How Often Do You Need to Wash Your Sheets? The Answer May Surprise You

Here's how to stay healthy between the sheets.

By Erica Loop June 5, 2019

bed, mom jumping, jumping on bed, laundry

Between the mountain of baby socks, toddler tee’s and towels, parenting has morphed laundry from a mere to chore into something rivaling an Ironman triathlon. While the 30,000 onesies you registered for mean you can go at least a few days in between washing your kiddo’s clothes, what about your own bed sheets?

Long gone are those not-so-neat-freak college dorm days when you would go weeks (or sadly, months) before washing your sheets. Now that you’re an actual adult, and responsible for tiny humans of your own, you want a totally hygienic home––and that means washing your sheets regularly.

photo: Rawpixel via Pexels

While you know going for months in between sheet washing sessions just isn’t okay, you’re still not entirely sure how often to clean your bed linens. Along with the 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells you shed daily (and the hungry little dust mites that follow), your sheets are subject to everything from sweat to drool. Beyond the usual sheet-dirtying suspects, if you sleep naked you may end up with dried fecal matter on your sheets.

Then there are pet parents. Your playful pup can bring a host of not-so-welcome contaminants into your bed. Obviously, if your furry friend tracks half the backyard into your bed, you’ll need to wash the sheets ASAP. The same goes for toddler vomit, baby spit-up and all the other fluids your kiddo gets on the sheets.

So how often do your sheets need to make it into the to-do laundry pile? While there’s no 100 percent magic number, once a week is typically necessary to keep you and your family clean.

—Erica Loop

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