Bacteria In Bed Sheets – Do Bed Sheets Have Bacteria?
Diving into the bed after a hot shower ranks high as one of the most pleasurable sensations. There is nothing more comforting than the softness of a well-laid bed after a hard day’s job.
Although we refuse to admit it, we spend a lot of time in bed. The COVID pandemic is making that our reality. As we carry out many activities in it, from sleeping to making love, to eating and reading, there are some things that you should know.
The bed is a nursery of nasty bacteria. In fact, there are more bacteria on your bed sheets than on your toilet seat!
For all this, it is necessary to change the sheets at least once a week because otherwise, we could have problems such as infections, diseases, and viruses, since bacteria accumulate in our sheets.
Day by day, they do, and although it seems not, these can be dangerous and cause relevant damage. The presence of bacteria doesn’t depend on your personality, it is a general issue. It’s how you handle cleaning your bedsheets, home, and personal hygiene which determines if you would stay away from these infections.
Do Bed Sheets Have Bacteria?
Yes, hundreds of thousands of them. If you could view your bed sheet under a microscope, you would find bacteria colonies thriving under the lens. Even if you lay your bed every time you use it, it doesn’t remove bacteria.
The growth rate of bacteria on a sheet is fast, and you can be shocked at how many bacteria would build in a mere week.
What Kind Of Bacteria Live On Bed Sheets?
- Staphylococcus Aureus
If you are a fitness enthusiast and love visiting the gym, there is a high chance that you can contract this microbe. This is because people in a gym share locker, equipment, and sometimes a towel.
And if you didn’t take your bath or wash your tool bag, you can get it in your sheets. Staph microbes can live for weeks to months on textiles.
- Dust mites
Knock knock!
Who is there?
Dust mites!
How many dust mites?
Millions!
Studies reveal that there are a million dust mites on your bed per week using dirty sheets. While not necessarily harmful they feed on your dead skin and multiply. They can cause allergies and rash. Dust mites can live for months on your sheets.
- Fungi, Mold, And Yeast
Fungi thrive in damp places and your sweat and saliva make it perfect for their growth. Dirty sheets harbor fungi colonies that spread. They can last up to 2 weeks on fabrics.
How Long Can Bacteria Live on Bedding?
A bacteria or virus thrives in living cells. It’s their primary abode, the heaven they so much longed for. Be as it so, that doesn’t mean they can’t survive outside it. In fact, they were living in the outside world before they got access to living tissues.
Now that is established, the question that should be asked is how long can they survive? When would they die naturally, and you would be safe.
There are different bacteria living on a dirty sheet. And they have, as expected, different life spans.
Can Dirty Sheets Cause Infections?
While all the above won’t cause serious diseases (except Staph), families of fuso-bacteriales, Bacteroides, and neisserial can also be found on unclean sheets.
These microbes are known to cause gonorrhea and throat diseases that are related to Lemierre’s syndrome and pneumonia.
Yeast infections are also common. Yeast infections, if allowed, cause skin irritation and rash. They are common to the sole of the feet or the space between the toes.
If your job requires you to wear boots all day and you step onto the bed, you can transfer yeast infections. Moist places such as wet boots are good breeding areas for yeast.
While staph on the skin is not that serious, the microbe can get into the respiratory tract or the reproductive tract. Once, in the system, it becomes a dangerous situation.
Staph infections have been linked to sterility. They can affect the mobility of sperm or the viability of ova. It can also cause a serious blood infection if it gets into your bloodstream.
How Do You Kill Bacteria on Bedsheets?
Washing the sheets regularly. Bacterial growth can’t be stopped but can be controlled. If you wash your sheets frequently, it will kill bacteria and other organisms that could be harmful to your bedding.
Can You Get Sick From Bedding?
Of course. Not just sheets but all bedding materials are nurseries of bacteria. Let’s consider your pillowcases. Many sweat and drool when they sleep. This gives good conditions for dust mites to thrive.
Dust mites, along with their excreta, provide substances that trigger allergic responses in the skin. They can slow cause eczema, acne, and asthma.
Most people lay their beds in the morning and go to work. With the windows and doors shut, the warm, stuffy environment encourages dust mites to have a great time. When you come back, you simply fall into a well-laid bed and into the messy of the million dust mites.
The bedding can encourage cold transfer too. Since most people sneeze and cough while they sleep, the bedding hold these bacteria and transfer them to anyone who shares the bed.
Can Beddings Spread Coronavirus?
The Coronavirus is still on the rampage, even in 2021. With Omicron doing the rounds on this latest wave, it is paramount to stick to being hygienic.
COVID, like most flu viruses, can live on textile and be transferred if you come in contact with it. Bedding offers it great transferability.
Picture this. A family member came in contact with Corona at the train station. He came home, didn’t wash, jumped into the bed, and slept off.
Another family member now sleeps on the same bed. There is a possibility that he would catch the virus.
Can You Get A Rash From Dirty Sheets?
Rashes and itching are other problems if the sheets are not clean. Mold, mildew, or mildew can grow on damp sheets.
