How often do you wash your bedding?
Is that even necessary?
This is what research and medicine say about a minimum level of hygiene in bed.
Kassel – Pillows, mattresses, bed linen: If hygiene is neglected here, it can be bad for your health.
Unsightly yellow stains on the bed linen are often only noticed when the bed linen is changed.
The so-called mold stains harbor a risk.
Because the mixture of sweat, saliva, skin oils and body care products offers germs and fungi an ideal nesting place.
Or as microbiologist Philip Tierno of Grossman Medical University in New York puts it: The bedding can quickly become a “botanical garden” full of bacteria and fungi.
We spend more than a third of our lifetime in bed.
For this reason alone, the microscopic creatures in bed linen can be harmful to our health, Tierno told
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Dust mites feel comfortable in bed (Montage).
© Imago
Why wash bed linen?
With whom - or what - we share our bed
Our bedding also contains scales from our skin, although they can't be seen with the naked eye, according to Alok Vij, director of dermatology at the Cleveland Clinic Ohio.
The average person loses one and a half grams of dead skin cells every day.
Visually this is almost half a teaspoon full of dead skin.
"With any kind of friction, the outer layer of skin cells is rubbed off," says the doctor, "so a large part of it is shed when it comes into contact with the bed sheet at night."
In a study, researchers from the British University in Manchester examined used synthetic and feather pillows for their contamination with fungal species.
The scientists took a close look at pillows that were between one and a half and more than 20 years old and that were used regularly.
The result: between four and 16 different types of fungus were found per pillow.
An average of up to 150 types of fungi have been identified in indoor air, as another study by the university shows.
Sharing bedding with microorganisms: risky neighborhoods
In combination with an average of one and a half liters of sweat that a person produces at night, this basis of organic material and our body temperature results in a perfect climate for fungi and bacteria.
And house dust mites also feel comfortable in the warm, humid environment.
The skin scales are even a source of food for mites, which is why they particularly like to nest in beds.
An idea that disgusts quite a few.
But even those who don't mind sharing the bedroom with tiny bedfellows should maintain a minimum level of hygiene for their bed linen.
Because the microbes can cause a number of health problems.
According to dermatologist Vij, skin problems such as rashes and eczema, as well as asthma and allergies, are among the symptoms contaminated bedding can cause.
Risk: This is what happens when you don't wash your sheets
skin rash
eczema
asthma
Allergic reaction
skin infections
breathing problems
Mites, fungi and bacteria in the bed linen: that's the danger
Dust mites in bed are an underestimated risk for many people.
"Dust mites can cause itching and trigger asthma attacks and seasonal allergies," says dermatologist Vij.
Breathing problems may develop or worsen.
Those who already suffer from asthma are more susceptible to a dust mite allergy.
But even without asthma, the microorganisms could cause symptoms such as wheezing and wheezing.
Too many dust mites can also cause a rash when they come into contact with the skin, according to the doctor.
In addition, some bacteria can also cause skin rashes, such as eczema.
This is how often you should wash your bed linen
"If you allow bacteria to live on your sheets and get onto your skin when you hop in bed, you could make your eczema worse — or even cause it in the first place," says Alok Vij.
A bed contaminated with bacteria also makes the skin susceptible to what is known as folliculitis, an inflammation, infection or irritation of the hair root.
Microbiologist Tierno confirms these health hazards.
Both he and dermatologist Vij therefore advise weekly washing of bed linen.
If you sweat a lot or let your pets sleep in your bed with you, you should even change them more often.
However, an absolute minimum of hygiene requires washing the bed linen every two weeks.
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List of rubrics: © Imago
