5 mistakes when washing bed linen

Don't blame the washing machine if, after several washes, your sheets, pillowcases, and duvet covers look worse and worse. Usually the cause of color loss and rapid wear and tear is improper care of bed linen.

Not all housewives know what not to do when washing bed linen, so they regularly make 5 common mistakes.

Long breaks between washes

Even if a person takes a shower before bed, germs, sweat, sebaceous secretions, and dust accumulate on the bed linen for several nights. Doctors recommend changing it at least once a week. During this time, the laundry does not have time to become very dirty, so it is easier to wash.

In winter, a person sweats less and sleeps in pajamas or a nightgown, so the period between washes can be increased to 10 - 14 days. However, pillowcases, regardless of the time of year, get dirty quickly, since not only the skin, but also hair (especially oily ones) comes into contact with the fabric. Traces of creams and cosmetics also remain. Therefore, pillowcases should be changed after 2 - 3 days.

Forgot to add stain remover

Before washing, be sure to check your bedding for stains. If there are any, soak the laundry with powder or use a pre-wash mode with a stain remover. To remove old stains on undyed laundry, you can use powder or liquid bleaches for the washing machine. Remove stains from colored items using washing powder with an amplifier.

Overloading the washing machine

It is good to wash several sets of bed linen at one time, if it takes up the entire volume of the drum, it will not work. High-quality washing, rinsing and spinning are performed only if there is free space. Therefore, even in washing machines with increased capacity, no more than 50% of the drum volume is loaded. When calculating the load by weight of dry laundry, it is assumed that:

• The weight of the sleeping duvet cover, depending on the material, is 0.5 - 0.7 kg;
• pillowcases 0.2 kg;
• sheets 0.35 - 0.5 kg.

Wrong choice of washing mode

If the bed linen has not been trampled on with dirty shoes, there is no need to use intensive modes. Moreover, this increases wear and tear. Modern detergents cope well with ordinary soiling using standard modes.

To ensure that bed linen retains its fresh appearance after washing, the temperature and spin intensity are set on the machine depending on the type of fabric:

• for linen, light calico, percale 60 – 90 ⁰C with strong spin (1000 rpm);
• satin and poplin 40 - 60 ⁰C with medium spin (400 - 600 rpm);
• colored calico 40 ⁰C with medium spin;
• cambric, bamboo are washed in a delicate cycle at a temperature of 30 - 40 ⁰C without spinning or at the lowest speed;
• polyester or cotton with a polyester additive are washed in the “synthetic” mode at 40 ⁰C with a low spin;
• silk - wash in delicate cycle at 30 ⁰C without spinning or at low speed.

Improper drying

Dry bed linen “shrinks” and wrinkles. Therefore, they begin to stroke it while it is still wet.Colored linen is dried in a place protected from direct sunlight to prevent fading. When using a tumble dryer, set the gentle mode.

In order not to spoil the linen during the first wash, you should read the information on the label. There, pictograms indicate the maximum temperature for washing, the admissibility of machine drying, the prohibition of using bleach, etc.