Change the pillowcases every night, sheets once a week whether they need it or not.

depends on what's going on in the sheets.....but every two weeks generally..I am not sweaty or anything so I don't feel they get as yucky...plus I stick to one small portion of the mattress when I sleep.

I also have no pets:)

Depends on what happenin' between em, if you know what I mean! ;) I've been changing em every morning lately. Lucky me! *bom chicka wow wow!!

Once a week in the winter, twice a week in the summer. My idea of rich, would have the time and resources to change them everyday!

Once a week, although I often change the pillowcases more often.

Jonnifer, I appreciate your cleanliness and nightly dicipline. BUT i feel that changing a pillowcase every night is total overkill. You do wash your face everynight, dont you? So assuming you dont have acne or another skin condition that may suffer I feel that once a week is a good amount of time for a pillowcase and two weeks for sheets (I wear long PJ pants and a t-shirt everynight). More often is a good idea if you sweat a lot or sleep with less clothes on.

Usually in the spring/summer once a week and in the autumn/winter every two weeks.

Paul

I change my sheets once a week in the winter and twice a week in the summer. The pillowcases I clean twice a week.

Once a week, always! Any more than that, and I'd feel like the pillowcases were too oily/germy from constant contact with skin and hair.

Oprah, I've read, recommends changing 'em every other day, but she has people. How I wish I had people to do that for me!

Go FallenAngela!!!!

Once a week, but clean sheet night makes me so happy.

Once a week on fridays -
and additionally as needed if I have any overnight "house guest(s)".

Not as much as I should.

FallenAngela!! Bahaha!

Anywho, I change mine on Sundays. That's "home laundry" day at my apartment. Towels, sheets, etc.. :)

me - often, my room mate - NEVER!

I change my pillow cases every week, but I change my fitted sheet and wash my duvet cover (I don't use a top sheet) every 2 weeks... Sometimes 3 if I'm having a really lazy week.

Every 2 weeks but would change sooner if need be!

I change my once a week no matter what.

I change my sheets every week, wash the accent pillowcases every month, and also wash the duvet cover every month or more depending on how it looks.

Wash my comforter every 3 months or so as well.

Once a week.

And I really feel that nobody should be called out for changing their cases daily. They may have reasons or not; one really doesn't need a reason.

LOL@Haruki. Apparently I need to change the pillowcases more! I think its been 3 weeks....gasp. I change the sheets once a week, or sooner if the dog sleeps with us. He's a fuzzy burrower and his hair gets everywhere, which is gross.

Every Sunday morning, I remove my sheets and pillowcases and put them in the washer. I have to do a light load of laundry anyways for the following work days so it's not a big deal.
Sometimes on Fridays if I am unsure if a friend will stay the night after a long night at the club.

Weekly. If it's hot in the summer, I might change the pillowcases a couple times a week, cause it's nice.

Every Sunday - unless there are extenuating circumstances requiring more frequent changes.

I like to change my sheets every week but I'll let it go for 2 weeks depending on the circumstances. To avoid having to change my pillowcases more than every 4-6 days (never letting pillowcases go more than a week), I rotate then flip my pillow so I'm always sleeping on a different part of it. But clean sheet night is always the best!

usually once a month, sometimes i just turn em inside out...like my underwear

I'm going to admit to changing my sheets maybe once a month, or whenever I feel they're dirty. I could say I do it to cut down on water usage, but really, I hate making the bed.

Generally every two weeks, more as needed, or if I'm having a bad day and want the pick-me-up of fresh sheets.

Re: pillowcases - I sleep on two pillows (my bedframe is slightly longer then the mattress, so one pillow ends up smushed in the gap by the end of the night). I flip them and rotate which one is on top. Even though I only change them every other week, I'm sleeping directly on two sides X two pillows, so I don't really worry about it.

Once a week. Maybe in the winter every two weeks on occasion.

Back when I was in college though, I think it was twice a semester. I always feel so grown up changing the sheets weekly.

LOL FallenAngela (first laugh all day) really funny

Once a week, when the cleaning lady comes for an hour. Every once in a while I forget to do the sheet laundry, but that's rare.

While cleaning out my grandpa's apartment recently, we realized that he had sewn his sheets to his bed and hadn't changed them for years. Old widowers have no idea how to take care of themselves!

I change mine about once every two weeks. I have great sheets so they stay feeling crisp and clean.

Usually about every 2 weeks or so, sometimes sooner but usually later. I rarely feel like the sheets are 'dirty'. Especially never feel like my pillowcases are 'dirty'. No clue what everyone else's faces do while their sleeping but mine just must be drier or something!

Once a week during winter (and after someone has been sick and spent a lot of time in bed--it just feels better to have fresh sheets), twice a week minimum during summer (more if it is really hot and sticky). We use duvet covers (3 flannel during winter--we live in the upper midwest and keep the house at 50F at night) and a bottom sheet, and then pillowcases, so it ends up being a couple of loads of laundry a week in winter, often only one load in summer (fewereduvet covers) Fresh sheets, including freshly ironed pillowcases, are one of the cheap pleasures in life. It is so worth a bit of time to change the bed, just to have the enjoyment of clean fresh sheets.

when it was just me, i would maybe go three weeks (i don't get sweaty or wear makeup i don't wash off before bed). when the boy is spending weekends (and there's nothing *ahem* special to clean up), every other week. now that i have kittens who like to burrow under the duvet, the bed gets stripped every week, which i dislike.

stripping, washing & making the bed is one of my most hated chores. if i had a second set of bedding or in-suite laundry, i might change my mind; but, i don't. ugh.

