Jump to content

Menu

How often do you wash your blankets?


Amethyst
 Share

Recommended Posts

At the beginning of the pandemic, dh (who has mild asthma) was determined to finally make our bedroom allergy-proof. Ripped up the carpeting and put down hardwood;allergy-proof covers on mattress, boxspring, and pillows; and a strict cleaning schedule of dusting and vacuuming (which he has taken on as his own project, thank goodness since I hate dusting lol). 
 

Part of this project means regular washing of the blankets. At first he said every week, but I said that’s too often. I do sheets and pillowcases every week, but blankets? They take all day to wash and dry. I’ve moved it to every 17 days. Even that seems like a lot. But maybe I’m just lazy. How often do you wash your blankets? Especially interested in hearing from those with allergies/asthma. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My teen and I both have asthma, but we don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment, so since April we have relied on washing everything via my kid's weekend visits with my ex. So, sheets every 1-2 weeks, but we have enough pillowcases to switch more often, lightweight blankets every 2-3 weeks, heavier blankets maybe every 6 weeks. I am sewing some old sheets together to make pull-on covers for some of the heavier winter blankets that we can at least wash the covers more frequently. It's a bit of an effort to send everything back and forth, especially the bulky stuff. I already have fabric covers for the living room seating, which needs to get washed at least monthly, thanks to our cat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We use a blanket as the top covering on our bed. I wash sheets/pillowcases weekly and the blanket is washed every other week. The dogs sleep on it, and even though they're non-shedding and are bathed every ten days or so, still I think it needs washing at least every other week. I wash DS's blanket about once a month.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I *fluff* my blankets with some low heat occasionally to pull out dust and yuck. I don't necessary *wash* so often, because that's really hard on the blankets. I know they say to. 

Maybe he'd like to try some turmeric? Hygiene is great and part of the puzzle, but also reducing inflammation helps. I got completely off my asthma medication with it. 

You could gift him a roomba for Christmas. Life changing. :biggrin:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

The dogs sleep on it,

Yeah, the dog is the kicker for me. When I allow that, it's really obvious, sigh. I do once in a while for a treat, only when he's freshly bathed. 

I also took the dog bed out of our room and started cutting back on letting him sleep on the bathmat. If he does sleep on the bath mat, I have to wash it. Even though it's just in the connected bath, not the actual bedroom, the stuff in there makes a difference. So I wash the bath mat pretty frequently and make sure to keep mold (shower, toilet, ceiling) down. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DS has asthma. I wash all his bedding, including comforter, fleece blanket and quilt, every week.

I need to up my game in washing all our house blankets more frequently. Between the kitty fur and the fact that DH and DS wrap themselves in blankets all day, they really do need it. We have blankets all over the house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not that it always happens... but I do aim for weekly.  

I use a large fleece blanket and dh uses our comforter. My blanket can handle the beating, but the comforter doesn’t like it.  I’m still trying to convince him to use more durable blankets, but he’s impossible, so I have a lumpy comforter.

We don’t have major allergies, but we mostly shower in the morning. By day 2 or 3, I’m already thinking about all of the daily ick I’m curled up in. One might think I’d start showering at night to solve that issue, but no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two kids with asthma here, and per our allergist’s recommendation:  once a week on hot.

Not just blankets, either.  I do pillows, throw pillows, blankets, sheets, the whole shebang.

I went years doing the duvet cover only, no top sheet, European style.  Now the kids have comforters of their choice and one kid still prefers no top sheet.  In my growing up years of only washing sheets and not blankets, this would never have flown, but washing weekly - no big deal.  And less work for me.

Allergist also recommends washing curtains that often as well, so, ummmm, no curtains in the kids’ bedrooms when asthma is acting up.  We went with very nice blinds.

We have BlueAir filters in bedrooms, vacuum/dust weekly.  Reducing knick knacks helps, too.

 

ETA:  we do other things as well:  no dogs upstairs where we have bedrooms, etc. Our doc repeatedly said that having 8 hours a day in the cleanest environment possible will help.  And it did.

Since I don’t have asthma, this all felt over the top to me, and I confess to being incredulous about the level of work.  The results have been worth it.  Maybe DH can strip the bed when he vacuums weekly, or you can strip it, he can make it.  

Also, we switched to bedding that washed and dried faster.  😊
 

 

Edited by Spryte
Added some extra thoughts
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have allergies and tend toward asthma.  I wash sheets weekly when I’m ‘triggered’, every two weeks or so otherwise.  Comforters every two weeks when trigger, about 4X annually otherwise.  Blankets that are in between the comforter and the sheets are only washed when they are going to be put away, so usually about 1-2X per year.  FAR MORE IMPORTANT:  No animals, scented stuff, or carpets in the bedroom.  No windows open overnight during asthma flares.  I try hard to prevent my allergies from triggering asthma by treating them aggressively, so I take Allegra a lot.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheets and pillowcases every week. we use a top and bottom sheet. The whole point of sheets is to keep blankets cleaner. 

