I always come home from track practice, sweaty and exhausted, yearning to flop onto my beautiful full-sized bed and dive under the covers; but I realize I’m awfully sticky and don’t want to get into my bedsheets. So, of course, I decide that the most optimal choice is to simply lie on top of my bedsheets—the ultimate hack to keeping my sheets forever clean. Well, I’m here to tell anyone who’s experienced this before—sadly, including me—that you are absolutely nonsensical.
The truth is, millions of different species of bacteria and germs—lured in by your own dead skin—absolutely love to mingle and breed within your soft, luscious bedsheets; it’s the perfect environment for these organisms to reproduce and grow. According to Dr. McGregor, the average person sheds approximately a gram and a half of dead skin cells—which is to say, visually speaking, about half a teaspoon. Any sort of friction or movement allows chafing of the outer layer of your skin cells, so unfortunately, unless you’re a rock, you’re bound to shed constantly. Altogether, our sacred bed becomes a breeding ground filled with dust mites, body oils, sweat, allergens, and bacteria.
And if the horrendous descriptions of bacteria aren’t enough to convince you to wash your sheets weekly, imagine how comforting and relaxing it would feel to go to bed every night, transitioning from a nice hot bath into cold, dry sheets. You can finally remove that bizarre odor that keeps emanating from your room and exponentially improve your self-care. Additionally, cleaning your bed sheets can reduce allergy symptoms, ensure healthier skin, and regulate your body temperature. Undoubtedly, washing your sheets once a week is a simple habit that can make a surprisingly big difference to your health and quality of life.
Do yourself a favor and wash those sheets! Your skin, your allergies, your sleep, and quite frankly, anyone who has to enter your room, will thank you. After all, nothing says “don’t let the bed bugs bite” quite like crawling into bed with an entire microscopic civilization hiding inside.
P.S. Washing your bed sheets also includes washing yourself before you get into bed. Please don’t forget to shower every night!