I change them when they are dirty. Sometimes that means every week or every two. I'm really not that worried about it. I'm normally pretty clean when I go to bed, which I sleep in alone and unfortunately I can't boast as many frequent guests as FallenAngela. Also my kitty is not allowed on the bed. Ask me how often I clean my bathroom and kitchen, well I'm a little more obsessive about those places.

Once every two weeks when I'm lazy, once a week when I'm not. If I get the night sweats though, I change them immediately afterward. I don't care how many dead skin cells and gross things get on the sheets, daily is just nuts.

I do them once a week - week and a half, once they stop feeling crisp. The pillowcases go in with the sheets since they're white too. I don't see a point in washing sheets and pillowcases on separate days or weeks...I want my whole bed to feel fresh when I get into it.

Every two weeks. I don't have it goin' on like FallenAngela, sadly.

Once every two weeks, more often if my long-distance SO is due for a visit or if there's a feline-related incident.

But I find that making up the bed each day (or at least pulling up the cover even if you don't make proper hospital corners or anything) minimizes the pet hair issue. Also, I've been known to just vacuum pet hair off the top of the made bed for a quick fix.

i try to once a week but if i get super lazy...once every 2 weeks.
most sheets don't get really dirty but the problem is your own dead skin cells...

Gah! I would hate to be in charge of everyone here's laundry. I think I missed the normal hygiene gene or something. I change mine when they seem dirty, probably every one or two months? But then again, I have super dry skin and no allergies so maybe I have less incentive?

Where do you people live? I live in a small apartment in NYC with no washing machine and very little storage for extra linens!

I wash my sheets when they are dirty and quite frankly think it is bad for the environment to change pillow cases DAILY (omg) and change sheets weekly! How much laundry are you people doing?

It is excessive to do that much laundry and I am not sure what you are doing all day to get so dirty...sheesh!

Whew, that came out a bit stronger than expected. I guess I feel stronger about laundry that I thought! hahaha!

once a week spring/summer and every two weeks autumn/winter!!

Oh geez. I think everyone has different hygiene standards and issues. Yes, it depends whether you have pets in the bed. Yes, it depends whether you shower at night or in the morning. Yes, it DEFINITELY depends whether there is hanky-panky going on in the bed (fertheloveofgod, please wash immediately!).

I am concerned when I see people who say they do it monthly or even less frequently. That seems like a long time to me, but perhaps these people are quite sterile. Even when I had to go to a laundry mat I'd change my sheets every 2 weeks at the latest. Now that I'm able to do laundry at home I change the sheets as often as I see or feel they are soiled, and every 2 weeks at the most.

Hey, kinxhi_bites. I hear you. I used to have a roommate who never changed his sheets. Ever, ever, ever. He admitted it. He said, "Instead of making snow angels, I make dirt, skin and oil angels!" Wow.

I do it very Sunday !!!! wish I could do it everyday... I jump in my bed after I change them.. all the warm & soft touch and great smelll... wish everyday would be sunday.

fallingangela... best comment ever in AT!!!! you made me laugh so much...

@ck8g0 - unfortunately, I suffered from acne and eczema for years before my dermatologist suggested changing my pillow case every night and my sheets once a week. I do wash my face before bed - always. Skin issues are a finicky thing though and if doing something as simple as changing a pillowcase before bed solves it, I'm happy to do it!
I would always change sheets & pillowcases once a week before that anyway though.

I don't have a drier so during the winter it takes 3-4 days for my sheets to line dry. I have other laundry that is more important and I need that space for them. Ideally I would do it every other week, but in winter once a month or less. Gasp!

When I was going through menopause and had night sweats, the sheets could stand a change every day or so ...

When I lived with no A/C ... and no overhead fan ... likewise

But, no sweat, no oily hair or skin, no tossin' and turnin', no sick in bed ... might change them once every 3 - 4 weeks or so.

Oh, P.S., the sheets in the photo are super!

Pillow cases every day, sheets once a week.

we have a cleaning service that comes fortnightly, so, fortnightly or as necessary. *nudgenudgewinkwinksaynomore*

Oh man, thank goodness for you "once a month" people. You make me feel normal. :)
I need to change mine more often, but it's such a production. Next time I do, though, I'll be vacuuming and flipping the mattress.

Try to do it once every 2 weeks. And usually then I don't even feel that they're "dirty," just that it's the right thing to do. I guess I'm not too stressed about it. Nothing bad has come from it yet!

@kinyama, I don't have in-apartment laundry, either, but it certainly isn't excessive to wash your linens once a week. Even if you can't see the dirt, it's there -- all the microscopic flakes of skin that fall off of you all the time (that's the greatest component of household dust), plus the dust mites that feed on them and the oil and sweat that even a clean or dry-skinned person exudes through pores, as well as allergens and whatever chemicals or germs you might have come into contact with during the week. If you don't have allergies and don't have a problem with letting those things build up for a while, that's fine, but not everyone has the same tolerance.

Every Saturday like clockwork.

I'm 100% with nkluedke... every 2 weeks, only out of a sense of obligation. And I'm still alive haha

I just changed my sheets. Timely article. I put several pillowcases on my pillow. Then I peel off one every day so I have a fresh one each night. When I peel off the last one, I change the sheets. It's usually a week or so.

LOL@Haruki and FallenAngela. The best. Anywho, I too change the sheets every few days- maybe a week, but ultimately, when I notice oil on the pillowcases (in the event my head scarf comes off at night). I don't have extra pillowcases so I wash the whole set together.

Once a week, more, depending on how much is going on in between!

BTW - Quirky Piece on How I found my Favorite Manufacturer's factory outlet..the factory does sheets for all hotels in India..I found the shop by looking for labels when I was staying in these Hotels :P

To be perfectly honest, I can't remember the last time I changed mine. I live alone, no pets, no "special activities" in the bed. And I still smell nice. Lots and lots of showers.