Wool blankets are washed 2 times a year.( Some of my wool blankets are those grey ones. They were made in 1942,) 

Patchwork quilts 2 times a year

Doona covers. Ds 16 weekly, mine every month

Everyone else uses patchwork quilts

Cotton blankets, every few weeks

 

DH has multiple chemical sensitivities. We have hardwood floors, no floor coverings, minimal stuff in the bedroom and 2 walls of windows. We sleep with windows opened so he has lots of fresh air. 

 We also have a few plants in there as they help with air freshening

I am hopeless with dusting

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Happymomof1 said:

Yikes, once a season for us. No allergies here. Sheets weekly. Well, maybe a little more than that, but we don't have animals.  But we don't have a blanket on our bed but maybe 2 -4 months out of the year. It is too hot. We also have a lightweight summer comforter and a heavy winter comforter. So part of the time we have the summer comforter with blanket and part without. Then we have the winter comforter with no blanket and then sometimes without. So basically I only wash it when we are changing from types of seasons. 

Whew! I was so glad to read your post as I was starting to feel like we are dirty, dirty, dirty people lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had no idea people washed their blankets so often.  I probably wash the blankets on beds seasonally or every other month.  I guess we're gross! I can't figure out how they'd get dirty so fast when you're using sheets. The couch blanket gets washed more often because people are touching it directly. Guest blankets get washed between guests. We have no allergies and our home is a very low dust situation.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OP. Thanks for all the replies. I guess I’m not overdoing it. We have no pets (due to allergies) so hair and smell on the blankets is not an issue. But I guess I’ll stick to the every 18 days schedule. I was hoping that was too often but oh well.

I agree with whoever mentioned fewer knick knacks. We have hardly any. And we took down the Curtains when we installed the hardwood in bedroom. 

Thanks for the replies!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We use duvet covers (same material as sheets) over down comforters. The duvet covers get washed weekly (actually every other week, but we have 2 sets, so they are only on the bed for a week) and the comforter every other month or more often if needed (we still have little kids, they are gross sometimes). We don't use top sheets though, so the duvet cover serves the purpose of a sheet. None of my kids could ever use a sheet to keep a blanket clean, nor could I, as we wrap the comforter all around us and between legs etc. Sometimes I sleep on top of the comforter, so... sheets wouldn't mean less cleaning but a duvet does.

 

We also have many blankets around the house, and those tend to get washed as needed, on average probably every two weeks between dirty kids and the dog.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheets are kind of weekly.  Although longer for the younger two who aren’t too stinky yet.  Pillow cases weekly.  Feather doonas here and covers maybe once a month (ours is monthly because it’s white but the kids go longer some times).  Inners maybe twice a year.  I have to be honest I think you all just have bigger washers or something because mine runs pretty flat out as it is many days and there’s no way I’m doing that often.  
 

ds has seasonal allergies so I increase the washing at the time of the year it’s bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At my last apartment in a high rise that included a hotel with lots of international guests, we were constantly fighting bedbugs and carpet beetles. I thought bedbugs were bad, until I experienced carpet beatles!

For the past two years, until I moved, I washed my entire bed at least once a week, and at peak periods of infestation every two days. I gave up on pillows and full sized blankets. I just had a bottom sheet and a couple 50" by 70" inch fleece throw blankets as my "pillow" and to sorta cover myself. I had no access to nearby affordable machines that used enough water to get clothes clean, so I hand washed everything in a Wonder Wash and then spun it in a Panda centrifuge.

https://laundry-alternative.com/products/the-wonderwash

https://www.amazon.com/Panda-Portable-Dryer-22lbs-Stainless/dp/B01IRMBG7I

I only have a blow up mattress on the floor, but I have real pillows, right now! And a top-sheet. I still only have a throw blanket and not a real one. Here I have roaches and scorpions. They pass through and crawl on me, but me and my bed are not their target.

I am washing it all by hand without the help of the wonder-washer and centrifuge, but at least I am washing it all less often. I am going to have to do something different come winter. Every day is still over 100 degrees here and all I wear is shorts and tank tops, and I don't mind getting wet, but that will change soon. I need to do something. Wet clothes and blankets that are not spun are messy and take forever to dry indoors, and it is too dirty and unsafe to dry clothes outside.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheets weekly.  Blankets are washed a few times a year, or after anyone has been ill. I sometimes take the pillows and blankets and stuff them in the dryer for a while on the "sanitize" cycle, to kill off any dust mites between washes. 

We have 2 cats and a dog. The dog sleeps in a crate and has his own blankets that get washed whenever they are smelly.  The cats sleep at the foot of the bed sometimes but seem to prefer other napping spots. 

Edited by MissLemon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly, I wash blankets & bedspreads/bedskirts only when the child goes somewhere else overnight.
It gives me 36+ hours to clean everything & get it back on.

We take showers at night, go to bed clean, & thus reduce need to wash bedding often.
 

I think the real issue is your dh's allergies. 
I would just tell him to tell you when the blankets seem dirty to him, & wash them.
Maybe buy a blanket that can hold up to lots of washing, so he isn't bothered by it all.
(I wouldn't make this a marital issue . . . even tho I don't wash our bedding often.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...