The other night we had a bunch of neighbors over for doughnuts.
When living in the country, the definition of “neighbor” stretches to cover several miles. Only one of the people in attendance was an actual bonafide “neighbor.”
But I digress.
We fried up most of the doughnuts ahead of time, timing it so I we were just finishing when people arrived. That way, the doughnut-making was still “A Thing” but the bulk of the work mostly done, freeing us to properly host and have fun instead of working the whole time.
At the start, people had cluster conversations — small pockets of conversation — but as it grew dark, we all gravitated to the fire. (The kids played a card game on the porch. It involved lots of shrieking.) We didn’t discuss anything profound — stories from the neighborhood, thrifted clothing, marathon training — but then I said, “So here’s something I want to know. How often do y’all wash your sheets?”
(Writing that just now, I realize how freakishly random that question sounds — and it was. I have no excuse.)
Turns out, most everyone had a set time for washing their bedding — more or less weekly, or maybe every other week — and same with towels. Some people even had actual assigned days for washing bath towels. They just round up all the towels in one fell swoop and wash them.
I was flabberghasted. Such organization! Such cleanliness! Such on-top-of-their-game-ness!
“What about you?” they asked me.
“Oh, um. . . whenever they get dirty? There’s no schedule.”
The truth is, we wash our sheets every 2 or 3 weeks on average — and we sometime go even longer — but surrounded by such disciplined, clean company, I tried to sound slightly less squalid.
I was much more comfortable sharing our towel-washing practices — whenever they start smelling (so every 2-3 weeks?) and each person is responsible for making that call — because, as my younger son pointed out that evening, “If your towels are getting dirty, then you’re not showering properly.”
But then someone asked, “How do you hang your towels?” and the plot thickened. Because if towels are hung on a hook, they don’t dry as well and get funky quicker. Rod-hung towels, on the other hand, dry out better and last longer. (We’re rod-hanging folk.)
And then someone brought up the blog post I wrote a few years back about making the bed and that sparked another round of fierce opinions. (All my neighbors except one are dedicated bed makers, good grief! Such collective domesticity boggles my mind.)
How often do you wash your sheets?
proof we’re not animals
P.S. As I was writing this post, I realized an important variable in this “how often do you wash your sheets” discussion: whether or not people shower before going to bed. Because if people don’t shower before sleeping and climb into bed dirty (oh, the horrors!), then of course the sheets need to be washed frequently.
Clearly, this conversation needs to be revisited. Doughnuts on the patio, anyone?
This same time, years previous: South Africa: examined experience, four meal deliveries: what I learned, wait for it, the quotidian (11.4.19), old-fashioned apple roll-ups, cinnamon pretzels, meatloaf, when your child can’t read, awkward, piano lessons.
17 Comments
Thrift at Home
Oh, I adore all the domestic minutiae in this topic! I wash my sheets every Saturday, typically. I adore clean line-dried sheets, and I like a decide-once (Saturday) so that it’s not taking up mental space at other times. I do the kids’ sheets every other week, typically. Some of this is weather dependent because I strongly prefer line-dried. The bathtowels are randomly when I think about it, but the hand towels are changed/washed weekly with the cleaning.
Katie
My Mom washed our sheets every other week on Wednesdays growing up and my life has NEVER and WILL never lend itself to that sort of commitment to routine. (My personality too, most likely.) Furthermore, one of my greatest joys in life is going to bed with the smell of line-dried sheets and pillowcases, so I basically wash my sheets when the following factors align: 1. sheets are dirty 2. I have time 3. the weather is acceptable for line drying. aka: not very frequently! Gross? Maybe! But we rarely, if ever, get sick and I don’t *think* we have hygiene issues.
MARCELLA
Many years ago when my children were very young, a friend suggested that as a stay-at-home mom, I pick a day of the week as a work day, and set aside that day only for laundry, changing sheets, ironing, and cleaning. That suggestion saved my sanity as my mom was much more haphazard. I still keep that day (Monday) for working at home- I don’t schedule appointments, get groceries or make plans for that day. We usually have super busy weekends, so it’s nice to be able get the house back in order on Monday. I still follow that schedule, for the most part, but my elderly parents have eaten into that schedule a bit with their needs. I do like to do one extra load of laundry on the weekend, and sometimes I slack off and leave the ironing for the next week. But I like having a schedule, or I would never get around to doing my work!