Summer in SF is generally cold so once every 2 weeks.

Where's the bedding in that picture from? (Hopefully Im not so far down the comment list no one sees this).

FYI, Every Sunday night now that I have a washer and dryer. When I had to carry sheets down the street to laundromat Id stretch it to 2 weeks. Being honest.

wow!! Had no idea that most ppl do once a week! I do once a month for everything (sheets, pillow covers, duvet). we don't wear shoes at home though & we only use the bed when we go to sleep. So no eating, reading etc on bed.. Feeling subconscious on my hygiene habit now..

Every 2-4 weeks. We shower at night, and wear clean clothes and slippers until bedtime. Not that the latter matters much, since we don't wear shoes in the house. We have practially zero BO. We live in cool and mild SF. Clothes that were worn outside NEVER come in contact with our sheets. We don't even take midday naps in our bed if we've been outside.

Usually every two weeks for sheets and pillowcases, every 4-6 weeks for duvet and shams. Unless the dogs manage to sneak into the bedroom and get their little dirty feet on my white bedding.

I haven't the foggiest idea when I last changed sheets. I'll change them tomorrow morning for our dogsitter, who is coming for the weekend, but the last time we changed them may very well have been the last time she was here...right after winter holidays. I feel like I'm sending this message to Post Secret.

I have to admit that I have no set day of the week in which I wash sheets. I think it will average out to every 1.5weeks. I do them with my dark load so it varies if I have a full load in 1 week or wait for 2 weeks. I love getting into bed after making it with fresh sheets.

I change the sheets every 2 weeks but I change my pillowcase every week (acne paranoia).

I admire grampa's resourcefulness. On the other hand, it would have been sweet to notice that he needed help taking care of himself.

Unlike FallenAngela I'm getting no action between the sheets. Because of this I also sleep dressed like a victorian era grandmother. I try no more than 2 weeks and wash everything in hot water.

I wash the duvet cover once a month, pillow cases (I try) to wash once a week, the flat sheet, mattress cover and accent pillows every two weeks.

I'm another once a month or so person. Or as needed, if I am ill and sweaty or anything like that. I really don't have any need to do it more frequently, so for me it works fine.

Leitho - The duvet in the photo is from Anthropologie and is no longer carried, but can still usually be found floating around on eBay.

Approximately once a month after menses have finished.

Currently twice a week, but I am ill & getting twice nightly back rubs with creams that are all over the sheets.

Otherwise, everything once a week. & the night with lovely clean sun-warm sheets...

Sister-in-law once ranted about how her (then live in) bf's mother would visit & change their sheets & how the sheets were perfectly clean & only needed changing every couple of months surely and how often did we change our sheets...Their spare bed sheets seemed to have had her idea of cleanliness practised on them, neither of us slept that night (funny stains) & I claimed to be ill & to need to go home to avoid the next night...

For those of you who are freaking out about people waiting a month to change their sheets, what about the rest of your furniture? Do you thoroughly clean the seats on your couches and chairs on a regular basis? People sit on their couches in shorts, etc.

Where are the linens in the picture from? Love, love, love.

Usually around twice a month when we are not nursing or co-sleeping with our baby, however when we are, it's more like twice weekly, maybe more. It tends to be whenever I feel they are getting a little funky, and I am pretty sensitive and neat about things. With a baby in bed, I always felt like they needed to be washed.

I read once that Jackie Kennedy Onasis had the sheets changed every morning and also after her afternoon nap, so that's twice a day! That's my idea of luxury.

Once a week here. I would love it if someone would iron the sheets and pillowcases.

Every 2 weeks. Used to be less often.

If there are no incidents that warrant changing them, about once a month.

We both shower at night before bed, and don't eat or drink in there - sleep only. We don't make the bed either - we throw the blankets at the bottom to "air out" the bed (plus it's a hold-over from when I worked days and he worked nights... seemed silly to waste time making it up when there was only a very small window of not being occupied.)

I line dry everything, so it takes a bit of time to get all of it finished.

Once a week. I do notice that if you walk into some people's bedrooms there is a "personal scent". It's not necessarily a bad one, but it's from the oil in your skin and the sweat. Apparently everyone sweats about 1/2 a cup a night or something like that into their sheets. After a while, you may not notice it because it is your own scent, but strangers probably would.

Wow, I can't believe I just read most of these comments about the super exciting subject of changing sheets! I am sure no one has read the whole thing all the way down to mine and if so you might need to get a life j/k....but honestly I didn't know that there were so many people with crazy sheet schedules. :)

Where is the duvet in the picture from? I love it.

And @Aylisto, I did read all of the comments down to yours :) Apparently bedding is a pretty fascinating topic!

i wash my sheets once/week, usually on sundays after my BF leaves. two weeks ago while changing my sheets i uncovered my worst nightmare: BED BUGS!! now sleeping on the futon I "investigate" and clean EVERYTHING on my bed twice a week in HOT water and HIGH heat.

@sarahstates the duvet is from Anthropologie, I have the same one and I think you deserve an award for reading the whole post :)

fallenangela and tinypuppy cracked me up.

Once every month or two... maybe. We don't wear shoes at home and we don't do anything in bed except sleep, sexy-times, and the occasional internet browsing on the laptop before sleep. I would like to wash twice a month but I usually get pre-occupied with other things.

About every two weeks... I think I'm the only one in my apartment who even washes my sheets though.

I used to have cotton sheets and would change them about twice a week or more (depending on what was going on). But now I changed to 100% bamboo sheets which are naturally anti-microbial and seem to stay fresher longer. With my new sheets, I only change once a week.
That seems to be about right, in order to keep that fresh feeling when we slip into bed at night.

