Revealed! How Often You Should Be Washing These Household Items…

A recent YouGov study revealed that more than 20% of us wash our sheets every 4 or more weeks and over a third wait 14 days, wow! Unwashed sheets can contain a build-up of debris, dust, and sweat and even cause dust mites!

Clean: Once a week

How: A strong 60°C wash will kill bacteria and germs. Avoid overfilling your washing machine as sheets are best washed in small loads with lots of water which will keep germs at bay.

While we’re on the subject of clean bedding, your mattress needs some TLC too! Although they don’t need cleaning as often, mattresses can also gather dust and bacteria and there’s no point putting fresh sheets on a dirty mattress!

Clean: Every 6 months

How: The best way to clean your mattress is with a vacuum! When you’ve removed your bedding, use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner and hoover your mattress both on front and back. If you suffer from allergies, you may want to do this more often.

When you’re deep cleaning your bathroom, you may be forgetting about this very important chore! Over time your shower curtain can contain a build-up of hard water deposit and mould growth.

Clean: Once a month

How: Place your shower curtain in the washing machine along with a few towels. This will give it the deep clean it needs and prevent it from getting shredded. If you have a lot of hard water build-up, add one cup of white vinegar to the wash cycle, then just hang it back up to dry!

Towels

Bath towels absorb dead skin cells and bacteria and being in warm, damp conditions means this bacteria thrives. Sharing towels can spread bacteria and viruses so it’s best to keep them to yourself!

Clean:  Every 2-3 uses

How: Wash at a high temperature, 60°C or more to kill any bacteria.

Your trusty kitchen sponge cleans all your pots, pans and surfaces but you may not realise just how dirty it can get! After touching all those dirty objects and being left in warm water, your sponge can gather heaps of bacteria.

Clean: Every day and replace every week

How: A great hack to clean your sponge is to put it in the microwave! Soak it with water and pop it in for 1 or 2 minutes. You can even stick it in the dishwasher to kill germs.

Reusable Shopping Bags

Tote and canvas bags make life a whole lot easier at the supermarket, but, those that haven’t been cleaned in a while can contain coliform, faecal matter or E.coli. It’s something you might not have thought of, but if you’re putting fruit and veg as well as meat and fish inside, it could be developing bacteria.

Clean: Every few uses

How: Simply add it to your next wash load!

It may be very difficult to prise your child’s favourite toy out of their hands! But, they could contain all sorts of bugs and bacteria, especially if they take it everywhere with them.

Clean: Once a week

How: Most soft toys can be put in the washing machine on a gentle cycle but be sure to check the label. If the toy is very fragile, pop it in the freezer for a couple of hours (overnight if possible) to kill off any dust mites or bed bugs.