Best temperature to wash bed sheets properly to remove dirt and bacteria – not 60 or 90C

Bedding can be a pain to clean, however, doing it correctly will ensure that climbing under freshly laundered sheets at the end of another hectic day remains one of life’s simplest, yet most rewarding, pleasures.

Washing your pillows and duvet requires great care, and it’s no different when it comes to your bed sheets.

One of the biggest things that gets debated about when it comes to laundry is how often to wash bed sheets and which temperature is correct.

According to the bedding pros at Soak and Sleep, as a general rule, you should wash your bed sheets once a week or every other week (keeping a spare set, or two, is handy if your diary is packed out, but also for rotating).

If there is someone in the house who suffers from allergies, they suggest washing once a week is best to keep them as fresh as possible.

“Most fabrics can be washed at a warm temperature of 40 degrees as this helps to remove dirt and natural body oils and takes care of germs.”

However, if households decide to go longer than a week before washing their bed sheets they may need to up the temperature.

The laundry experts at Melt claimed that 60 degrees is needed if households are not washing bed sheets often.

They argued that after so long, on a lower temperature wash, some bacteria will remain on your laundry. This means “it will smell more quickly”.

Linens experts at Belledorm argued the same point as they claimed that 40 degrees tends to be the “optimum temperature” to wash bed sheets.

But they added: “If, however, you’ve left your sheets a little longer than you should have, consider a higher wash, especially in cold and flu season.”