My boyfriend and I just wash them when we think they've been on the bed long enough. That varies, but usually is somewhere around the 2 months mark.

I actually love doing laundry, but I really don't see a reason to wash the sheets any more often than I do. Plus, our sheets get softer the longer it's been since their last wash. :)

Glad there are other people who change them only once a month. I love the way clean sheets feel but I hate laundry. With work and school...I just don't have the time to change them that often. So its once a month or whenever I feel like they need it.

We change all our sheets and duvet covers once a week. Nothing beats the feeling of fresh clean sheets after a shower!

I do mine twice a week, mainly due to the fact that I have 3 cats and two dogs- most of whom sleep with me. My hubs works 4 months at a time overseas, so when he's home, sheets get changed daily during that 2-3 weeks he's home... ;)

Usually 1-2 weeks for me. I think the higher the thread count the longer you can go so they still feel nice. I have a really high thread count set that absolutely will not attract cat hair and I swear it would stay clean for a year (not that I've tried it). My cheaper set from Target is an absolute hair magnet, and any, ahem, evidence of the previous night, so I have to change them every few days.

I think changing your sheets every night is not environmentally responsible. What a waste of water. You take a shower in the evening, so you should not be that dirty. I totally agree with Aylisto, I am just way too busy scheduling my sheet change. Oh and strangers will not enter my privately scented bedroom. By the way duvet cover was invented to REPLACE the flat sheet. You know how the flat sheets starts moving and then it is crumbled up somewhere in the bed. That is why duvet cover was invented. Protects your comforter and stays put. When I came to US nobody even knew what I was taking about. I guess has to be Scandinavian invention.

My question is, how do you once-a-week-ers keep your sheets from wearing out? I've bought cheap and nice sheets, - ok, admittedly never super duper nice -and the more washing, the faster they get outright holes in them! You know, down at the feet where my hubby flops like a fish in his sleep. Does line drying help them last longer without mending?

I'm on the once-a-month laundry washing schedule and I have always felt like it was fine!

I was a philosophy minor in college so I believe if the sheets desire to change they will all on their own :o)

Once a month - once every two months.

I'm a clean person, but I don't like living a sterile existence... It just doesn't seem natural to me? (Nor do I have the time to attempt it!) While I'm not advocating that we live in the conditions that humans have for thousands of years, I do think that we overcompensate a bit sometimes... But maybe I'm just a barbarian! :)

@ reddylee-- LOL!

I aspire to be a once-a-month person... really it's more like "whenever I feel like gutting and remaking my bed", which is to say... not often.

But working 50+ hours a week, living alone, and owning one set of sheets will do that to you! I just bought a second set and am aiming to change them every two weeks.

I change my sheets once a week. You must know that I live in Kansas and due to the weather change it's needed ie flannel one week and regular another week. I also get bored and like different textures. I change my pillowcase mid week because I don't wash my hair everyday and I don't want the oils from my hair breaking my skin out. Plus I love a fresh pillowcase!

LOL @Terry Clark!

I'm with kinyama up there. I think it's ridiculous to change pillowcases every day, especially if you're like me and you have to lug all of your laundry across the apartment complex every time you wash a load. I try to wash my sheets every two weeks, but sometimes I forget and it's three.

wow. i'm about to make every one of you feel really good about yourselves, so you're welcome in advance. my boyfriend and i shower probably once a week. we change our sheets and pillowcases probably ohhh, once a month generously. also, we share our bed with two cats. AND we eat food and hang out on our computers in bed regularly. still, i've honestly never felt unhygienic about our washing habits. we have a lovely, tidy home so it isn't that we are slovenly people. it is crazy that there is such a disparity in what people consider clean, huh?

ps. we do it a lot too.

Once a week. And every morning I pull back the covers and let them air out for at least an hour (when it's not frigid outside I open the bedroom windows for this). Sheets have held up beautifully, but most of the year they are line dried in the sun.

Every Sunday we stripped the bed, wash the sheets and pillow cases, beat and fluff the pillows, duvet, and feather bed. I love climbing into my bed on Sunday nights...so fresh, so fluffy, so cozy. :)

I think it's obscene that this issue even comes up on a design blog. Why don't you just ask how often we change our underwear?

Fascinating topic. LOL Someone should write a book or make a movie.

LOVE clean sheets. I have 2 full sets, and everything is changed once a week. They never "seem dirty" but with mites, dry skin flakes, hair and the like, I think clean sheets once a week is not too much to add. Plus when I make the bed, I shake the sheets out to freshen them. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy to do that, but I like a tidy bed.

I am rarely compelled to respond to a post but this sparked my interest. We change our sheets every three weeks to a month. I would like to change them a little more often but we have twins that are under a year and changing the sheets is low on my priority list. I think every two weeks is idle.

I'll share if someone tells me where they got the exquisite comforter/duvet cover/whatever in this post!

All I'll say is that I changed the sheets more often when I had a washing machine.

Every 3-4 weeks. Once a week is totally unnecessary, IMHO.

I always hated the hassle of changing the sheets every week until I turned it into a "spa night" reward. After changing all of the bedding, I give myself a facial, take a long shower with a special salt scrub or body wash that I don't use everyday, change into fancy pjs, pour a glass of wine or make a cocktail and at the end of the evening slip into those crisp, fresh sheets...ahhh. It's like being in a hotel.

once a month for the sheets. the duvet cover once every few months. in the winter especially.

more in the summer when it's easy to get sweaty and it seems that a tiny bit of dirt gets tracked into the bedroom every night with bare feet (as opposed to peeling off your socks just before bed and jumping in).

the cats are interested on jumping on top of the duvet for five minutes at night and then jump off, and they certainly don't burrow in the sheets, so i don't think that much matters.

