Mites, sweat and bacteria: how often you should change the bed linen
Created: 01/05/2023 09:51
By: Alina Schroeder
Many people change their sheets every few weeks - but that's not enough.
Here you can read how to ensure hygiene in bed and thus prevent allergies.
Frankfurt – We spend around seven to eight hours a day in bed – and when we sleep we lose liters of fluid, lots of hair and dander.
The fabric of the bed linen absorbs all of this.
What not only sounds disgusting, is also harmful to health.
Because body fluids in particular consist mainly of sweat, which, together with the pleasant warmth of the bed, forms an ideal breeding ground for mites, bacteria and fungi.
Within a week, a large number could accumulate in the bedding, as the microbiologist Philip Tierno
told the magazine
businessinsider.de .
Their excretions in turn trigger allergies and asthma in humans and animals.
Changing the bed linen: how to fight mites, bacteria & co
There is no fixed rule as to how often you should change your bed linen.
For reasons of hygiene, however, it is advisable to change pillows, blankets and covers every fortnight and to air the bedroom regularly.
This keeps dust mites and mold spores at bay.
They should be replaced more frequently, especially in summer - not only because you sweat more, but because pollen from outside is brought into bed with you.
However, certain foods can alleviate hay fever symptoms.
If you sweat heavily and sweat a lot, you should change your bed linen once a week.
The same is true when sleeping naked, as the skin is in direct contact with the bedding.
Children's and infants' bedding should be washed once a week - usually more often to prevent the development of allergies prematurely.
To prevent allergies, bedding should be changed regularly.
(Iconic image) © Vasily Pindyurin/Imago
In these cases, you should change the bed linen weekly
It is advisable to change the duvet cover weekly if the following applies:
You are allergic to dust mites.
You naturally sweat profusely.
They sleep undressed.
Your pets sleep in the bed with you.
They smoke, often stay in smoky environments, or work in gastronomy.
You have just recovered from a cold or the flu.
It concerns the bedding of children and infants.
Wash bed linen after changing – what needs to be considered
Finally, used bed linen can be washed at 30 to 40 degrees with heavy-duty or all-purpose detergent.
However, bacteria and mites are only completely killed off at a washing temperature of at least 60 degrees.
In addition, the German Textile Cleaning Association recommends washing pillows and blankets at least once a year or having them professionally cleaned.
For further hygienic cleaning, the mattresses should be brushed and vacuumed regularly.
The mattress can also be cleaned with dry or moistened baking soda to make it even cleaner.
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Baking soda has a disinfecting effect, eliminates odors and removes stains.
After an exposure time of at least 30 minutes, it can finally be sucked off, as the consumer
portal utopia.de
informs.
Baking soda is also particularly effective against mites and bacteria.
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