How to Wash Your Bed Sheets

Your bed is a calm and peaceful retreat in which you should experience the ultimate comfort. For the perfect night’s sleep, your custom bed sheets should be perfectly clean, fresh, and nice-smelling.

If you want to know more about washing your bed sheets, the following guide will help ensure a brilliant night’s sleep on your freshly laundered bed linen.

Should You Wash New Sheets?

When you first receive your brand new bed sheets, they might appear crisp and clean and ready for you to sleep on, but you must remember that they’ve been produced in a factory, and it’s always a good idea to wash them before first use.

Whatever fabric or color you’ve chosen, washing your new sheets will eliminate dyes and chemical residues. One of these chemicals is a starch called “sizing,” which keeps the sheets smooth and crisp in their packaging. After all, no one wants to buy wrinkled or bunched-up sheets.

New bed linen should be washed before use with a mild detergent in cool or lukewarm water (86°F). It means your sheets will be sweeter smelling and feel much cleaner and softer to sleep on.

How Often Should You Wash Your Sheets?

The general advice is that you should wash your sheets at least once a week. However, if you don’t sleep on your mattress every day, you could possibly stretch this to once every couple of weeks.

There are also situations when you should wash your sheets more than once a week. For example, if you have pets, and if you let them sleep on your bed, washing your bed sheets every 3-4 days is recommended.

If you suffer from allergies or asthma, cleaning your bed sheets more frequently would do good.

More frequent washing is also recommended during the warm summer months. These are the months when you sweat more. You might also get some relief from seasonal allergies with more frequent washing during the spring or summer.

Washing your sheets is important because it can remove any accumulation of dirt, dead skin cells, body oils, sweat, and dust mites.

How to Wash Sheets and Different Fabrics

All our cotton and linen products will shrink to some extent upon the first 2-3 washings, but we anticipate this by cutting our items larger to allow for shrinkage.

Do not use high temperatures. Excessive heat damages the yarn and its natural feel of softness. It also causes the fabric to shrink too much. It is kinder to the environment to wash at 104°F or lower.

How to Wash Linen Sheets and Tablecloths

Wash linen at a maximum of 104°F in the main wash or a gentle shorter program. Opt for a program with a long rinse cycle, such as the wool program, to make sure that any excess detergent is washed out. Linen is best washed using less detergent than the regular dosage recommended on the bottle.

Also, remove linen tablecloths or sheets from the washing machine or tumble dryer immediately after the last cycle and do not leave them in the machine for any length of time.

Washing Cotton Sheets

How to wash your soft cotton sheets? It might not be the first thing you think about when you climb into your comfy bed. You might not want to jump out of bed to do the laundry either. Nevertheless, it’s essential to wash your cotton sheets regularly. Washing sheets properly will make sure they stay soft and strong.

You should always follow the care instructions and avoid using very hot water. It might seem the logical thing to do to get rid of all the stains and dirt. Unfortunately, excessively hot water will cause the sheets to shrink and fade over time. It also deteriorates the high-quality cotton fibers.

Always use a mild detergent because heavy-duty or harsh ones will damage the cotton fibers. Use a gentle detergent, and your washed sheets will stay soft and strong for longer.

Never wash your bed sheets with other laundry items as it causes friction and will eventually reduce their quality and durability.

Our final piece of advice is to dry your sheets on low heat. If you dry them on high heat, they are more likely to shrink and possibly even tear. If you have space and the weather allows, always line or hang dry your wet sheets.

How to Wash White Sheets

There’s nothing quite like the look of crisp white bed sheets, but such aesthetic qualities require a special kind of care. If you want to keep your white sheets crisp and white, here are some things you should and shouldn’t do.

• Wash your white sheets at least once a week.
• Use the right amount of detergent, based on load size, detergent brand, and washing machine.
• Use a natural laundry booster such as washing soda or baking soda.
• Do not use bleach.
• Use distilled white vinegar instead of commercial fabric softeners. It is a natural fabric softener and helps to keep your washing machine fresh and clean.
• Wash your bedding at the right temperature.
• Dry your sheets on low heat or, better still, hang them on the clothes line.

Bed Linen Washing Tips

Different fabrics and colors call for specific washing techniques, but there are some general tips you should always follow.

• Wash your bed linen separate from other items.
• Always use gentle cycles and mild detergents.
• Warm water temperatures are preferable.
• Duvet covers and pillow cases should always be washed inside out with zippers closed.
• Do not overload the washing machine to avoid wash stripes and too many creases.
• Spot cleaning is the best approach to combat tough stains.
• Usually, low heat and medium spin are advised for drying your bedding.
• Remove bed linen from the machine before fully dry and hand them out to air dry completely.
• Open out and shake bedding before dry hanging.
• Try not to hand your bedding in direct sunlight for too long, as it can cause colors to fade.

Use of Detergent for Washing Linen

It is preferable to use a liquid detergent specially designed for colored wash (without bleach) to avoid wash stripes and fading of colors.

Do not use too much detergent. Overuse can strip or fade colors and cause loss of richness in tone.

Beware of detergents that contain optical brighteners as these can cause fading over time in darker colors.

Sheet Stain Removal Advice

Never use chlorine bleach on whites. Bleach weakens the fibers of the fabric and will strip out the color of the white fabric. Instead, try specially designed stain removers to brighten whites or remove stains.

Be careful when using stain removers. Read the instructions on the bottle carefully. Improper use removes stains but may cause colors to fade or leave yellowish stains on whites.

Be careful with body lotions, facial creams, hair products, and certain soaps. Some contain chemicals that act just like bleach and will fade colors and/or leave light stains.

Drying and Ironing Your Custom Bed Sheets

Using a tumble dryer results in more creases than allowing linen to dry naturally on a washing line. To minimize creasing when using a tumble dryer, do not overload and do not allow it to overdry.

Drying in bright sunlight for extended periods of time may result in colors fading.

Ironing is best done when the fabric is still slightly damp.

We hope you found this post valuable and you’re ready to make your purchase. More information is available on our FAQ page.

If you're ready to place an order, don’t hesitate to contact us today.