According to a recent survey, only 41% of American women wash their sheets once a week. About 33% of men do the same. Yikes!
Comfortable sleep is right for your mental health, and you can only achieve this by sleeping on clean bed linen.
According to experts, you must wash your sheets at least once a week – and there are many benefits for doing this.
Regular washing of sheets can help you to sleep peacefully at night. There are also other benefits to washing sheets, like the fresh scent of clean sheets that helps you sleep better.
The cleanliness of your sheets also helps to prevent elements like dust, bacteria, and allergies that can disrupt your sleep.
Allergens and Dust Mites
Regular washing of your sheets helps to prevent the accumulation of allergens and dust mites. These particles can impact on your health in various ways. Dust mites can live in your mattresses as well as bedding, and you cannot see them with a naked eye. These particles are microscopic, and they can gather between the sheets.
The dust mites can cause terrible allergies to people who are sensitive to bugs. Therefore, you should wash your sheets at least once every week in hot and bleach. This regular exercise will significantly help to reduce the dust mites in your bedding.
The following are some of the symptoms of dust mite allergies like runny nose, sneezing as well as nasal congestion. You can also experience itchy throat, nose or the roof of the mouth. You can also experience a cough, facial pain and pressure due to dust mite.
The symptoms in children usually come in the upward rubbing of the nose that is frequent as well as sneezing. You can also experience swollen as well as blue-colored skin under your eyes. These symptoms are preventable by just washing your sheets at least once every week. As the saying goes “prevention is better than cure.”
Washing Sheets Helps Prevent Bacteria
Bacteria can successfully thrive on bed sheets especially if there is no free circulation of air in your room. Bacteria usually thrives under warm conditions and bet sheets provide the right atmosphere. When you are sick with a disease like flu and are resting in bed, the virus can easily transfer to the sheets. And when you are sick often you end up eating in bed which can lead to food particles falling onto the sheets.
It also becomes easy for the virus to spread to other people if you do not wash your sheets. In hospitals, they prioritize the sanitation of sheets and other linens to prevent the transmission of bacteria. Regular washing of your sheets makes them feel fresh, and this can help to prevent the spread of bacteria in your house.
Sheets Keep The Dirt
Every night as you tuck yourself between the layers, you must know that they gather dirt and retain it. At times you come home tired such that you fall into your bed in your work clothes. All the dirt, sweat and dust on your work clothes will end up on your sheets.
On the other hand, the sweat of your body will also gather on your sheets which can result in a bad smell. If you do not wash your sheets over a long period, you can experience poor sleeping patterns as a result of the unpleasant odor.
Therefore, washing your bed sheets at least once every week can help in the reduction of dirt build up. It also helps prevent the build-up of bacteria that can affect your health in various ways. In the end, you may not be able to enjoy peaceful sleep at night.
Tips For Washing Your Sheets
When washing your sheets, it is imperative to sort your laundry particularly bedding alone. If you mix your bed sheets with another load of laundry, you risk the danger of leaving them not clean. You should try to separate heavy load from light items like bed sheets to eliminate dirty stuff.
You should also make sure that you avoid clothing with particles that may cling on to your bed sheets. It is essential to separate your bed sheets from other materials that can fade. Such material can leave your bed sheets dirt.
The other important step that you should consider when washing your sheets is that you should use hot water. You should use it in conjunction with bleach and detergent which will help to kill any bacteria that may cling to your sheets. The water temperature of about 140 degrees Fahrenheit can effectively kill all the germs and bacteria on your sheets.
Hot water I also effective in eliminating all the dust mites that may be on your bed sheets. When washing colored sheets, it is crucial to use oxygen bleach which helps to improve their cleanliness. Separating dark colors from light colors is vital.
Let The Sheets To Air-Dry
Apart from washing your sheets every week, you must also make sure that you hang them out to air dry. Alternatively, you can also use your dryer’s cool-air setting mode to dry your sheets. A lot of newer dryers come with the option of cool air settings.
It is wise to use this drying mode of low heat since it will reduce shrinkage and keep the quality of your sheets in the long run. For instance, low heat drying system can affect the quality of the elasticity of your fitted sheets. It is also essential to read the drying instructions on the label of your layers.
Sheets are one of the least expensive ways to improve your sleep quality at night.
Another way is to buy the right mattress. Check out my recently-updated Leesa Mattress Review and my new Casper Essential Review to learn about two popular choices that will help you sleep peacefully.
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