5 Good Reasons to Give Yourself the Gift of Fresh, Clean Sheets
Sleep hygiene is sexy. That’s one of the lessons we’ve learned in more than twenty years of providing bedding to some of the most discerning, and sexy, hotels around the world. You’ll find good sleep hygiene on every expert’s list of ways to improve your sleep. It’s a broad concept that includes everything from the way you prepare yourself for bed (your bedtime routine) to the bedding you choose and how you care for it.
During this National Stress Awareness Month, we’re focusing on the ways in which sliding into fresh, clean sheets at the end of the day can reduce stress by readying your mind and body for a great night’s sleep.
1. Fresh, Clean Sheets Are Good for Your Health
It’s just a fact that everyone sweats and drools at night. That moisture, residue from face and body lotions or hair treatments, and sloughed off dead skin cells create fertile ground for bacteria to grow and dust mites to feed upon. The “average person” sheds “almost half a teaspoon full of dead skin” daily, much of it when rubbing against their sheets at night. As dust mites are microscopic and don’t bite, you won’t even see that they’re there. Nonetheless, their presence can lead to skin problems, allergic symptoms, rashes, and breathing issues.
If you have a pet sleeping in your bed, add everything they tracked in with them to the list of debris left behind in your sheets when you get up in the morning. Even when you come to bed clean, you leave the remnants of your presence behind.
Regular laundering of bedding, particularly the sheets that come in direct contact with your face and body, eliminates the accumulated dirt and dust mites. We recommend washing your sheets weekly, more often if they become noticeably soiled. You should wash your sheets with water warm enough to kill dust mites and remove allergens, which is approximately 130°F. If you wash in cold water, be sure to dry your bedding thoroughly, which means “at least 15 minutes at a temperature above 130 F (54.4 C) to kill the mites.”
Airing out your bed for a period of time in the morning allows moisture to evaporate before making your bed. It doesn’t, however, eliminate the need for regular laundering.
2. Fresh, Clean Sheets Encourage a Sense of Calm
Slipping into clean sheets can also support emotional well-being. It’s that moment when you’re totally present, aware only of what you’re sensing and feeling, without any goal in mind. You may have noticed that hotel sheets are typically white. That is no accident. The color white conveys a sense of peacefulness.
The clean scent of fresh sheets can further that sense of calm. It’s the reason that housekeepers in fine hotels use linen sprays. We offer aromatherapy pillowcases that provide the benefits of aromatherapy to calm the nervous system and encourage the release of stress.
3. Fresh, Clean Sheets Are a Continuation of Self-Care
Self-care is not indulgent. Quite the opposite. “It’s all the steps an individual can take to manage stressors in his or her life and take care of his or own health and well-being.” Self-care is necessary for your health, the performance of your job, and your ability to care for the others in your life.
We believe a bedtime routine prepares the mind and body for sleep. That routine can include a warm soak in the tub. After rising from the tub, clean and relaxed, you want to slip into fresh, clean sheets. It’s the reward at the end of a long day of taking care of business.
4. Fresh, Clean Sheets Create the Relaxing Hotel Atmosphere
There is nothing quite like returning to your hotel room after enjoying dinner and a show or the sights of the city to find your room has been refreshed and staged for your entrance. Hotel turndown service is intended to create a relaxing environment that eases you into a great night’s sleep.
Fresh, clean sheets pulled back at an angle, like a turn down mat and a chocolate placed on your pillow, are meant to make you feel cared for. It is those small moments of sensorial experience that make traveling lovely and memorable.
5. Fresh, Clean Sheets Are the Right Way to Begin Your Night
Whether you like hospital corners pulled so tight you could bounce a quarter off the bed or you like a comforter that looks like it was just floated down from the ceiling, making your bed is a ritual that can start your day off right. Similarly, sliding into fresh, clean sheets at the end of the day can set you up for a great night’s sleep.
Enjoy sliding into your fresh, clean sheets.
-The Team at Down Etc
Read more:
Bedding Buying Guide: 5 Factors to Consider When Purchasing New Sheets
A Clean Bed for a Great Night’s Sleep
10 Elements of a Luxury Hotel Turndown Service to Recreate at Home
Aromatherapy Pillows and Pillowcases for a Great Night’s Sleep
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