Every 2 weeks. Never once thought I should do it more often, but then I sleep alone and I don't have pets.

This is interesting. Within the last couple of months I have read an article on AT talking about not EVER washing jeans (instead putting them in the freezer) which seemed to NOT be strange for many people yet in this article people seem to be all about cleaning ASAP. Not judging mind you, just an interesting observation. As you were...

When/If I think of it? Once every 3-6 weeks?

Sheets, pillowcases, and diver cover every week. Quilts and mattress pad 1x per month. Pillowcases more often in the summer. Down comforter and feather bed hung ou in the sun whenever I think of it and the weather is nice. I make my bed every day, even if it's done at the end of the day.

This has been great to read! I'm gonna change them way less often now!

Once every two weeks. And I'm also in the 'blanket--what blanket?' camp. I probably wash the blanket twice yearly--at the end of the winter, and at the end of the summer. My kids are nasty, sweaty little things, so I actually wash their sheets weekly... but it's much easier to wash a crib sheet than a full set of queen linens.

I change my sheets every week, like clockwork, as somebody above said. While I'm at it, I take the dirty pillowcases and swipe under our bed (we have hardwood floors) to get the dust that collects there. I also fold back the blankets in the morning to let the bed air out - I have to give Cheryl Mendelson's "Home Comforts" credit for that. Sometimes the bed "airs out" all day, though. :)

Also, I air-dry my laundry unless I am in a time crunch. I can't imagine how it takes sheets more than an afternoon to dry - someone above said it takes them 3-4 days. Yikes! I don't even hang them on a line; I just sling them over a door (with some creative draping as necessary so they don't drag on the floor). A few hours later, they're good to go. We have radiators now, so I'm sure our dry apartment air helps, but even in our old place that had forced air, sheets never took that long. And the crispiness imparted by air-drying can't be beat! :D

every two weeks+. We sleep between a bottom sheet and two duvets and have a tiny washer/dryer so the washing is practically a whole day activity!

I agree with "Jonnifer". I do as my Grandma instructed, I change my sheets every week like clock work. "Pillow covers MUST be changed everyday for a healthy face...." So says my Grandma!! <3 <3

now-always once a week.

In college once a semester

Once a week...on Sunday afternoons I do all the laundry.

Oh, and whoever asked about sheets wearing out...I've had kinda basic cotton Bed Bath and Beyond sheets for years. The older they are, the more washes, the softer they get but I've not had any holes.

And you should wash linens with 1/2 cup of vinegar and no fabric softner. Fabric softner weakens the fibers and the vinegar (which you will never smell, I promise) helps clean and soften the sheets.

i dont even do laundry often enough to change it as much as most of you do =\

im only physically on my bed for about 6 hours a night, 6 nights a week, only in clean PJs, only after a shower, and the only thing that goes on there is sleeping. ive justified changing the sheets every 2-3 months..

pillow cases i change every week or so though

Can't remember the last time.

Weekly or more often if needed since my baby co-sleeps.

@cremedela, point well taken. In fact, when I got home last night, I changed the sheets and am going to change them once a week and see how I feel about that.... I am always up for a change!

In the fall/winter, once a month (after all, both my husband and I are wearing pyjamas, not sweating directly into the sheets)Also, I line dry my sheets, so it's a pain to do it once a week in the winter where they are hung indoors. But in the summer when we sleep naked- at least once week, sometimes a lot more if it's been hot.

every sunday morning. sheets go in the washer, bed gets pulled out & bedroom dusted, vacuumed, and cleaned.

it was less often before i got good sheets. now i just love the way a freshly made bed feels. (and i'm probably going to start changing my pillowcases out mid-week, too. even when i fluff them every day they don't feel as cushy as when i put a new case on them.)

Every month...or two...

yeah, I'm awful. I even have a cat who sleeps in bed every night. As someone else mentioned, there must be a hygeine gene and I definitely missed it. I like things to look pretty, but "clean" I don't really care about. So the sheets have to get pretty cat-fur-i-fied and ugly before I'll do anything. I do, however, change sheets before my girlfriend comes over if she's going to spend the night. I have no problem with a mess, but I would never inflict my slob-itude on other people.

Well dang... I hardly ever. Well it depends. The actual sheets and pillowcases are pretty easy but the blanket itself...?

I'd like to wash the blanket but when I think about washing the blanket, I think about having to take up more machines in the basement (I don't have in suite laundry), and it also means having a wet blanket since the dryers don't do much for that.

I just haven't done it yet :(

I only have one set of bedding so if I want to wash it, I have to plan my day around it.

Not often enough, and that's all I'll say.

I love a freshly made bed. We usually change all the beds on Saturdays making a lazy Sunday morning all the better.

I'd like to "change" this subject to more of a decorating-focused discussion on sheets: all cotton? organic? thread count? linen? patterns? What do you prefer and where do you get them?

I guess a lot of people have been sucked into the hyper cleanliness cult. Madison Avenue is happy. You are buying lots of eco friendly green detergents for a premium or else plain Tide.

It seems wasteful (time, water, detergent, electricity, gas, etc) to wash sheets once a week and they'll wear out with that much washing (unless you are switching linens as well, not just washing them) unless you really do have oily skin or the like.

Every 2 days. Yes, I am a freak! I also wash the sofa slipcover once every week or 2. I love the feeling of clean fabric, what can I say :-)

Once every two weeks - anything more seems overkill unless I've been sick or something.

Because I have a dog who sleeps with us and because I live in a hot weather place, I change everything every 3 or 4 days... clean sheets is just heaven!

