A Third Of Brits Only Wash Their Bed Sheets Once A Year

Almost a third of Brits only wash their bed sheets once a year, a survey has found.

In research conducted by furniture company Hammonds, 30 percent of 2,000 respondents said they only give their bedding an annual washing.

Sure, it's a bit of a pain in the a***, but once a year is a bit disgusting, isn't it?

Pexels/Kampus Production

In fact, you should wash your bed sheets about 52 times more regularly than that, according to Dr Aragona Giuseppe, GP and Medical Advisor at Prescription Doctor.

He said: "Washing your clothing items and bedsheets regularly is important for overall cleanliness and ensuring your body remains clean and healthy.

"If you do not wash clothing items often you could be at risk of infection or just feeling and smelling unclean.

"Bedsheets and pillowcases should be washed as if they are dirty, this could promote acne, spots and other skin issues due to the dirty bacteria on the sheets transferring to your skin."

Not washing your sheets frequently could also lead to more serious issues.

Dr Oma Agbai told Women's Health: "Skin cells coming off your body on a daily basis and settling into your sheets can breed the growth of certain bacteria and certain mites."

So it seems like a third of you might be better off washing your bedding more than once a flippin' year.

You might want to wash them more regularly still if you're the sweaty sort, and it's for this same reason that one cleaning expert has advised against making your bed first thing in the morning.

Mrs. D, who is well known for her simple tips and tricks for keeping a house spick and span, urged us all to let our bedding 'breathe'.

In a post on Instagram, she said that over the course of a night, our hot and damp sheets attract bed bugs and dirt, and we should be keeping the covers off for some time after waking up.

Pexels/cottonbro

She wrote: "It seems a lot of people get up and make the bed straight away. This is something you need to stop doing.

"Get out of bed and throw the duvet back and let your bed breathe.

"During the night we not only sweat but we also shed skin, and this is a magnet for dust mites and bed bugs.

"They love damp and humid areas, and some people only let their bed breathe in the summer, and think that you don't need to do this in the winter because of the cold weather.

"But this isn't true. With central heating being on in the winter it can attract dust mites/bed bugs just as much as in the summer months.

"So, by making your bed first thing every morning you are trapping all that damp air and helping dusts mites/bed bugs breed (sounds horrible, but it's true)."

Topics: Interesting, Sleep, Community

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey