Years ago when I used to watch Oprah faithfully everyday at 4:00 (I know, shame on me, but I didn’t know any better and she was actually good back then, not into all that weird blasphemous religious stuff), she had on this show about germs.
I clearly remember being entirely grossed out when she talked about bed sheets. Apparently every few days or so your skin has shed so much that little bed bugs can get lots to eat. YUCK! They recommended changing your sheets twice a week, to be safe.
Now I will admit, I love a crisp, clean bed but twice a week is a little, um, impractical for me. I love my sheets when they are freshly washed and taut on the bed (that’s the word, right?) and I begin not to like it when after a few days they are wrinkly and loose. Maybe I just have cheap sheets, but I sure wish that they would keep that wrinkle free crispness longer! I could actually go for putting fresh sheets on my bed everyday. If I had a maid. (Which I do not!) So I stick with my once a week sheet washing routine.
I have been reading MOTH (Managers of Their Homes, as part of my getting aback on track plan. This book is highly recommended if you want to develop an amazing schedule), Terri mentions how cumbersome it is to strip beds every week and do all that laundry and bed making. Come to think of it, it is a lot of work. She does her sheets every two weeks.
Gosh, that does sound kind of nice. Imagine how free I would be if I only did beds every two weeks? Imagine all that I could get done with all that free time…then my little mind wanders back to that Oprah show years ago. And the skin cells, and little mites and bugs and all that. And thoughts of how wrinkly my bed would be in two weeks when it already drives me nuts after one.
So I am putting out a fleece. What works for you as far stripping your beds, putting on new sheets and all that? Do you do it every week, every other week, once a month, once a year (kidding, kidding. I hope)? I don’t want any unnecessary phobias taking up my time here. I am all for greater efficiency.
And while we are at it, how many sets do you have? I have one that is my favorite. I got it at the Christmas Tree Shop and they are hotel quality 500 thread count. I love them so much that I have mended them twice. I have a few other sets, but I love my fancy sheets that I now have after years of having cheap sheets, so I strip my bed, wash my sheets and put them right back on again.
I can’t wait to have your input, because I am really in a dilemma here 
{ 28 comments }
I used to change them once a week, but lately have been changing them twice a week. As soon as I take the sheets off I throw them in the washer, and put on the only other set of sheets I have right away. I have a cat that insists on sleeping with us. Not just at the end of the bed. He likes to sandwich me between himself and my husband.
Cat–Me–Husband hehe…how did this happen?
I don’t really have a set schedule to change the sheets. In the summer it’s every other week or so (sometimes more often when it’s really sweltering and we’re sweaty and gross) and in the winter it probably is around once a month.
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Before this pregnancy, we changed our sheets every week, usually on Mondays. The kids took them off, I washed and dried, they put them back on their beds. During the pregnancy it has been more like 2 weeks or should I say whenever I remember I haven’t washed their sheets in a while.
I plan on getting back to once a week on Mondays. Some of the kids have 2 sets of sheets. We are working on everyone having 2 sets. My favorite—-my flannels. In New England they are a must : )
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Ideally mine would be changed every week–and I used to be really good at doing it every Monday. For some reason or another I’ve fallen into a “sheet changing pit” and I would hate to think of how long it has been since I have changed our sheets! My daughter and my youngest son is no worry (hers always get changed bc she likes to switch them up between “drama queen” and “princess” and my youngest rarely sleeps in his bed!)–just ours and my oldest DS. I think I may just add sheets to my To-Do today!
Phoebe @ Cents to Get Debt Free´s last blog ..Benefits of Raw Milk
Ideally, once a week for us, usually it’s more like once/two weeks. We have about 3 sets we rotate through on a regular basis and one set of flannels for the winter. Our flannel sheets are ugly, but very warm and on cold winter nights they are definitely an incentive for hitting the bed early.
By the way – I have dust mite allergies and I’ve seen that recommendation about changing sheets often before. Honestly, washing them in hot water once/two weeks has always been enough to eliminate the allergy issues for me.
unfinishedmom´s last blog ..Two Birds with One Stone
I change our sheets once a week and we have two sets for our bed. (Really good ones from when we got married!!) I change Chloe’s sheets once every two weeks and she has two sets for her bed too. John-John sleeps in a playpen and has one playpen sheet which I wash…ummm…I don’t know. I guess I should do JOhn’s on a more regular basis LOL.
Though we have two sets for each bed, I generally strip the bed, do the wash, dry and remake the bed with teh same sheets. Why? Because I hate to fold fitted sheets and try to avoid it anyway I can LOL
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I change my sheets every week. The kids’ beds get changed um, somewhat less frequently. Except for the bed wetters sheets. They get changed several times a week when he wets the bed. I have 2 sets of sheets for every bed in the house which I rotate.
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Wow thanks for all the input. I have never thought of just changing the pillow cases. I do feel better about changing them less often
I wanted to add that I also vacuum my bed after I strip it. It’s supposed to help with the germs and such. I don’t do it every week, but at least once a month! I think I am awful hard on myself. I wonder what Martha Stewart would say?
Stephanie´s last blog ..Bye Bye Summer Fun!