Two weeks to a month. Unless there are special circumstances of course. If you don't have allergies or something else which requires daily changing, then I think daily changing seems excessive, OCD and wastefull.

If I'm going through a "I'm a responsible adult" phase then all of the bedding will get cleaned every two weeks (sheets, blankets, duvet cover - I have golden retriever who sleeps in bed on top of the covers and sheds like crazy), but generally I wait to do all of my laundry (including bedding) until I start getting low on undies, which is about every 3-4 weeks. I also wash couch cushion covers about every 1-2 months because of fur (you can only vacuum so much off) and dirt that gets tracked onto it.

Krisse - I think they are a continental invention (the duvet cover), though I recall hearing that it was claimed by a designer (at least in Britain), perhaps Conran.

But a question, do you shower in the morning too or just the evening, cos' that would be a waste of water too (tänk om fiskarna!).

For those of you who feel changing your pillowcase daily is overkill, think about your hair. I don't wash my hair everyday (more like every 3 days). I live in NYC and everything gets dirty here. Yes, I wash my face every night but laying my face on my pillow that had my unwashed hair on it the previous night is a bit nasty. I'm convinced that I used to suffer the occasional break-out for that reason.
So yes, I change my pillowcase daily.
And duvet and sheets weekly.

and New Yorkers should know that clean sheets keep bed bugs away! Not sure if that's been mentioned (lots of posts on this one).

Latest news: we're in for even a bigger boom of bedbugs this summer.

I change mine at least once a month, sometimes more. I don't do anything but sleep, wear clean pjs, etc. My dog does sleep with me, but I make sure she is as clean as a dog can be.

I don't have a washer/dryer and must do laundry at my apartment's facilities; this becomes pricey and time consuming so I have no intentions of washing the sheets more often. In addition, I make an attempt to conserve resources, instead of washing items constantly for my personal comfort.

I shower in the morning. I sleep alone, but with two cats. I have always changed my sheets whenever they feel funky, which is usually a week to a week and a half. I have many different sets of sheets...I'm a bit of a sheet whore, lol...so I change them more often than I wash them...then I do a big load or two of all the sheets in hot water and have a linen closet full of delicious sheet sets to start all over again :) I usually change my mattress pad every 3-4 sheet changes. I usually wash the blankets on my bed every 3-4 sheet changes, as well.

Now, my son....I change his sheets weekly, as well as all the blankets and mattress pad. He's a stinky, dirty boy even with his taking a bath at night, lol.

I have mostly cotton sheets, in the 200-350 thread count range. I have maybe 3-4 sets of flannel sheets, about 4-5 of plain sheets. One set is bamboo. I have never "worn out" a set of sheets, so I don't even know what that's about...maybe if you only have one set that happens? I dunno. I have sets of sheets that I've had for over 15 years. The elastic on the fitted sheet is a bit questionable, lol, but the actual sheets are still perfect.

yes, I am a sheet addict and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

@madwil, i think i love you! :) your comments were awesome.

my husband and i change ours once a week, and in the meantime we eat/drink in bed, do laptop-y things in bed, read in bed, and have lots of sex in bed.

once a friend mentioned that he never washed the set while he was in 4 year college. When his GF (now wife) visited him in his senior year, she could not believe that he never even attempted to change them. She was laughing when she was telling the story but she said it was not fun when it happened.

It's not overly clean to change sheets once a week. Like cremedela (sorry if I misspelt your name) said there are dust mites. Lots and lots of them. When you've changed sheets there's a little only. After a week 10 million. After two weeks 30 million. So I change them once weekly. Sorry if that offends someone. I also wash them in 60 degrees Celsius to kill the dust mites and other bacteria. Sorry if that offends someone too. I wouldn't want to sleep in your bed if you've changed your sheets once per month. Hope I'm not offending you in return.

Forgot to mention that the dust mites (not bacteria even though my choice of words might insinuate that) fall down too, on the floor I mean, so I try not to keep anything under the bed. Currently the space is limited, but once I live more spaceously I definitely won't ever keep anything there.

I actually registered for a name to comment on this. I wash the sheets and pillowcases every week to two weeks. No set day, just whenever I have the free time to change. I have many sets of sheets, so they get rotated in each time. I've never thought to wash my pillowcases in advance of the sheets. I only wash the blankets every other month or so.

I currently have a TINY washer that only fits one sheet at a time, so I have to do two loads for one set... frustrating!

I think I need to start changing my sheets more often. Once every couple of months (plus cat, plus sweaty Australian summer, plus a fair amount of between-the-sheets action) makes me look like a super slob... but that's how often my super-clean mother changed everyone's sheets when I was little!

Having no pets or partner, keeping the room temperature cool, and always removing makeup before bed means that my sheets don't get dirty quickly. I tend to rotate the pillows daily, swapping between the two and turning them over. I also leave the bed uncovered to air it.

The other thing is that here in Australia some states (including mine) have experienced draught in the last decade and had water restrictions. No, we are not restricted with our laundry, but it feels wrong to be washing frequently when you know that it is good clean drinking water that you are putting through that rinse cycle.

Hence, unless I've been ill, sweaty, or up to no good, I will go a month before changing the sheets.

We shower before bed each night, so the shhets get washed every 1-2 weeks. I also use a linen refresher while making the bed in the morning, But now I will change the cases twice a week since reading other comments

I don't stick to a schedule...I wash mine when they don't smell as "Downy Fresh" prob every 2 weeks or so. I get in bed clean and in clean jammies so I'm not unloading filth on the sheets that they require as frequent cleanings :)

About every 2 weeks.

I really think this fear of excessive dust mites is taken out of context.

