{"id":136,"date":"2025-09-18T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T14:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/18\/how-often-to-wash-gross-sheets-ex1\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T14:07:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T14:07:00","slug":"how-often-to-wash-gross-sheets-ex1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/18\/how-often-to-wash-gross-sheets-ex1\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Americans agree bed sheets get ‘gross’ after 35 days. Here’s what experts say."},"content":{"rendered":"

Can we all be honest with each other for a minute? If you were to ask a random group of people, “How often do you wash<\/a> your sheets?” you’d likely get drastically different answers. There are the “Every single Sunday without fail” folks, the “Who on Earth washes their sheets weekly?!?<\/a>” people and everyone in between.<\/p>

According to a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by Mattress Advisor,<\/a> the average time between sheet changings or washings<\/a> in the U.S. is 24 days\u2014or every 3 1\/2 weeks, approximately. The same survey revealed that 35 days is the average interval at which unwashed<\/a> sheets are “gross.”<\/p>

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Apparently, most Americans don't wash their sheets as often as experts recommend. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>

Some of you are cringing at those stats while others are thinking, “That sounds about right.” But how often should<\/em> you wash your sheets, according to experts?<\/p>

How often should you wash your sheets?<\/h2>

Hint: It’s a lot more frequent than 24 days.<\/p>

While there is no definitive number of days or weeks, most experts recommend swapping out used sheets for clean ones every week or two.<\/p>

Dermatologist Alok Vij, MD told Cleveland Clinic <\/a>that people should wash their sheets at least<\/em> every two weeks, but probably more often if you have pets, live in a hot climate, sweat a lot, are recovering from illness, have allergies<\/a> or asthma, or if you sleep naked.<\/p>

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Experts recommend washing sheet every week or two. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>

We shed dead skin all the time, and friction helps those dead skin cells slough off, so imagine what’s happening every time you roll over and your skin rubs on the sheets. It’s normal to sweat in your sleep, too, so that’s also getting on your sheets. And then there’s dander and dust mites and dirt that we carry around on us just from living in the world, all combining to make for pretty dirty sheets in a fairly short period of time, even if they look “clean.”<\/p>

Maybe if you shower before bed and always wear clean pajamas you could get by with a two-week sheet swap cycle, but weekly sheet cleaning seems to be the general consensus among the experts. The New York Times consulted five books about laundry and cleaning<\/a> habits, and once a week was what they all recommend.<\/p>

Sorry, once-a-monthers. You may want to step up your sheet game a bit.<\/p>

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The rest of your bedding doesn't need to be washed as often. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>

What about the rest of your bedding? Blankets and comforters and whatnot?<\/h2>

Sleep.com recommends<\/a> washing your duvet cover once a week, but this depends on whether you use a top sheet. Somewhere between the Gen X and Millennial eras, young folks stopped being about the top sheet life<\/a>, just using their duvet with no top sheet. If that’s you, wash that baby once a week. If you do use a top sheet, you can go a couple weeks longer on the duvet cover.<\/p>

For blankets and comforters and duvet inserts, Sleep.com says every 3 months. And for decorative blankets and quilts that you don’t really use, once a year washing will suffice.<\/p>

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Do you need to wash your pillows occasionally? Experts recommend it. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>

What about pillows? Pillowcases<\/em> should go in with the weekly sheet washing, but pillows themselves should be washed every 3 to 6 months. Washing pillows can be a pain, and if you don’t do it right, you can end up with a lumpy pillow<\/a>, but it’s a good idea because between your sweat, saliva and skin cells, pillows can start harboring bacteria.<\/p>

Finally, how about the mattress itself? Home influencers on TikTok<\/a> can often be seen stripping their beds, sprinkling their mattress with baking soda, brushing it into the mattress fibers and then vacuuming it all out. Architectural Digest says the longer you leave baking soda on the mattress<\/a>, the better\u2014at least a few hours, but preferably overnight. Some people add a few drops of essential oil to the baking soda for some extra yummy smell.<\/p>\n

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@suzieqssss<\/a>

Baking soda absorbs moisture and or odor and breaks down any residue that builds up! If you have allergies you should be doing this more often! #cleaning<\/a> #lifehack<\/a> #tiktokshopcybermonday<\/a> #tiktokshopblackfriday<\/a> #mattressvacuumcleaner<\/a> <\/p> \u266c original sound – SuzieQssss<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>