How often should you change your bed sheets?

My daughter recently had a discussion with her friends on how often you should put clean sheets on your bed.

Some said weekly. Others said twice a month. One said she did it every so often.

My daughter suggested I blog about it.

A poll on mothering.com reported 227 readers washed their sheets as follows: weekly, 32 percent; twice a month, 30 percent; monthly, 29 percent; and other, 9 percent.

Washing your sheets once a week is good, recommends Bedding Care.com. Having a few different sets that you rotate is helpful. If you wash a set of sheets once a month, and use others the rest of the month, they last longer because the fabric has a chance to rest.

Microbiologist Zehava Eichenbaum, associate professor at Georgia State University, said a normal family should change sheets once a week. Eichenbaum did tests in an Atlanta, Ga., home for the CNN article “How to Germ-Proof Your Home, Without Going Overboard."

If anyone in the family has allergies, wash your sheets at least once a week. Family Doctor.org recommends using 130-degree to 140-degree water to get rid of dust mites.

If you sleep in the nude, you should change your sheets twice a week, recommends Michael Breus, Ph.D., sleep specialist, in the WebMD video “How Often to Change Your Bed Sheets." Breus also suggests buying two mattress pads and washing one of them weekly, too.

If someone in the family has H1N1 flu, referred to as “swine flu” when it first appeared, people should avoid “hugging” laundry prior to washing it to prevent contaminating themselves, the Centers for Disease Control recommends. They should wash their hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub immediately after handling dirty laundry.

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This recommendation also should be followed if anyone in the family has Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, local health departments recommend.

In an article, “How to Treat Your Sheets,” Bedding Care.com recommends using only non-chlorine bleach on colored sheets, and bleaching white sheets only when strictly necessary as bleach weakens fibers.

A natural way to brighten whites is by adding ¼ cup of lemon juice to the wash cycle, washing in warm water, then tumble-drying or sun drying to increase the effect.

My next post will be on “How Often Should You Clean Your Refrigerator?”

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

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Comments

[Lisa]

I´m glad to see I´m not the only one who has been changing my sheets every other week! I guess I´ll have to step up my laundry habits.

[Rita]

Lisa,

It turned out to be an interesting topic, especially the tips to be careful handling laundry if someone in the family has a contagious illness.

Thanks for your comment.

Rita

[Quitting Hair Loss]

that bed-cover looks awful nice! congratulations guy!

[deep fitted sheets]

Once a week for me.

[laura]

hmm... I usually change my bed sheets once in a few months which is about three times a year. It never occured to me I should change them more often. I think I´ll try once a month for a change:)

[chanel]

I think I´ll try once a month for a change:)

[Me]

Once every five days unless I'm I'll in which case immediately following illness.

[Rita]

Thanks for your comment. I agree washing your sheets after an illness is a good idea.

Rita

[party bags]

Actually I am changing my bed sheets every other month. I enjoy reading your blog. And you have a cool bed sheets.

[Memory Foam Mattress]

Nice blog post...actually i was changing my bed sheets on twice a month..but after reading your i surly will change weekly....thanks for sharing useful information.. :-)

[Janet]

Wouldn't lemon juice be just as damaging as chlorine bleach? This is an honest question, not intending to sound snarky.

[Rita]

Hi Janet,

Lemon juice isn't nearly as strong as chlorine bleach, so it would be much less harmful to sheets than chlorine bleach.

Rita

[Michael]

I was reading once a week in the comments and was largely surprised to say the least, then I noticed all the posters were women.

I haven't changed mine in 2 months, to be honest, I only change them when I actually need to. Maybe that's why I'm single, haha.

No...but seriously, some other friends I know, don't seem to change them at all. I could have sworn I saw the same sheets for the last 5 years.

[Anne Russell Jones]

I change every 2 wks ..my husband & I always shower b4 going to bed. I will try for 1 time a wk esp since my med change & the pain med keeps me awake. I'm shocked when I become aware of people going to bed without bath & shower in the am. I couldn't dream of that. I realize shower in am b4 work is ideal to be fresh & clean, when I worked I showered at night & fast wash up am & out the door. Now if I need to sign my life away to blog this I will have wasted my time.