Jane
Jen….I cannot tell you how many times i grinned reading this!I absolutely LOVE your humor and honestly! …now true confession…a few months ago ( my kids are in their twenties ) I realized I had not really talked to them about washing sheets…ever! So I said something like.”..you know…people wash their sheets periodically…just so you know…you should too”…but neglected to give them any time frame suggestion! Not sure what good that did! Lol…I think ill revisit the topic and recommend every 2 weeks…give or take a week or two! (or three!)
Amber
My towels and bed sheet washing is a bit random (I TRY for weekly but am afraid I fail) but the washing of underwear is not random. Every Wednesday I gather everyone’s underwear and wash it in a load all it’s own. How’s that for ya?
Jennifer Jo
Are you pulling my leg?
Amber
No, I am not
Jennifer Jo
Gurrrrl, WE NEED TO TALK.
Lex
This whole conversation makes me feel horribly grungy, to the point where I’m not going to admit how (in)frequently we wash our sheets (and now feel I need to go wash them…)
DB Stewart
Sometimes I wash my bath towel when is stinks. As for the sheets, I’m a man/husband and I apologize for that because I have no idea.
I’d watch this reality show and call it “Doughnut Confessions.”
Carla
Every week or less if they need it. Also, the guest bedroom gets clean sheets in between uses. Towels are weekly as well, unless they start to smell.
Pamela
I wash my sheets every time I do a load of laundry which is about every 6/7 days. Ever since I was a kid I sweat a lot when I sleep. That means in the summer I change my sheets every 3/4 days. I don’t have (but need) central air so its fans at night only. Some July mornings I wake up in a puddle of sweat! I use each bath towel 5 times before it gets washed.
Janet
I wash all sheets and towels once a week. Growing up sheets were washed on Saturday and clean towels every shower/bath (5 kids). Maybe it does come from what you knew growing up.
Honeybee
Every Saturday. Perhaps TMI but, I shower every other night (or more often if sweaty etc). I wear clean PJs on shower night. Its a great feeling when the three align- shower, fresh PJ’s and clean sheets!
cat
I have three dogs that frequently climb on the bed and sleep with us. Between us and them, along with them tracking dirt into the house, sheets get washed at least once a week and same with towels. it’s never ending.
Becky R.
I really enjoy how clean sheets feel, so I tend to wash them every week. I bathe at night, so I go to bed clean. You are right, whether or not you go to bed in a clean state really influences how often you should change your sheets. I think that how your mother managed this issue also influences your choices. My mother always changed all the sheets weekly, but she grew up on a farm where sheets were filthy at the end of a week. They took only a partial bath every day, because they had to heat water to bathe. I am also a nurse, and getting into a dirty bed for days on end repulses me, especially when I was working. I wash towels at least every week, sometimes more often. I disagree with your son. Towels often become yeasty smelling whether you bathe or shower well or not, especially in humid conditions. I always drape my towel fully across the shower rod so that it will dry as quickly as possible. But if starts smelling moldy or yeasty when I hold it up to my nose, I put it in the dirty clothes, even if I have only used it 2-3 times. I think this question is a dive into everyone’s concept of personal hygiene, and it shows our quirks about it. The NYT did an article on it once, so I think it’s a topic a lot of people find interesting. The next topic is, how should you bathe/shower? This varies a lot based on activity and age. I don’t need to completely bathe/shower every day at my age and level of activity, but I do because it is part of my ritual for bed, and I love a hot immersion bath before bed to drop my temperature when I get in bed and help me sleep.
Hattie
I try for once a week for sheets that are used every day, but I always at least wash the pillowcases once a week. They get a lot of gross things like oils, sweat, and dead skin deposited on them. And it’s not a big production to wash pillowcases.