couple of months.