I have germy children and a live-in mother you needs to be protected from said germs. So, I change my sheets every week and spray the mattress and pillows with Lysol to help with the germs. I have 2 sets for each bed so I don’t have to wait for clean sheets to remake the bed. I also wash all the linens (skirts, comforter, mattress pad, etc.) every quarter when I rotate the mattress:-) That’s what works for us:-)
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I have four sets of sheets, and we rotate all four between us and our son, who also has a queen bed. I change ours once a week, unless it’s allergy season, and I change them twice a week. There’s just something about fresh, crisp, good-smelling sheets — it makes the extra work worth it to me.
With 5 people in the family I found that it is easiest for me if I don’t try to change all the sheets in one day. We all have at least 2 sets, but even my kids have their favorite set. SO, we end up tearing the sheets off, washing and putting them back on most of the time. BUT, what I have done is given everybody one day. My bed gets changed Saturday, our youngest gets changed on Monday, etc. I try to do it once a week, sometimes we are too busy or someone is sick or something and it may be more like every 2 weeks. I just can’t think about the skin and the bugs thing or I might barf!!
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My sheets, every other week or so, my kids every 3-4 weeks. I wash their pillow cases more frequently. When my big kids were little, in order to not have to make their beds they took to sleeping in a sleeping bag on top of their beds. Ingenious kids I think!
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Hmmmm…… I think I pretend I change them about once a week, but in reality it’s about every 2 weeks.
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I change my sheets once a week, but with little messes it can be once a day at times..lol I have about five sets of sheets. I don’t ever use them all because I wash twice a week, but I just feel ready if I have to be for a bed making emergency!
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We are an every other week family. We have one set of bunk beds and are about to get another…frankly, my 40 year old wrists can’t take the fitted sheet fight and all that tucking. Soon my kids will be able to do it, but for now it’s every other week.
Great post. I love to reading comments on what others do. Have a great week.
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I would love to change them more often but it’s just not practical for us. Most of the time they get changed every other week but lately that’s been stretched as we get used to Shawn going to school. Unfortunately we use a laundry room (apartment complex) so we are at the mercy of what everyone else is doing. Because of that we have several sets of sheets for each bed but I still have my favorites (black friday sheets from Target) they are soo soft and get used most often.
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I try to wash them every week, but it turns out to be more like every two. Sounds like a lot of us have the best intentions, but that second week sneaks up on us.
We have flannel on our beds all most year round. And even when we switch to cotton, our top sheets are flannel, just love it. And we are in TEXAS! LOL, I blame the frigid AC. One thing I do change every week religiously are the pillow cases, I luckily have a huge stack of them ( my mom makes flannel pillow cases) and I have to change them. Just the thought of all the stuff on them… *shiver*
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As much as I would love to change them every week, I just don’t have the time. So they wind up getting changed every other week. I also have two sets of sheets for each bed. That way while one is in the wash the other is on the bed.
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Oh my……NORMALLY, when I have it all together (hahahaha) it’s once a week (more laughing here). Lately, since we’ve just moved and are trying to settle in, every other week is still rough. Honestly, I don’t want to say the last time I changed sheets. And I’m such a germ freak too! Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and get in bed. It won’t hurt you. =)
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I change our sheets once a week. With our dust allergies, it is a must. I also have favorite sheets, so I strip the bed, wash them, and put them back on.
Erin @ Closing Time´s last blog ..WW: Times Have Changed
I’d say that I change the sheets once a week. In the winter I might stretch that a bit.
Like you, I have one favorite set of sheets. I strip the bed in the morning, wash the sheets, and put them back on the bed in the afternoon. Sometimes I forget until bedtime, and that’s no fun at all; it’s the last thing I feel like doing when I’m ready for sleep!
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I would say I change the sheets every 3 weeks. After reading your post, I think I might try to do it more often. When I change the sheets, I wash, dry and put them back on in the same day. I have about 3 sets of sheets but tend to use my favorites over and over.
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Oh yeah Mindy I have flannel for the winter too! I forgot about those, but soon they will be back on again. The fall weather has been making its way to us!
Stephanie´s last blog ..Bye Bye Summer Fun!
I agree, fresh clean sheets pulled tight (taut) on the bed are one of life’s simple pleasures for me. I try to wash them every Sunday so they’re clean for the new week. I have a few different sheet sets, flannel for winter and some favorite super soft, cool ones for summer. Usually my favorite for that season stays on throughout most of the season (changed weekly).
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It’s once a week for us. I’m like you though, I like the tight sheets so much it’s almost worth it to change them more often.
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We do ours once per week. It is called “SHEET FRIDAY” at our house. The girls (6, 3) strip their sheets and throw them in the washer — I follow with ours and start the load. It is the first load I do in the AM — so that I make sure I have all beds made by the evening. Sometimes, our bed is last and we make it right before we go to bed!
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I usually change them every other week – on laundry days I strip the beds in the morning and go ahead and change the kids’ sheets right then (otherwise nap time sneaks up on us and it gets frustrating!)- I wash our master bed sheets and put them on again right before bed.
I’ve heard a lot about Managers of their Homes – I want to read that!
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I would like to say that I do it every week, but that just isn’t practical…we run out of time. It is probably closer to every other week. I have two sets of sheets for each bed. This is good because I can strip and remake all of the beds and then take my time washing the sheets over the next couple of days. There is nothing better than climbing into a bed with fresh, clean sheets. If I had a maid, I agree, I could use fresh sheets more often.
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