A fun domestic poll regarding sheet changing.

[GSOchristie]

So today is Saturday, sheet changing day at our house.  My boys strip their beds and take them to the laundry room, but I still have to make four beds, two queens, a full, and  a twin.  I feel like a hotel maid on Saturday morning.  Not to mention I have to wash, dry, fold and put away all that bedding.  A thought occurred to me yesterday that maybe since they are little and bathe right before bed, that I might consider changing their bedding every other week.  My mom would be horrified, and I will admit, fresh clean sheets are one of my favorite things, so how important do you consider weekly sheet changes for littles?  I will add that my kids make their own beds, so Saturday is the only day I have to deal with the bedding other than my own.

[Pippen]

I make it a rule to avoid anything that uses the words "fun" and "sheet changing" in the same sentence. :huh:

[creekland]

We had no schedule for changing sheets.  We still don't.  When I (or they - ha, ha) felt they were dirty they got changed.  It could be daily (anyone else have bed wetting episodes?) or I suppose it could be a month in between (not sure it went that long).  In any event, everyone stayed happy, so there was no reason to go with a schedule.

[GSOchristie]

I make it a rule to avoid anything that uses the words "fun" and "sheet changing" in the same sentence. :huh:

 

LOL, I was reading the European gas prices thread before posting, so this is fun in comparison.  That, to me, is just depressing.

[Melissa in Australia]

I change all sheets in the house weekly. However, I do not do them all on the same day. Each bedroom gets done on a different day.

 

My MIL has told me off repeatedly for  changing sheets weekly. She has told me that  monthly is the absolute minimum, and 3 months between changing  is fine. :ack2:

[Chris in VA]

Why do you fold and put away? Just put them right back on the bed.  :)

 

I voted Other--it used to be about once a week, but now we are more lax. Dd takes her showers at night, so she's cleaner than her brothers were when they were teens. But when they were all very little (under 6) they'd bathe at night, and we still did once a week or so (we used to have Saturday morning chores all together as a family). 

 

 

[GSOchristie]

I change all sheets in the house weekly. However, I do not do them all on the same day. Each bedroom gets done on a different day.

 

My MIL has told me off repeatedly for  changing sheets weekly. She has told me that  monthly is the absolute minimum, and 3 months between changing  is fine. :ack2:

 

Um, yuck  :ack2: .  There was a Clorox commercial a few years ago that comes to my mind when I go longer than a week with my own.

 

 

I know they are just messing with my mind, but it still is a very vivid picture for me :).

[Pawz4me]

I change all sheets in the house weekly. However, I do not do them all on the same day. Each bedroom gets done on a different day.

 

 

Why do you fold and put away? Just put them right back on the bed.  :)

 

All sheets are changed weekly here.  Not because mine are little or dirty, but because I think weekly sheet changing is a basic cleanliness issue.  Like Melissa, I do one bed per day-- one on Monday, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday.  And like Chris, I strip the bed, wash/dry and put the same sheets back on.  Folding and putting away is inefficient, IMO.

[BarbecueMom]

I try to get mine done weekly, but it ends up every other week. I don't fold sheets though. On each bed we have layered a mattress protector, sheets, another mattress protector, another set of sheets, and blankets. This way, when we have middle of the night bedwetting or illness, it's easy to strip the top layer and still have a bed made up to sleep on. During winter, the kids have an extra blanket but no flat sheet, so that's one less thing to wash.

[GSOchristie]

Most of the time, I would have to be really on top of things (which I never am) to strip the sheets, wash and dry them and get them back on the bed before naptime.  I usually wash them, forget about them until after lunch, then dry them.  Maybe necessity would make me more mindful.  

[JeneralMom]

I do weekly. Each child is given a day on which I do their laundry, change and wash sheets, and do a deep clean of their room. Duvets, mattress pads, and pillows are aired while linen is washing.

[GSOchristie]

I do weekly. Each child is given a day on which I do their laundry, change and wash sheets, and do a deep clean of their room. Duvets, mattress pads, and pillows are aired while linen is washing.

 

These are good ideas, particularly this.  I could get all one kid's laundry done on one day, thereby splitting laundry into three days, hmmmm, I might have to revamp my cleaning schedule to incorporate this idea.  I like the idea of airing pillows and quilts, too.  

[Aspasia]

My normal routine involves weekly sheet changes (on Thursday--bedroom cleaning day), but with this pregnancy, I've been more of an every-other-weeker.

[Ellie]

Weekly. It's just a good habit.

 

I have no idea how often my mother or grandmother did it, because it happened when I was at school. :-)

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Mine and dd's get done weekly. Ds's is several times during the week.

