How to Care for Bed Linens

Sheets and pillowcases comes in a variety of fabrics, weaves and thread counts. Whether you prefer percale, Egyptian cotton or linen for the bed, sheets are often quite an investment, particularly when you consider that we spend up to one-third of our lives in bed. Here's suggestions to care for bed linens to extend their usefulness and preserve the quality.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Change sheets and pillowcases once a week. Launder according to the manufacturer's instructions. Use warm or cool water to prevent shrinkage.

2. Keep linens white and remove stains with a non-chlorine oxygenated bleach, which is gentler on fabrics than chlorine bleach. Forego fabric softener that decreases absorbency and weakens fibers.

3. Check sheets and pillowcases for spots and stains before putting them in the dryer. Treat any stubborn areas and re-launder.

4. Dry sheets on low heat. Remove from the dryer while slightly damp to avoid weakened fibers. Iron if necessary while still damp.

5. Fold the top sheet and the fitted bottom sheet and one pillow case. Store inside the other pillowcase.

6. Group sets of sheet by bedroom and stack them on shelves with a clearance of about 10 inches. Have three sets of sheets on hand for each bed.

7. Rotate sheet sets by using the set on top of the stack. Put the most recently laundered set on the bottom of the pile.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy an extra set or two of pillowcases and change them halfway through the week to freshen up the bed.

Resources

• Learn more about different kinds of linens.