How often do you wash things like bedclothes and towels?

iammumtoone

SmlSave wrote: »

I'm curious why people choose to wash their bedding every week

I do ours weekly just so I remember. Its a routine I change/wash on the same day every week (Saturday). I would leave them longer but would be worried I'd forget when I last did it.

gemmajenkins0208

SmlSave wrote: »

My bedding gets washed a lot less than once every two weeks, once every couple of months more like it unless it actually gets dirty.

My pj's get washed every week though.

Bath towels only get washed when dirty or start to smell.

Even the kid's beds don't need washing very often.

We don't eat in bed, have non manual jobs and often bath before bed.

I'm curious why people choose to wash their bedding every week or so if they don't have manual/mucky jobs/hobbies or don't sweat a lot. Is it just because you've always done so and can't imagine not?

Yes. My sheets were always changed by my mum at least once a week while growing up.

I have noticed tho that left much longer than a week the pillowcases start to feel "grimy". It's not just down to whether you get very dirty a lot, whenever you step outside you instantly get bits of dust/dirt/pollution/all manner of crud stick to your skin and then you take that back indoors with you

[Deleted User]

My bedding gets done once a week, but bath towels get done after they have been used they go into the wash basket (I shower daily,twice in the summer) hand towels after two days into the laundry basket. Although I can see the point PN made about a double bed I would not be able to sleep unless I was on my normal side of the double bed, which is the left side :)slept on that side for 55 years, since I lost my OH 14 years ago the right side has stayed pristine :):)
JackieO xx

166million

I think we have had this thread before, and I remember posting on it.
I just don't have a routine like that for washing certain things and I am interested how you develop one?

LandyAndy

I must be missing something with all these people who wash towels every time they are used. I thought the idea was that you had a shower and got yourself clean and then used the towel to remove the CLEAN water from your body. Have I been doing it wrong all these years? Should I be giving myself a rub down with the towel, then showering, and then dripping dry?

Nelski

Me too landyandy

All this scrimping and saving some people do on food shops and yet the same people are quite happy to wash towels after one use :laugh: Takes all sorts I guess but thats a lot of needless water and energy use.

For me its 2 weekly for bedding (ish i dont have a diary on this to monitor ) and weekly ish for bath sheets (daily showers)

I do remember the original thread on this and it got quite heated ...shame this cant be merged with it.

suki1964

SmlSave wrote: »

My bedding gets washed a lot less than once every two weeks, once every couple of months more like it unless it actually gets dirty.

My pj's get washed every week though.

Bath towels only get washed when dirty or start to smell.

Even the kid's beds don't need washing very often.

We don't eat in bed, have non manual jobs and often bath before bed.

I'm curious why people choose to wash their bedding every week or so if they don't have manual/mucky jobs/hobbies or don't sweat a lot. Is it just because you've always done so and can't imagine not?

I do mine weekly because I'm a lady of a certain age who "glows" a lot at night

Plus neither of us wear night clothes


As a child, before the advent of fitted sheets and duvets, bottom sheet and pillow cases were washed, the top sheet then became the bottom sheet and a fresh top sheet and pillow cases were put on

We always slept in nightclothes back then, mostly cos the bedrooms weren't heated

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

LandyAndy wrote: »

I must be missing something with all these people who wash towels every time they are used. I thought the idea was that you had a shower and got yourself clean and then used the towel to remove the CLEAN water from your body. Have I been doing it wrong all these years? Should I be giving myself a rub down with the towel, then showering, and then dripping dry?

When you dry yourself, you exfoliate any dead skin cells that were loosened but not swept away with the water, so the towel has lots of bits of skin embedded in it - perfect for dustmites to snack on as the towel dries. For some of us (not my OH ), drying also ends up with strands of hair left on the towel.

It's more obvious if somebody has a condition such as Psoriasis or Eczema - and makes it more important to wash them more frequently - but the principle is still the same for everybody, that towels will need washing because they pick up skin, hair and other dust particles, along with mould spores, bacteria from the air (especially if the toilet is also in the same room) and suchlike.



*************

Setting a routine that works can be useful - just like having a bath at night and a shower in the morning, along with brushing one's teeth gets you in the mindset of going to sleep/waking up for the day, knowing that Saturday is the day that the bedlinen is changed, facecloths and towels are stuck in the machine after two uses or when the bathroom is properly cleaned, etc, can give you a sense of organisation/calmness, as does always knowing when you reach for a towel, it smells fresh and clean, your bed doesn't smell bad and everything's in order.

One thing I've always noticed is that people don't always realise there are smells they can't detect - the old lodger never really smelled bad herself, as she showered almost every day - but her room positively reeked of stale, unwashed person and clothes. It was so bad that, after grumbling to him about how we'd had to throw out every scrap of bedding and scrub the room from top to bottom with the windows open for a full six weeks before I didn't feel sick every time the door was open after she moved out, a mate said that he'd thought it was us and the first thing he'd noticed coming round after she'd gone was that the house smelled clean.

As she had free use of the washing machine and drier (and there are two launderettes within ten minutes' walk if that was a problem), there was no reason not to wash the bedding regularly, other than she didn't think it needed doing because she showered most days.

*******************************

I'd suggest an initial routine, to be adjusted as necessary, of;

Change the bedlinen on the same day each week - perhaps strip the bed, put the linen in the washing machine on a hot wash, vacuum the bedroom to pick up the dust this will stir up and then put fresh sheets, pillowcases and duvet cover each Saturday morning.

Clean the bathroom fully once a week, take out all the towels/facecloths and any bathmat on a Wednesday - put the linen on a hot wash whilst cleaning, finish off with mopping/scrubbing the floor, then putting clean linen back when the floor is dry.

This then leaves space for washing clothes, drying, ironing and putting away on different days - even clean clothes and bedsheets start to yellow and smell if they are left with sweat on them. And dustmites and clothes moths love things that smell of sweat. Teatowels/kitchen cloths can be washed on a day where the kitchen is deep cleaned, a good time being once washing up brushes, etc, are put into the sink with a solution of hot water and bleach to disinfect.

Obviously, in between, things like making sure the toilet is clean, wiping over surfaces, cleaning up spills and doing washing up, is done on a daily basis - but that means you have an essentially clean flat in all respects every day, which is a lot more relaxing than many people realise before they experience it.

Wednesday2000

I was reading the other day about a type of Japanese towel that is very thin, but dries you properly and then it also dries very quickly. I don't see how it would work? I did see one on Am*zon, but I didn't buy it.

I find the towel drying a pain as I don't put them in the tumble dryer as it takes too long so it means I have a newly washed wet towel hanging over the bannister almost every other day. It's annoying.

It's okay in the summer obviously as I put it outside on the line, but in winter it's a problem.

[Deleted User]

suki1964 wrote: »

the top sheet then became the bottom sheet and a fresh top sheet and pillow cases were put on

My mum did that and the whole day on monday was spent doing bed changing and washing. Nine of us and cotton sheets, often mended. I don`t know how she did it with only a back yard, a ceiling rack, one fire and no tumble dryer but even she did the sheet changing every single week

I like the routine jojo and the pride in your home