[LucyStoner]

We have 3-4 sets of sheets per bed. I rotate them to help them last longer and for season (my sons love flannel in the winter, not so much on the summer for example). So I definitely fold and put away. This also covers me when a bed has to be stripped on a non laundry day- accidents, be they pee or childhood silliness with art supplies or drinks, happen. I have the boys strip their bed but also help make them. I'd rather do all three at once than stretch it out and have a bed to make up three days a week.

 

This said, I personally don't have any problem with going to an e/o week schedule for the kids beds. Weekly is what I do but I don't consider it to be the only valid option. Mostly I do it because when I was a kid we often had mismatch or no sheets and they weren't cleaned for long stretches until I was older I did it myself. I hated that, so I shifted gears with my own family.

 

My biggest short cut is that I don't tuck the top sheet or the blanket except along the foot of the bed. Saves a lot of time. Also "making beds" here is something that means "sorta kinda smooth out the top sheet and blankets". Way less work. Especially on bunk beds!

[Susan in TN]

I voted other because I only do my own sheets.  The kids are responsible for their own sheets, unless there is an issue like bedwetting or being sick or something - then I do it for them, in which case it might be every day or once a year ;)

[Desert Strawberry]

I tried changing every Monday, but the laundry was untenable. I shoot for every other week, but it's more as needed. I have 2bed wetters and 2 boys who avoid hygiene whenever possible :glare:

We only use fitted sheets and blankets. I wash the blankets as well. The dog sleeps on them.

[GSOchristie]

I think we're going to go to every other week for the winter, esp Sweet P, she wears footed pj's and a diaper, the only part of her that's touching the sheets is her head and hands.  I asked Asher and he said he wanted to keep doing it every week, Jax didn't care.  I like the one set per day and do all that kid's laundry that day, I think I will get them their own hampers, which they will like.  They don't wet the beds ever, so that is not a concern.  

[SKL]

Much less than monthly.  :)  And I really don't care who doesn't like it.

[Janie Grace]

No schedule… when I decide they need to be changed. Guess that freaks a lot of you out but it works for us!
 

[fdrinca]

We used to be every 3-4 weeks (they get baths before bed), but my son was recently diagnosed with severe dust allergies, so it's weekly now.

[Bree]

We do them every Monday but only the fitted sheet for us. The top sheet always ends up not being used so they only have the comforters :) those don't always get washed weekly either.

[Hikin' Mama]

I voted every other week, because when my kids were younger, they took baths at night and so they were clean when they got into bed. I didn't see the need to wash them weekly. At around 13, my kids started doing their own laundry, including sheets. One of mine rarely changed sheets, another probably did it every two or three weeks, and the youngest probably does it once a month. They are all very clean people in terms of personal hygiene and are very healthy. So I'm guessing their sheet washing schedule suffices. I still wash mine every other week.

[Jackie]

Ours are done weekly for all beds, but I don't fold sheets. I just wash them, pull them out of the dryer, and put them right back on the bed where they belong.

[KrissiK]

I replied other. I do change their sheets, but not really on a regular basis. They take showers every night before bed, so it's not like their dirty little bodies are always crawling between the sheets. And they really don't care.

[Chelli]

I voted other because the kids' bedding around here gets washed multiple times a week due to bedwetting.

 

For example, just this week I had to wash my dd10's bedding four times, my ds3's bedding once, and, so far, dd6 hasn't needed it yet this week.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

In the summer we try for weekly. In the winter it is less often. I also try to get the boys through showers every night in the summer so they crawl into bed clean.

[QueenCat]

Weekly but pillow cases get done more often. I throw them in with the loads of towels that get done every 2-3 days.

[Changed]

Let's just say it's less than monthly, unless there's an urgent need (bed wetting).

[Rosie_0801]

It depends on the weather. 

[sbgrace]

Because of allergies, I do kids beds weekly. I just put them straight from the dryer back on the beds though. If a child bathes/showers before bed, I don't think changing less often is the least bit uncleanly. I think I would do less often if we didn't have the allergy piece.

[Scuff]

More than weekly, but not cause I really like clean sheets (though  I do ;) )  They get changed on an as needed basis and seem to need it quite often!

[TrixieB]

I didn't vote, but y'all inspired me to change all the sheets today!  :D

[Kari C in SC]

I voted other. My kids don't have sheets! We all have waterbeds. They have a full comforter tucked in over the waterbed mattress as their bottom cover. They couldn't make the bed with sheets on a waterbed, so this was my solution. They have another comforter as a top cover. I wash youngest and ours when they seem to need it. I have no schedule. Teenager daughter knows where the laundry room is and can wash or not wash whenever she wants. Typically, she sleeps on TOP of both covers with her favorite throw blanket, so technically her bottom cover never gets exposed. Clear as mud, huh?

[creekland]

 I at least wash the pillowcases with some other load. 

 

I also wash pillowcases more often.  They're the really "needy" part to me.  It's easy to toss them in with towels or something.