I’ve always been strict about the cleanliness of my bed. Starting in seventh grade, when my friends would come over after school, they knew they couldn’t plop down on my clean sheets in their dirty junior-high clothes. Today, I cannot remember the last time I didn’t shower before sleeping.You get the picture.
However, now as an adult who lives in New York, this sentiment has taken on a whole new meaning. The idea of “bed etiquette” is a whole debate among the general public. I mean, just how long should you go without washing sheets? Is it really not gross to wear your outdoor clothes on (and dare I say, in) your bed?
Thankfully, CleanTok has the answers, and I spoke with cleaning experts and doctors to learn about the steps you need to take to keep your bed in tip-top shape. Learn how not to be gross below.
So, what do you need to know to keep your bed clean?
➼ How often should you wash your sheets?
➼ What about your comforters?
➼ Outdoor clothes vs. indoor clothes
➼ How often should you wash your mattress and pillows?
➼ What about rotating your mattress?
➼ Should you make your bed first thing in the morning?
➼ Other tips and trick
➼ Our experts
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You should wash your sheets once a week.
While this might seem self-explanatory, plenty of people don’t wash their sheets this often. However, the experts agree that washing your sheets and pillowcases once a week is recommended. For maximum cleanliness, make sure your washer is on the highest heat setting possible. Nearly every person I spoke with called any longer than a month gross, and this is just covering the bare minimum. Don’t be that person.
Dr. Tania Elliott, a board-certified doctor in internal medicine, allergy, and immunology, also suggests showering at night. “If you shower at night and you have a dry-brushing routine or something where you’re scrubbing off dead skin cells, then you’re taking a shower and you’re moisturizing, maybe you could go two weeks because you’re going to bed clean,” she says. “If you don’t shower until the morning, then you’re bringing all of the day’s dust in your hair, skin, and body, into your bed.”
Other things to think about if you don’t wash your sheets enough is that, according to Barbara Costello, an author and TikTok grandma who lovingly shares cleaning tricks and recipes, you could get eczema or hair issues. “Bacteria is growing. It’s really not healthy. I hope no one is going longer than a month,” Costello shares.
@bevvgirl Replying to @parker | booktok hot people wash their sheets once per week 🫣🫣 #sleeptok #bedtok #changesheets #sleephygiene #sleeptips
♬ original sound - Delaney | sleep content
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What about comforters?
It depends. The general rule of thumb is to wash the things you directly sleep under once a week. If you sleep with a top sheet, you can wash your comforter or duvet anywhere from once a month, seasonally, or once every six months depending on what else you’re setting on your bed or if you have any pets.
Which brings me to …
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Outside clothes do not belong on your bed.
No outside clothes on or in your bed. Plain and simple. “Don’t put anything on your bed except your body,” says Dr. Elliott. Note that you should not throw your bags, suitcases, or coats on your bed either.
Janitor and content creator Brandon Pleshek agrees, though he notes that it depends on the person and their job. If you’re outside all day or in highly contaminated areas, he suggest changing from work clothes to indoor clothes, but if you’re someone who drives themselves to work and sits at the same chair all day, it’s up to you. “After cleaning public restrooms all day, the last thing on God’s green earth I would want to do is put my body and those clothes on my bed. I was always raised to take work clothes off when you get home,” he says. “But it’s still a good rule of thumb not to sit on your bed in your normal everyday clothes.”
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You need to strip your mattress and pillows.
According to Costello, this is life changing. Plus, it’s something you only need to do once a year. Fill a tub with hot water and place your comforter and pillows (if they’re washable) with detergent and a stripping solution, made of borax and baking soda, to get all the gunk out. Let them soak overnight, rinse out in the morning, and put them into the washing machine sans detergent on a gentle cycle.
@brunchwithbabs Did you know ⁉️ Your comforter is full of grime, body oils, lotions and other residue your washing machine can't get out! It is probably time you "stripped" all that gunk from your comforter. Stripping is a laundry soaking method that cleans your comforter better than any dry cleaner or washing machine can. Experts say to wash your comforter 2-3 times a year. I suggest you strip the comforter during one of those washes each year. 🛁 Fill the bathtub with the hottest water possible 🛁 Dissolve the mixture in hot tub water: ¼ cup baking soda ¼ cup borax 2 cups liquid laundry detergent or ½ cup powder laundry detergent 🛁 Add your comforter and submerge. Soak for 2-24 hours. Give it a stir every once in a while. 🛁Drain tub and squeeze out excess water from the comforter. 🛁Immediately following stripping, wash comforter on gentle cycle without detergent. 🎾Dry without dryer sheets. Use tennis or dryer balls instead to fluff up your comforter! Happy Spring (Cleaning)! XO Babs #springcleaning #laundryroom #Washingmachine
♬ original sound - Babs
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You should be cleaning and rotating your mattress.
That’s right, you need to clean your mattress, too. Pleshek suggests twice a year, and making sure you rotate it to give it as much life as possible. “We shed a ton of skin at night, and if you sweat a lot at night or drool, that will also seep into your mattress,” he says. Start by vacuuming the mattress and applying a cleaner like hydrogen peroxide before rubbing it in with a damp towel. You can also opt for a homemade solution made of witch hazel, water, and essential oils. If you have a steam cleaner, you can use it, as well, or you can wait and let it all dry before making your bed again.
@cleanthatup Welcome to Week 3 of the Spring Cleaning Spree 2024! For Day 13 we are starting on cleaning our mattress and bedding. Did you know you are supposed to rotate your mattress twice a year to keep it lasting longer and make it more comfortable? This is one of my favorite jobs because nothing beats the feeling of crawling into a clean bed at night! #springcleaningspree2024 #howto #cleaning #cleantok #cleaningtips #cleantok101 #cleaningmotivation #cleanwithme
♬ original sound - Clean That Up!
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Don’t make your bed first thing in the morning.
While making your bed is great, everyone suggests waiting until after you do your morning skin care or have breakfast. You want to give your bed time to breathe. “Imagine you’re sleeping and there are dead skin cells, there are bacteria, people pass gas in the middle of the night, and some people don’t sleep with clothes on,” says Dr. Elliott. “If immediately when you wake up, you make your bed really tight, that seals in all that moisture and doesn’t give anything time to breathe or air out.”
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Some other tips and tricks.
- Avoid decorative pillows, especially if you have allergies since they tend to harbor dust mites.
- You should stick stuffed animals in the freezer once a week to disinfect them.
- Try to avoid going to bed with wet hair to avoid dandruff.
@drtaniaelliott Never sleep with wet hair. 💦Damp hair is a breeding ground for fungus, which is the most common cause of dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis. 💦Damp hair is also more prone to breakage, especially if you don’t use a silk pillowcase. 👨🦰👱🏻♀️Don’t forget to dry your hair and please send this to a friend who goes to sleep with wet hair. #doctor #dandruff #themoreyouknow #learnontikok
♬ original sound - drtaniaelliott
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Our experts
- Dr. Tania Elliott, a board-certified doctor in internal medicine, allergy and immunology
- Barbara Costello, an author and TikTok grandma who lovingly shares cleaning tricks and recipes
- Brandon Pleshek, a janitor and content creator