Mattress Accessories & Bedding
Best Linen Sheets
Learn how linen is made, its benefits, the best linen sheets on the market, and how to care for linen bed sheets.
Body oils, sweat, makeup, and more can find their way onto your bed sheets, rendering once white, dyed, or patterned bedding dirty with a build up of who knows what. The same goes for pillowcases, duvet, duvet covers, and comforters. When it comes to keeping your sheets clean and your body healthy, it’s important to know how often to wash them.
However, that’s not the end of the story. Understanding the risks and benefits of timely cleanings will help motivate you to stay on a schedule. The way that you wash your sheets is just as key, because proper washings ensure that your bedding remains durable and soft. In this article, we share how often to wash your sheets, the benefits of frequent washing, and a few recommendations for the best bed sheets in case you’re looking for a new set.
A survey conducted by home textile company Coyuchi found that 44% of Americans wash their sheets only once or twice a month, 11% wash their sheets once a quarter, and 5% wash them only once or twice each year. Alternatively, a 2012 poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 91% of people change their sheets every other week.
While the data may vary, we estimate that most people wash their sheets about once per month. While this isn’t as bad as folks who only clean their bedding quarterly, experts recommend more frequent washing for a myriad of reasons, which we’ll explore below.
The vast majority of organizations staffed with experts on the topic, ranging from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) to New York University’s Langone Medical Center, recommend cleaning your sheets once a week at a minimum. The AAD suggests changing your pillowcases two to three times a week, too.
A number of elements factor into the frequency that’s right for you – including how much you move in your sleep and the clothing you wear when you go to bed – but weekly washing is a good place to start for most people.
Here are other factors that can help determine a frequency that’s right for you:
Even if your sheets look clean to the naked eye, they accumulate quite a lot over a short period of time—and you won’t be able to see most of the buildup. Dermatologists at the AAD suggest that humans shed up to 40,000 dead skin cells every day. Considering the amount of time you spend in bed each night, nearly half of them could end up on your sheets.
Moisture is also an issue, especially if you sleep hot, drool, have oily skin, wear lotions and facial products to bed or are sexually active. If you have a pet that sleeps or naps in bed with you, they could be adding pet dander and fluids to your bed.
Unfortunately, moisture and dead skin cells are the perfect invitation for dust mites, bed bugs, and other microscopic critters to take up residence in your bed. Along with the eradication of dust mites and bodily matter, here’s a list of the benefits of washing your sheets:
If you plan on washing your sheets weekly from now on, developing a proper process for cleaning them will make care simple and – with time – practically effortless. Here’s a step by step guide to proper cleaning:
Fight every instinct to turn to bleach with white sheets. While this seems counter-intuitive, bleach can react with sweat, oils, and more to make your sheets more yellow, not less. Use a combination of baking soda (½ cup at the beginning of the wash cycle) and white vinegar (½ cup during the rinse cycle) if your sheets have an unpleasant tint. This combo also naturally softens the fabric. And keep in mind that what’s under your sheets is just as important: check out our guide to cleaning your mattress and learn whether you need a mattress protector.
Sleeping in your own dirt, sweat and body oils isn’t just gross—it can lead to negative health outcomes. Here’s a list of the risks of sleeping on dirty sheets:
If the thought of washing your sheets every week sounds overwhelming or you don’t have at-home access to a washing machine and dryer, there are a few things you can do to healthfully stretch the lifespan of your clean sheets.
Whether you’re on the lookout for a new sheet set or want to add another set to your linen closet so that you don’t have to wash as frequently, these are some of our favorite bed sheet brands to explore.
One of the best parts about buying a new mattress is the bed sheets that go with it. If you sleep hot, you might enjoy our picks for the best cooling sheets, too.
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