How and How Often to Care for Your Bedding

Your bed is among one of the most important pieces of furniture in your home. In fact, we spend about one third of our lives in bed. Comfy, fresh bedding is essential to our health; frequent cleaning and bedding care protects from allergens and dust mites building up. If you’re not taking adequate bedding care, it’s time to start now.

First thing’s first: when caring for sheets, blankets, pillows and the like, begin by checking the manufacturer’s instructions on the tag. This should tell you everything you need to know about how to care for your linens.

But if you cut the tags long ago, no problem—just follow this handy guide.

1) Caring for Sheets & Blankets
You should wash sheets about once a week to keep them fresh. Skin products contribute to discolouration and bleaching of sheets, so routinely washing your linens helps them retain their colour. Act swiftly to remove stains ASAP, because they’re more difficult to remove if you wait.

For coloured linens, wash with like colours. Don’t overload the machine; you want to use a lot of water! When it comes to whites, avoid chlorine bleach. It’s often too harsh for linens, so opt for oxygenated instead. Only use cold or lukewarm water, since heat can shrink and weaken the fibres.

To avoid wrinkling, dry at a low temperature, or choose a wrinkle release setting. Fold sheets as soon as they’ve dried, and you’re good to go! When storing extra sheets, keep them in a dry and cool place. Plastic containers might trap moisture and cause mildew, so a closet or drawer is ideal.

Eventually, your linens will wear out—no matter how high quality they are. Every so often, check for signs of aging. Common ones include stains, fading colour or patterns, and frays. When your linens begin to age, replace them sooner than later.

2) Cleaning the Pillows
Pillows last quite a while—most might replace theirs every year or two—but they can easily stain an unseemly yellow. To extend your pillow’s lifespan, invest in some pillow protectors to shield them from hair oils.

Covering doesn’t mean you won’t have to wash them, though. We recommend you wash pillows at least twice a year. It’s best to wash in pairs so your washing machine stays balanced. Dry on low heat, but take care to ensure your pillows are completely dry so they don’t mold over.

Finally, start your morning each day by fluffing up your pillows. This will let them last longer without flattening.

3) Keeping the Mattress In-Shape
Just like with pillows, cover your mattress with a mattress cover to protect it from perspiration and dust. This cover should be washed once every month.

Whether you should flip your mattress depends on the kind you have. Does it have an obvious underside or bottom? Is it pillowed only on one side? If the answer to either question is “yes,” then you don’t need to flip. Otherwise, flip once in the winter and once in the summer.

All mattresses should be rotated every three months. Rotating is easy: you simply spin it so the foot of the mattress at the head and vice-versa. Rotating and flipping ensures your mattress will hold its shape longer, and is essential if you sleep on the same side of your bed every night.