Is anyone aware of how many mites live in your eyelashes alone? (Even more if you wear mascara, ladies.) And then there are your eyebrows... Forget it if you any other body hair, or *gasp* you live with pets.

Basically, if you have skin, and hair, and live or work with other things with skin and hair, you're surrounded by millions and millions (billions!) of mites at any given time.

30 million dust mites in a bed is small potatoes.

wow, lol... it seems as though anyone with out super clean ocd habits has commented on this post!

just kidding, i only wish i had the time and money to have my sheets clean all the time

I shower before bed, I don't have a pet, I wear pj's, and even after ... you know... I only wash the sheets and pillow cases once a month or so. what of it?
I'm still alive... i like to think these things help strengthen my immune system! haha

This is such an interesting discussion. I change frequently because I like fresh sheets and doing laundry is not a burden for me (live in a house, laundry in the basement). Could I wait longer--sure. But I like fresh sheets so change them at least once a week. If someone else goes longer--fine by me. I just see fresh sheets as one of those small and cheap pleasures of life.

The hygiene gene must've skipped me, too. I wash my sheets about once a month. I do shower at night.

Geez i can't believe I'm reading that some people change their sheets every month or two and we wonder why there is a bed bug problem everywhere. Do you realize how much one sweats during sleep-time not to mention all that dead skin one sheds. YUK! Change yer damn sheets people.

hmm, maybe the person who wrote about dust mites meant to say bedbugs? Isn't that what everyone's been having such trouble with in NYC? If I had a bedbug problem, I'd be right there with the once/twice a week crowd and no apologies. Perhaps we should be a bit more gracious to those living in fear of those things and using all that extra water and electricity, it's a pretty awful experience.

once in a week or lesser than that. depends on how dirty it gets

Okay -
Some people have oily skin, and some have dry skin. Some people sweat a lot at night, some barely at all. Some people live in hot, dry places; and some live in cool, humid places (when I lived in Los Angeles, I never had any use for a hair dryer; but here in Seattle, my 1900W "MegaBlaster" blow dryer is Essential To Life Itself). Different strokes for different folks; different sheets for different (beats? heats? "leets"?)... Can't we all just get along?

My skin is dryer than the Sahara, I don't sweat at night unless there's a heat wave (meteorological or interpersonal) going on, and the cat sleeps mostly on the comfy throws he's appropriated for the purpose. I change pillowcases and kitty-dedicated throws once a week or so. Changing sheets and duvet covers is a stone hassle that I take on only every 4-6 weeks - or if ericasullivan (or, for that matter, anyone else) is coming to stay overnight.

We have winter flannel sheets we change every week-10 days in the fall/winter and percale sheets we change every 5 days-week in the summer. I love fresh sheet night too!

And I vacuum the mattress with my can vac. I imagine I am reducing dust, etc. Could be a nice fantasy or it could be actually doing something, not sure...

once a month. and i sleep naked, and have a boyfriend. i'd like to claim ecofriendliness, but really i'm just lazy. whatever, i don't think it's gotten me sick.

once a week - though i change the pillowcases more often if either of us have been sick.

hysterical.......this was a fun novelette..on sheets...remember when pillowcases were called pillowslips...I read that in my 'old timey' books...pillowslips......so pretty. : )

once a month, maybe? i washed them more often when my laundry was free and i didn't share one machine with a building full of people. the combination of me having enough quarters + the machine being available is rare enough that usually me needing pants > my sheets look a little wrinkly.

Once a week is fine. I don't have time for more than that and would feel a little wasteful doing multiple loads of sheet laundry every week. Once seems enough. Though nothing beats that clean sheet feeling.

We change sheets once a week, without fail, even tho hubs and I have no pets, we don't smoke; we don't eat in bed, and we shower every day, at least once a day.

We also wash the mattress cover and blankets once a month with a drop or two of eucalyptus oil added to the water with the detergent. It's supposed to keep mites at bay (hubs has a touch of asthma and we both have some allergies.)

My fantasy would be to have someone change our bed with a new set of clean and pressed sheets EVERY DAY: there is nothing more luxurious, IMO.

I change mine usually once a month, sometimes more in the summer.

To the people saying washing sheets frequently will keep away bed bugs: I'm not really sure you understand how bed bugs work.

Every month or two months for me and the other half.

Mostly because I hate doing the washing. But also because I refuse to use the dryer and we don't have anywhere outside to hang stuff (first floor flat).

I am allergic to dust and dust mites (ewwww) so I wash the sheets every week and everything on the bed besides the mattress every other week.

Will try aychihuahua's eucalyptus oil trick -- had not heard that one. And, if you find someone to clean and press your sheets (after they've been dried in the sun) please give me a shout...

Anyone else's cat LOVE it when you're taking off/putting on sheets? If she hears me stripping the bed or fluffing the duvet, she runs out of wherever she's sleeping, jumps on the bed, and tries to 'catch' whatever's in the little air pockets the sheets make as I'm fluffing them. I mean she gets jacked up and comes running, and then scrambles around the bed like crazy. Like there's some really fat tasty mice hiding out in there or something. It's pretty entertaining.

Tee hee...Something about this thread has certainly hit a nerve, including mine, I guess:
Sheets: once a week, regardless of what has/has not been happening between them (no pet household). But I have four sets, so I only end up doing a "sheet load" or two in my apt. building's communal laundry about every three weeks. When properly rotated, they don't wear out for years.
Pillowcases: changed about every three/four days for the dewy complexion issues mentioned above (why risk it?) I have many to play with, so running out is not an issue.
I think the issue is backup. Much easier to throw a clean set on the bed when doing laundry isn't necessarily involved. My .2.

