You don’t wear your bed linen like jeans or a sweater, but you do spend several hours with it every night. Weekly cleaning is not necessary, but regular washing is.
The most important things at a glance
Most people know that bed sheets need to be changed and washed. Nevertheless, questions arise again and again in everyday life, for example how often the bed linen should be washed in a month. Or which detergent is necessary for this. This is what you should know about washing bedclothes, sheets, etc.
Why change linens?
Since you sleep in your bed for several hours every day, it is a matter of hygiene to wash the bed linen regularly. Most people sweat at night, providing optimal conditions for germs, bacteria and parasites such as mites. Even small skin cells that you lose during sleep collect in the sheet and mattress.
How often to wash bedding?
Normally, it is recommended to wash bed linen every two to four weeks. However, it is best to adapt the washing cycle to your needs: If you sweat a lot at night or suffer from an allergy to house dust, a weekly change of laundry is advisable. Also adjust the washing rhythm according to the season: Since you sweat more at night during the summer months, it is best to change your laundry at least every fourteen days during this time.
If your pets sleep in the bed with you, you should also clean the covers more frequently. The same goes for nude sleepers, as body parts that would otherwise be covered in pajamas or nightgowns also come into contact with the bedding. A weekly change of linen is also a good idea if you have extremely sweaty feet or hot flashes at night.
What materials are bedding made of?
It is true that bed linen is mostly made of hard-wearing mixed cotton fabric these days. However, other materials can also be found. The following are suitable for all-season bedding:
- microfiber (polyester)
- Jersey
- Reinforced
- Seersucker
Linon is also often used as children’s bedding because the smooth cotton fabric is extremely hard-wearing. Renforcé underwear is medium-fine and is therefore also very suitable for summer – like jersey bed linen, whose fibers are temperature-regulating and absorbent.
In addition to seersucker, which you can recognize by the typical crepe stripes, typical summer bed linen also includes percale and temperature-regulating satin or linen linen. In winter, on the other hand, you will find fine beaver and flannel covers on many beds. Since both materials have a roughened surface, they warm up well and look particularly cuddly.
Which bed linen for allergy sufferers?
Silk covers are the right choice for allergy sufferers: the material does not provide any habitat for mites and thus reduces the risk of allergies. However, silk is not cheap. This also applies to linen covers, which are not exactly easy to care for, but are made from 100% natural fibers. They also have the property of absorbing humidity and releasing it into the environment.
At what temperature should you wash bedding?
Basically, you should wash bed linen at 60 degrees so that all bacteria are killed. But the washing temperatures also differ depending on the material. The following table indicates the maximum temperature at which you should clean the various materials.
| Material | washing temperature in Grad Celsius |
|---|---|
| Cotton | colored: 70°, white: 95° |
| microfiber | 60° |
| Jersey | 60° |
| Reinforced | 60° |
| Seersucker | 40° |
| Linen | colored: 70°, white: 95° |
| Satin | 40° |
| silk | 30° |
| Linen | 40° |
Our tip
Boiling (95 degrees) puts a strain on the fabric and your electricity bill. You should therefore only rarely wash at this temperature, for example in the case of contagious diseases or heavy soiling such as vomit or diarrhoea.
Which detergent for which bed linen?
With a color detergent that contains few fragrance additives, you play it safe. Because it is suitable for almost all materials and temperatures. You should avoid using fabric softener on bed linen because it reduces the absorbency of the fabric. In addition, most fabric softeners are enriched with fragrances that can cause headaches or insomnia.
Bed linen that cannot be cleaned at 60 degrees can be washed with so-called hygiene detergents. These fight bacteria even at low temperatures. But: The conditioner is ecologically controversial because it contains disinfectants and fragrances.
