For those who change their linens weekly - Poll Added!

nicole81

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 7:23 am

We do it every 2 weeks. But re getting to do many beds? Everyone knows how to strip their beds at 3+ and bring their linens to the basket. Everyone 5+ knows how to make their beds and have designated fresh linen bags. I just do the youngest kid and double check another one's job. It takes a total of 15 min of active work on a Sunday (work ft, no cleaning help) and I do my own bed making in the evening while dh is cooking dinner, or vice versa while I'm cooking.

It wouldn't be a big job to do it every week, I just don't think it's necessary.

BatZion

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 7:50 am

I change our beds weekly.
The older kids (not so old, 6 & 7) take their sheets off, I take the rest off.
Why? Grew up that way, and tbh it completely grosses me out to sleep on sheets that aren't changed weekly...
No cleaning help here and work too.
But you know what?
I wash my floors (Israel) once a week, sweep every day, laundry piles up until the end of the week ina threatening mountain on the sofa, sometimes go to sleep with dishes piled high in the sink, don't always make a hot meal for lunch...
Bottom line? You do you, sister. It really doesn't matter what others think of you and your household habits.

amother

Amber

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 7:57 am

I have older kids (with adhd/autism and sensory issues) and I’m getting to the point of not being able to control their showering/bathing habits. 😑

So for me, making sure they at least wear freshly laundered clothes and sleep on regularly changed (usually every 7-10 days) sheets is my part in teaching them good hygiene and hoping they are less stinky day-to-day. If they bathed every night or even every other night, I would probably let them sleep on the same sheets for longer stretches - I probably change DH and my sheets closer to every 3-4 weeks 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Sometimes fresh linens act as an incentive/reminder for my kids to shower. They do like snuggling into clean new sheets with an equally clean body, at least that first night.

(ETA: No cleaning help)

amother

Celeste

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 8:40 am

I don’t change my kids’ weekly (if they wet their bed then I do it daily though lol) but I change ours. I shower every other night, dh does not shower as often, and I like to have fresh clean linen when I go to sleep on Friday night. I often have cleaning help on Friday but even if I don’t I still try to do it weekly.

amother

Petunia

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 9:01 am

chanchy123 wrote:

I wonder how many women who don't have cleaning help (or only have limited cleaning help) do it that often if they work outside the home.
I mean I would love to be able to get to it, but there is plenty of other stuff I need to get to first.

I work full time and have cleaning help once a week. Linen gets changed weekly.

hodeez

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 9:02 am

My boys (4 and under) all get linen changed so much more often than my clean and pristine 6-7yo girlies. It is time consuming, and so not a priority when you have no cleaning help and just so very much to clean.

amother

NeonGreen

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 9:46 am

amother Wandflower wrote:

I try to just change the sheets and the top pillow case once a week. The duvet covers and the other pillow cases get washed every month. I feel icky when my sheets haven't been washed in over a week. I sweat a lot and it just feels gross to me personally.

This is actually smart.

Ladies maybe some of you can do this.

amother

Marigold

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:02 am

amother NeonGreen wrote:

This is actually smart.

Ladies maybe some of you can do this.

what part of her reply made it sound any easier for those of us who are already not doing any of this weekly?🤔

amother

Raspberry

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:08 am

My biggest challenge with linens is bunk beds. Any tips or tricks?

(And op, I'm with you. I aim for once a month and even that doesn't always happen.)

amother

NeonGreen

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:10 am

amother Marigold wrote:

what part of her reply made it sound any easier for those of us who are already not doing any of this weekly?🤔

For those of you who WANT the feeling of fresh linen, for those who WANT to upgrade the cleanliness in their home, but are overwhelmed by the task. Changing sheets only cuts the job in half, and you can fit more into a single load. It’s brilliant.

For those who are perfectly comfortable with their current system, by all means….

sweetart

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:12 am

It’s a lot easier imo to put back on the sheets and pillow cases than the blanket covers. Washing pillowcases often is also helpful for anyone with acne prone skin.

miami85

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:24 am

rainbow dash wrote:

Please watch ocd cleaners. Sometimes the hoarder person doesn't change the bedding for a month or more. The clean person explains what's on the bed sheets, body fluids, skin cells, hair, dust mites etc. And some people take an ultra violet wand and you can see things that the naked eye can't.

I definitely change once a week. Bh my cleaner does it for me. Nothing like going to bed in clean sheets.

But dust is only a problem for people who are actually allergic to mites.

I've made my kids beds, my cleaning people make my kids beds, the sheets always come off. I'd love to change my sheets more often, but shabbos creeps up on me too often.

Other than Covid and a few colds that went through the whole household. I don't think we're more sick than the average family

amother

Birch

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:26 am

No outside help. I aim for every other week. Boys room one week, the girls room the next. Or sooner if needed. Kids over 10 years old do their own, sometimes I help with the blanket covers. Which I aim to wash about every other time so I guess once a month.
Sometimes I'll wash the linen right after stripping the beds so it can go right back on and sometimes it sits in the hamper and other linen sets go on the beds.

amother

Candycane

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 10:34 am

I have cleaning help twice a week and she changes the linen every week. Before I had cleaning help I changed the linen every second week.
My daughter changes her pillow case cover every day.
The hard part about changing linen is putting the blanket in the blanket cover, some people use washable blankets so that they could eliminate having to do that.

amother

Lawngreen

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 12:20 pm

amother Raspberry wrote:

My biggest challenge with linens is bunk beds. Any tips or tricks?

(And op, I'm with you. I aim for once a month and even that doesn't always happen.)

are you me!?

watergirl

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 12:30 pm

I would be more interested to see a poll so we can see out of those who change their linens weekly, who does it themselves vs. who has their cleaning help do it for them.

I am willing to bet money most of the people who change their linens weekly do not change them. They have it changed for them; it would be more accurate to say they have it changed, not they change it.

Once you have to add this to the list of chores you do yourself, I believe most (not all) people put this at the bottom of the list.

I am the one in my house changing my linen, so I do it when I need to. But I teach my kids how to do their own linen and laundry in general so when my kids need to... they can do it with some privacy if you know what I mean.

amother

RosePink

Mon, Oct 03 2022, 12:40 pm

Honestly I can't imagine not changing linens every week - that just seems like basic hygiene.

That said I don't wash the duvet cover every week because fabric that lies on TOP of you - at least in terms of how I think - gets less filthy than something that people lay DIRECTLY on. That is assuming that one uses basic cleanliness getting into bed like not having filthy feet or wearing dirty clothes, shoes etc. Also I have markers so that my quilts are always facing the same way so I don't have the end that covers feet changed to the end by the face.

I have had the misfortune of seeing a sheet that wasn't changed for awhile and it isn't a pretty sight as it turns yellowish just from normal body fluids - not dirt. Yes obviously it takes a bit of time for you to see it but just because you don't see it, doesn't mean that it isn't filthy.

I will chalk this up to different standard of hygiene like not having soap in the bathroom; having communal hand towels and not feeling that washing hands is important.