How often should you change your bed sheets?
I change mine on average every 6th day, but after reading a recent article about your bed sheets and germs, I’m starting to think I need to change them every day!
Apparently, after a week your bed becomes a breeding ground for germs and can become a ‘botanical park’ for bacteria and fungus. These can cause allergic reactions, even if you don’t normally suffer with them. It makes my skin crawl just writing about it, and I’m not even in bed at the moment.
It’s not just our bedding. Our phones (which we touch up to 150 times a day), bras, jeans, tea towels, pyjamas and now even our mattresses are just some of the items that are, according to a microbiologist and other experts, teeming with bacteria and germs.
According to a recent YouGov poll*, 1 in 20 of us washes our sheets only every four weeks, and more than a third wait 14 days. Microbiologists recommend washing them once a week minimum and at a temperature of 60c to destroy bacteria.
How often should we be changing everyday items?
The list may shock you!
Tea Towel – wash every day
Kitchen Sponge – change once a week
Undies – obviously wash them after each wear(!), but how often should they be replaced? For lacy drawers, we should be changing them every couple of months!
Re-useable Canvas Shopping Bags – these can be washed, so pop them in the machine as they are often disgusting inside.
Hand Towels – change them every two days, as you wipe the germs back on!
Tupperware – throw it away after a couple of months.
Chopping Board – replace every 12 months, especially the wooden ones. Studies have shown that they can harbour over 200% more faecal bacteria than a toilet seat.
Razor – change every 7-10 uses! When we shave our legs, we make tiny cuts which any bacteria left on the razor can enter and infect.
Office Mug – wash it every day, which seems really obvious, but we all refill our mug continuously during the day and rarely rinse them – time is usually pressing! A recent study has shown that 20% of dirty mugs contain faecal bacteria due to communal sponges and cloths being shared.
New Clothes – now this is shocking, but all items of clothing have been made with chemicals that can be harmful to the skin so should be washed before wearing.
Ok, I am beginning to think that I will never go out again… or stay in for that matter!
Written by Tracey from Rejuvage