Depending on the level of the fungus and the sensitivity of your skin, this can lead to a flare-up of eczema or an allergic skin reaction called contact dermatitis.”
It’s important to note that washing sheets with scented detergents and other chemicals can worsen eczema.
So if you have sensitive skin, use a gentle, unscented product.
In addition to allergies, dirty sheets can also cause other potential skin problems, namely acne.
“If you sweat at night or exercise at night and don’t shower before bed, you may have acne or folliculitis,” says Robin Evans, a certified dermatologist and clinical dermatology instructor at Albert Einstein School of Medicine.
Can You Get A Staph Infection From Dirty Sheets?
Yes, and it can be terrible. Since staph can live a long time, they can spread to places where they can have an impact. Staph is usually harmless when they are outside the body but staph can cause serious infections in special conditions.
It is one of the main culprits of nosocomial infections, that is to say, infections contracted in a hospital environment, as well as food poisoning. Staphylococci cause skin conditions, most often benign, such as impetigo.
But, Staphylococcus aureus can lead to more severe infections like some forms of pneumonia and bacterial meningitis. This type of bacteria is also one of the main causes of food poisoning linked to cases of gastroenteritis.
When Staphylococcus aureus develops in the bloodstream, it can settle in the joints, bones, lungs, or heart. The infection can be very serious and sometimes even fatal.
How Often Should You Wash Your Bedsheets?
Just because we shower every night doesn’t mean bacteria and germs aren’t multiplying in our sheets. It’s inevitable.
So when should we change our sheets? According to a study in the UK in 2014, a third of people washed their sheets every week, 35% every two weeks, 8% every three weeks, and 10% every four weeks.
As for the others, they allowed up to two months to pass before washing them. But what do health professionals recommend?
To know what behavior to adopt, we must first study our habits. Sleeping alone in pajamas will not be the same as sleeping naked. If you take your showers at night and wear pajamas, change your sheets every fortnight.
On the other hand, if you take your shower in the morning, you will be advised to change the entire sheet weekly.
Washing bed sheets regularly gets rid of bacteria. We don’t realize the number of germs that proliferate in dirty bed linen. We must realize that we sweat almost a liter of water every night and that this perspiration is a favorable environment for dust mites and germs.
According to health estimates Online, there are 100,000 to 10 million dust mites in mattresses. Changing the sheets regularly, in view of this information, therefore, appears to be a priority, especially in summer, whatever your habits.
This is all the more essential since these microbes can be at the origin of certain diseases such as asthma, rhinitis, allergies, or eczema.
Do Seasons Affect the Amount of Bacteria On Sheets?
You might have read above that you should change your sheets every week “especially in the summer”. This is to suggest that the rate of bacterial growth in the summer exceeds other seasons?
Well, is that true?
One answer, yes.
The currency of bacteria growth on sheets is sweat. We sweat mainly in the summer, being the hottest season in most countries. This provides the perfect culture for microbial growth, and that is why you should operate a top-notch hygiene regime in this season.
With much sweat comes more growth. Failing to curb that only produce a bacterial nursery on your sheets.
At What Temperature Should You Wash Your Sheets?
If we must wash bed sheets frequently, we might want to ask, what is the ideal temperature necessary to eliminate these thousands of mites?
You don’t need to go to extreme temperatures before you can rid of bacteria. From 60 °C, you will be able to get rid of these germs
So buy sheets that can withstand such washing. The most suitable sheets are cotton ones because they are durable, comfortable, and will not promote excessive perspiration.
Also, be sure to sleep in a rather cool and dry environment, since dust mites love heat and humidity. Make sure the ventilation in the room is good.
Can You Get UTI From Dirty Bedsheets?
Unitary tract infections are a different ball game. While it’s possible to have bacteria that cause UTI on the sheet, the probability that you can contract it merely lying on the sheet is low.
UTI bacteria must get into the urethra before they can have any significant impact. Lying a dirty sheet doesn’t pose any risk to the urethra. Males are safer than women in contracting a UTI. Men have longer urethra and this poses a puzzling venture for bacteria to navigate.
Can Dirty Sheets Cause Yeast Infections?
Yeast infections like moisture. They would grow in any moisture-laden place and can provide them nourishment. A dirty bed sheet clicks the two boxes.
Dead cells from your skin provide yeast organisms a buffet to feed on while sweat is deposited at night or while we sleep it is conducive for their breeding.
So yes, a dirty sheet can cause yeast infections. Yeast infections would not make you sick, but they are still nasty, irritating diseases and undermine your perfect health.
Yeast infections can attack your skin and cause an itchy rash. Although it’s really fatal, it’s still painful.
Bacteria In Bed Sheets – Do Bed Sheets Have Bacteria? – CONCLUSION
It is shocking to discover that your bedsheets harbor more bacteria than the toilet seat.
Do You Really Need To Wash New Bed Sheets Before Using Them? [Answered]
Knowing that we have all the information required to make our rooms germ-free. It’s all in our attitude and hygiene and changing a few things which can help us avoid or remove harmful pathogens from our home.
It’s time to change the sheets!
