Last Updated on April 5, 2021
When has washing bedsheets become such a laborious task? Seriously, when was the last time you cleaned the bedsheets? Look, no matter how squeaky clean your house is, it’s all pointless when you have dirty bedsheets that haven’t been washed in weeks (or worse, months!). Not only is that unhygienic but also pretty dangerous. Yes, “dangerous” because your bed will become a petri dish for bacteria and you being exposed to that spells i-n-f-e-c-c-t-i-o-n-s!
And you can’t even escape that because all of us spend a third of our lives in bed, so clean bedsheets are a must. You should wash them weekly or at least every other week to avoid bacterial or fungal overgrowth and, of course, prevent any infections or conditions like eczema and even asthma.
Tiny dust mites, dead skin cells, dust, and dirt are going to lead you to all sorts of trouble, so hurry up and clean those sheets. Are you not convinced yet? Read this list of things that will happen to you if you don’t wash your bedsheets!
1. Bacteria from sweat, saliva & dead cells
Did you ever pause to think of all the bacterial buddies sharing your bed with you? In fact, lab samples indicted that unwashed sheets hosted 17,000 times more colonies of bacteria than a toilet seat!
When you’re not changing or washing bedsheets often, bacteria from sweat, dead skin cells, and saliva accumulate. This can cause you skin irritation and itchiness, and other skin problems.
2. Dust mites feeding on dead cells
We shed 500 million skin cells a day. All those dead cells you shed in your sleep pile up on your bedsheets and become food for tiny dust mites. This can cause any skin problem like eczema to flare, and if you’re allergic to dust mites, your allergy will worsen even more.
If you have dust allergy, you must consider washing bedsheets every day in hot water.
3. Dirty sheets + pet dander
This is quite a disastrous combination, and I’m not even exaggerating! If you sleep with your kitty or dog, know that they will leave dander behind, which will make your bedding a hot pot for dust mites.
