do you air your bed?

Tigsteroonie

I stopped making the bed a few years ago after reading this:

The warm, damp conditions created in an occupied bed are ideal for the creatures, but they are less likely to thrive when moisture is in shorter supply. ... "Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die."

tanith

I always air the bed , the duvet hangs over the door and the windows are open for a couple of hours.. if the beds stripped for washing I leave it like that all day only remaking in the evening... I've always thought the beds feel damp if I don't do this every day.. seems I was right..

3v3

beemuzed wrote: »

As spmeone in her early sixties I was always brought up to air the bed for a short while before making it. Most of the "get yourself organised" sites (eg Flylady) say you should make it at once as you get out - even make your own half if your partner is still in there! So, just wondering what others do?

Just as with *any* advice you are given, you trust it if you trust the person who gives it.

Research has proven that there is a need to air beds.

Back in the day, I was taught "home economics" and part of that involved "caring/cleaning" a bedsit type arrangement; airing the bed was a part of that.

Bedbugs were a very big problem, especially during Victorian times when many of the population slept in wooden framed beds (particular favourite of bedbugs) and feather mattresses were the preferred mattress of the upper/middle classes.

Subsequently there has been research (as decribed in previous posts) which suggests it is a health and hygiene issue to air.

So, why do these sites advocate it? Ignorance is my guess.

globetraveller

interesting thread. I've always made my bed as soon as I got up. Must rethink this now.

Carolyntia

3v3 wrote: »

Bedbugs were a very big problem, especially during Victorian times when many of the population slept in wooden framed beds (particular favourite of bedbugs) and feather mattresses were the preferred mattress of the upper/middle classes.
QUOTE]

I seem to recall not so long back that there was a rise in bedbug cases in America.....ah yes found it..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11165108

building_with_lego

GreyQueen wrote: »

I fold my duvet down over the end of the bed on rising and leave it there with the bedroom window ajar all day unless it's the depths of winter, in which case I close the window when I go to work.

I always goggle at homemaking advice about making the bed on exiting it; all that moisture and humid heat for the dust mites to snuggle up into and breed; yuck!

One thing that I have noticed on my travels is that the Dutch and the Germans are very big on airing bedlinen, even to the point of hanging it out of the windows and, if I wasn't in a ground floor flat, I'd be tempted to follow suit. Much the more hygenic option IMO.

Incidentlay, old school homemaking was very big on airing rooms in general and I often wonder if allergies etc aren't worsened by living in small homes stuffed up with carpets, furniture and clutter and often double-glazed to boot.

This bit reminded me of a programme I saw years ago on tv about asthma. There were a group of asthmatic kids who were very dependent on their inhalers; the medics got them to hang the duvets out of the window for at least an hour each day, pillows went into the freezer, bedrooms were hoovered every day.
The children whose parents played a big part in all this (kids were primary school ages I think) all but eliminated the inhalers! I do remember one boy who didn't do too well- his mum had a rollocking from the medics about not being bothered to hoover his room every day, and they pointed out that it was affecting her child's health.

Conclusion: Air the bed :rotfl:

3v3

Carolyntia wrote: »

3v3 wrote: »

Bedbugs were a very big problem, especially during Victorian times when many of the population slept in wooden framed beds (particular favourite of bedbugs) and feather mattresses were the preferred mattress of the upper/middle classes.
QUOTE]

I seem to recall not so long back that there was a rise in bedbug cases in America.....ah yes found it..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11165108

Too many Flylady devotees

zippychick

this thread discusses the very same thing.

Ill merge this later on for you

Zip

Linda32

I air the bed but its made as well. At the moment we have a sheet, a duvet which is only 4.5tog and a sort of throw thing.

I make the bed but then fold everything down so the top half of the bed is showing or airing, hope that makes sense. It then stays like this all day until we go to bed at night.

LameWolf

I straighten the bottom sheet, tidy the pillows and fold the duvet neatly down to the bottom of the bed, and leave it for a few hours, before tidying it, and if I'm going to be doing anything else in the bedroom (dusting, putting stuff away etc.) if it's a warm enough day I'll open the window for a bit.

I don't leave the bedroom window open when I'm not in there though; we live in a bungalow, the bedroom faces onto the road (ok it's a close, but still a road) and I'm fairly deaf; so I'm too nervous of burglars to do that.