Most of us are busy searching for tips to plan a toddler girl’s birthday party or how to make a Christmas treat for your son’s school shindig that resembles Rudolph. The last thing we need is for someone to tell us we don’t wash our bed sheets enough. However, we also really have no IDEA how often to wash sheets, our bras, and our hair. Here’s a quick guide to how often you should wash, well, pretty much everything in your home.
How Often To Wash Sheets: Once a week.
I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t usually wash our sheets once a week. I usually go two weeks, but we do take nighttime baths so I think that helps. It’s ideal to wash them in hot water — to remove dust, sweat, and other things — and dry them on a hot dryer cycle to kill all germs.
Jeans: Every four to five wears.
It’s not a huge deal to wear your denim jeans a few times before you wash them as long as they aren’t visibly dirty. Over-washing will cause them to wear out quickly. To help them last longer and prevent the color from fading, turn them inside out and wash them in cold water, then hang to dry.
Bras: Every three to four wears.
A basic rule is that you should rotate your bras and never wear the same one two consecutive days. The elastic needs time to reshape – at least 24 hours preferably. If you rotate bras, they can go quite a few wears between washes as long as you feel they are clean and know that you didn’t sweat.
Tile grout: Every year.
Scrub the grout in your shower and tiled surfaces every year. It’s easy to clean and brighten the grout with a store-bought cleaner – or make your own.
Mattress: Every six months.
The biggest bedroom essential is actually easy to clean and should be done two times every year. Vacuum the top of the mattress with the help of an upholstery attachment. Protect the mattress by buying a quality mattress pad too. My mattress has a waterproof mattress pad on it and it doesn’t take away from the comfort of the bed.
Oven: Every six months.
If you don’t have a self-cleaning oven, you can let it soak while you snooze. Remove the oven racks and clean them in soapy, hot water. Spray the interior and the door with an oven cleaner and allow to soak over night. Wipe the next day with warm water and dishrags.
Sink and drain: Every day.
The kitchen sink has the second-highest concentration on microorganisms in the home – yuck. That’s the reason you should clean it every day. Wipe down the sink, drain and strainer basket with a disinfecting wipe. Each week, run the strainer basket through the dishwasher, too.
Carpet: Once a year.
Everyone has rearranged the furniture to find a patch of
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| We keep shoes on a shoe rack near the door to cut down on germs in the house and keep the floors cleaner. |
pristine carpet that makes the rest appear dingy. This is when you know it is past time for a deep cleaning. Carpet gets filthy quickly. Consider taking off your shoes at the door — there are some pretty gross reasons you shouldn’t wear your shoes inside the house.
Your hair: Every other day.
Daily hair washing strips your locks of their natural oils, so it’s ideal to skip a day between shampoos. If you suffer from oily roots (like me!), pick up a dry shampoo to give your hair a fresh and clean look without the shampoo.
Purse: Every week.
Tests show that purses can carry traces of E. coli, usually on the bottom. If you think of all of the germy places you sit your purse, this fact makes sense. Keep it clean so you can find what you need and keep unwanted germs away. Clean vinyl bags with a disinfecting wipe. Check cleaning directions prior to taking my word on this one, but it’s usually safe to use an alcohol-free baby wipe on leather handbags. You can machine wash cotton bags in hot water and air dry.
Busy moms already have a lot on their to-do lists. These are some helpful guidelines to keep things clean. If you can’t do each of these by the time that’s recommended, don’t sweat it! Just do what you can to keep your home and belongings a little cleaner.
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