A Guide to Washing Bedsheets

Do you work hard at cleaning our house by sweeping floors, vacuuming, and putting things where they go and then snuggle up into your bed with dirty sheets? If you don’t wash your sheets often enough, then you probably are cosying up to all sorts of allergens, irritants and dirt that you don’t even realize are there. Those little bits of debris can cause itchiness, allergic reactions and pore blockages that make your skin look less than spotless.

We want to take some time to show you how to clean your sheets and give you some guidelines for how to keep them clean. Then you can rest easy at night knowing you are sleeping on a clean bed with clean sheets.

Remember if you’d prefer a professional to handle this then our airbnb cleaning services includes setting up the bedsheets!

How often to Clean

The best way to keep your sheets clean is to clean them often. Most people only clean their sheets a few times a year (ick!), but those who prefer to be a bit cleaner in their daily routines will clean theirs once a month. You might be asking if there is a perfect frequency with which to clean the sheets, and the answer is yes, there is. We want a frequency that doesn’t make you clean so often that you shorten the lifespan of the sheet but also not so low that you end up sleeping on something dirty most of the time. That perfect frequency would be every one or two weeks. How often you clean your sheets will depend on how many people are sleeping in the bed, whether you take a bath before or after you sleep and the ages of those using the bed. Teenagers need to have their sheets cleaned more often than most other people.

How to Clean

Cleaning your sheets is one of the simpler housecleaning tasks you need to do. For the most part, you just need to throw the sheets into the washing machine on a normal or casual cycle. Try not to wash the sheets with anything heavy, as that can be too much for your washing machine or for your sheets to handle.

If there are any makeup stains or similar problems with the sheets, you’ll want to treat them with a gel pen or bleach before you place them into the washer. For very stained sheets, you may want to let them soak in bleach water for half an hour or so before putting them into a normal washing machine cycle. That only applies to white sheets, though. Coloured sheets will need to be treated more carefully, and you should try to find a stain-removing detergent that doesn’t contain bleach to allow them to preserve their normal colour.

If you are dealing with bed bugs, then you should wash the sheets in very hot water at least every day until the bed bugs are gone. This is only going to help with the beds bugs if you are using other treatment methods to get rid of them wherever they may be hiding in your house. Washing the sheets in hot water may get rid of those that are on the sheets themselves, but it won’t keep them away or keep them from coming back.

It’s not a bad idea to wash sheets in hot water every once in a while, anyway, as that kills all sorts of germs. Your sheets can be some of the most germ-infested items in your laundry, so killing germs on them should be a top priority.
When you clean your sheets, you should also clean any bedcovers and pillow cases. Cleaning them all at once provides you with a cleaner bed and makes sense. They should all be washed with the same frequency.

Clean the Mattress Too

If you only clean the sheets and other linens but don’t clean the mattress, then you will not be dealing with the whole problem. Now, cleaning the mattress can be a chore, if you plan to clean it thoroughly, but it’s not necessary to have your mattress cleaned as often as the linens. Your bed sheets will soak up most of the germs and sweat, but the mattress should get some attention.

Every month or so, you should sprinkle the mattress with a little bit of baking soda. Let that sink in for about 15 minutes and then vacuum it up. This keeps everything smelling and looking fresh. It prevents staining and absorbs a lot of the nastiness that makes it ways into your mattress.

You really don’t know how clean your mattress and sheets are, especially if you don’t wash them often, so make sure you are taking the time to clean them regularly. This will improve your health, give you more restful sleep and make your bed less appealing to pests.

Keeping a Clean Bed

There are a few preventative measures you can take to keep dust, dirt, germs and pests from getting into your sheets and ultimately ending up on you. Cleaning regularly is the most important thing, but you should always go to bed with clean nightclothes and try to shower before you go to bed. That way, you are bringing as few contaminants into bed as possible. It’s also a good idea to take your shower immediately before you plan to go to bed.

If you like to use your bed for things other than sleeping, such as watching movies, eating food and the like, then you should clean it after each use, if you left crumbs or other debris behind. Be sure to wipe your feet off before getting into the bed it can help to have a mat by the bed for this purpose. You may be shocked to see how much dust is held by the mat and that you are preventing from ending up on your bed.

Another thing that will help keep your bed looking and feeling clean is to use sheets that are in good conation and to use hypoallergenic sheets to kill germs and allergens. With these tips you can have a bed that’s comfortable and that allows you to get a good night’s rest every night.

Next read our tips about removing mold because mold can often grow in bedrooms and sometimes even on your bed.