How often should you actually wash your bed sheets?
People often go months without washing their sheets because stripping, washing, and remaking the bed is an exhausting physical chore. This uncertainty and physical barrier leads to prolonged intervals between cleaning, leaving individuals worried about odors and hygiene while avoiding the task altogether.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Sleeping on top of a blanket instead of a sheet to avoid the effort of changing bed sheets
- 2Washing sheets monthly or every two weeks instead of weekly
- 3Not using top sheets
- 4Relying on cleaning apps for schedules
- 5Waiting until items start looking dirty to wash them
- 6Retiring difficult-to-wash down items to the closet
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“im nervous about this .. my therapist visits my house for our sessions and id THINK shed say somethin about it if it smelt horrible”source ↗
“sheet got dirty 😅 and its easier to wash the blanket every other week then move the stuffies off my bed , move my bed , take sheets off , throw em in the washer , sit on the floor for a few hours then put sheets back ON .. so much work imma cry”source ↗
“I have absolutely no idea how often I should wash my comforter/duvet/whatever and pillows.”source ↗
“the one we’re currently using is filled with down feathers and it was honestly a btch to dry last time”source ↗
“And for pillows I have absolutely no clue. I didn’t know people did that on a schedule tbh o always assumed it was “whenever they start looking dirty””source ↗
“I almost broke the bank trying to buy a regular set of sheets after my last extra set ripped 🤦♀️ idk why it’s so expensive to get cotton sheets 😭”source ↗
“my sheets havent been washed in 5 months .. and the mattress protector definitely even longer .. is my mattress gonna be smelly 😓”source ↗