LOVING the comments [and I bet AT staff is loving the increasing page count ;) ]. However, I'm totally baffled as to why so many of you are so anal retentive about your sheets. As long as you shower daily/wear clean clothes/vacuum & dust regularly....what are you afraid of? Also, how do you afford doing laundry so often and where do you keep all those linens? Geeez dudez

[I wash mine every 3-4 weeks depending on my quarter supply; my studio & wallet can't afford multiple sets]

Oh & I thought I'd add that I have a homemade linen spray of tea tree oil [1 drop] and lavender oil [3 drops] + water. It makes nighttime dreamy!

For the first time I feel I can be completely honest about this type of subject! I don't exercise for exercise sake or live in a hot and muggy part of the country. I shower when I can no longer "do anything" with my short hair--about every 5 days or so. That, and the fact that I have slept in the nude since I was 16 years old (that's 40 years now!) will make the super clean people get all icky feeling. Still, I don't change my sheets for 3 weeks to a month. (Not on some sort of schedule.) I do change my pillowcases halfway through that time span.

I believe in tossing back the bedcovers and letting them air out until after breakfast, but then I do make up my bed neatly every day. Straightening and tightening everything helps a lot. Crawling into a mound of loose wrinkles would make one feel the sheets are funkier than they really are.

My habits were no different when I shared the bed happily and very romantically with my late lost beloved husband, also a nude sleeper.

To fear dust mites is a step away from fearing germs and bacteria to excess.

LIFE shouldn't be a chaste or disinfected experience!!

>>>No, my husband did not die of exposure to bed germs.<<<

wow...changing pillow cases everyday??? and sheets twice a week??? You guys must have a lot of water on your planet!!

Hilarious thread! And agree with the few who say that as long as you don't have animals and bathe before bedtime and you don't live on the equator, or eat in bed, there's no need to change sheets once a week.

I must say, I can't understand the reasons for not changing the sheets several times per month. Nor can I understand not having the time to make one's bed. I timed my own bed making and it took less than 3 minutes. I sleep on a feather bed and under a down duvet, so making my bed (which I do every day, even if it's immediately before I go to bed) involves removing the duvet and the feather bed, shaking and fluffing them and the four pillows that we sleep on, putting them back in place, spreading a quilt over the duvet in cold weather, turning the edge of the quilt over, and putting the pillows back. Less than 3 minutes.

I have a Cocker Spaniel dog. He is an evil dog that is loosing hair because of the summer. So, now I need to change my sheets every other day or trice a week. Anyway, he is evil but very cute. :)

I'd like a poll on all these people who use up SO much water running extra loads of clothes for all the extra sheet cleaning they do.....I bet at least a good 75% of whine and gripe about any other issue that is affecting the environment. You don't care that you are using up one of our most valuable resources - WATER!

Again, like I said before, there are more important things in life than changing the damn sheets so often. I don't live in filth, and I change them if needed, never exceeding a month. Time, money, and resources are precious to me. I am a graduate student with two jobs, so I do laundry as little as possible. I live in an apartment and use those laundry facilities. One load (to wash and dry) costs me 3 bucks.

And finally, washing sheets every week, or more often, is such a luxury I wouldn't even think of it. Saving electricity and water are far, far more important.

I'm in college, so generally, the girls in my suite and myself only change our sheets about once a month. It costs $2 per load of laundry, so washing all our clothes is about $4-8 every other week, and adding another $2 do wash sheets with that is just impractical.

We would all love to change our sheets once a week, heck, even every other day, but that would just be impractical, a waste of time, money, and energy (lugging laundry up and down 3 flights of stairs is a little exhausting).

So, one day, yes, I will be washing my sheets once a week, every other week at most. But for now, well, I'm a poor college student.

Every Sunday so once a week regardless of the season unless of course they become dirty for some reason in between. I have AC in the summer so there is no more sweating then than any other time. I take a shower every night just before bed so my whole body is clean including my face so I do not change the pillow cases any more often. Like another user posted though if I was rich and had someone helping out with the cleaning I would have ultra high quality sheets that were freshly laundered daily. Getting into bed with some fresh sheets is great!

I change my sheets three times each week. I know this seems excessive but my roommate has a sheddy dog and when i walk on the floor (after going to bed etc) i end up with dog hair on my feet and it gets transferred inside my bed. It really grosses me out and the more I think of it, the more I itch..My pillowcases almost every day, I also iron them before putting them back on the bed so my bed always looks beautiful. I guess it might seems excessive to some, but I just need a nice clean place to lay my head at night. My ideal thing would be to change them every morning ...maybe someday when I hit the lotto ..

I change my sheets in general once every other week..unless there is some sort of something that would make them dirty going on ;) I take a shower every night before bed so I dont feel like I get them as dirty as most would. Plus, I live in Colorado, so there isn't a lot of sweating going on. When I lived in Oklahoma (also had three small dogs sleeping with me) it was at least once a week if not more depending on the weather. Now the doggies sleep down stairs on the couches or on their beds because I could not handle the taking up my whole queen size bed every night and giving me only 6 in. of space. I guess if I got in to bed dirty or still lived in a humid climate it would be different but sometimes I find myself going even 3 weeks without changing them (and they will still smell like fabric softener and maybe my bodywash/shampoo) so maybe I'm gross, but thats how it is in my house.

I think the sheets should be changed every week,and if there is alot of sexual activity,and also if there is animals sleeping in bed,then they should be changed like 2-3 times a week! Also if you go more than a week,like lets say a month or two,it's very unsanitary,and you could get acne (pimples) like real bad because all that dirt,oil,grime in the dirty sheets is rubbing up on your skin while you sleep;thus causing acne.