Best tip to properly wash bed sheets and kill bacteria with no need for 60C

Neglecting washing bed sheets allows dirt, body oils, dead skin cells and sweat to build up night after night, which doesn’t make for the most pleasant sleeping environment.  If that wasn’t enough to prompt households to change their bedding, dirty bed sheets can seriously mess with skin and leave Britons with health problems over time – meaning it’s really important you get into a good routine of cleaning them.  Cleaning expert at Astonish , Olivia Young, has shared her ‘best advice on how to properly wash your bed sheets and eliminate any bacteria’ – making sure bedding gets the love and attention it truly deserves. How often should you wash bed sheets? According to the expert, this laundry task should be carried out once a week. While it may sound slightly over the top, washing bed sheets once a week is the ‘best approach’ to keep them ‘pristine and dirt-free’.  Olivia explained: ‘Our bodies shed millions of skin cells daily, so we need to make sure where we rest and recuperate after a long day isn’t acting as a ‘hotbed’ for bacteria and germs to grow.’ Bed sheets as a ‘hotbed’ for bacteria and germs to grow (Image: Getty) When cleaning sheets, it is suggested to use a laundry cleanser that promises to ‘kill 99.9 percent of bacteria’. This is especially important for those who haven’t changed the bedding in some time. The expert instructed: ‘Just drop in four capfuls to the fabric softener drawer of your washing machine to give your sheets what they really deserve – long-lasting freshness and comforting softness.  ‘Anything above 20°C will work to properly clean your bedding and leave you with rejuvenated sheets, free from bacteria.’ How to deal with stains Removing stains from bedding can be tough, as households need to find the balance between a product that is ‘tough on stubborn marks’, but is also ‘soft on the fabric material’.  Anything above 20°C will work to properly clean your bedding (Image: Getty) Any kind of compromise here can potentially ‘ruin your bedding’, forcing people to fork out for replacement sheets – but this can easily be avoided. Olivia advised: ‘Before putting your bedding in the wash, use a fabric stain remover that will tackle those embedded stains, without damaging the material.  ‘Apply the stain remover to both sides of the fabric and then crack on with a machine wash for the best chance at removing those stubborn stains.’ How to keep white bedding white  Fresh white bedding is timeless and always looks elegant – but, it can be a real nightmare to keep clean, whether it’s stains and spills or just a general dull tone that emerges over time. How to use baking soda for cleaning (Image: EXPRESS) Looking for a new home, or just fancy a look? Add your postcode below or visit InYourArea To prevent this from happening, households should grab the baking soda that they are likely to have in their cupboard and add half a cup into the drum next time they wash their white sheets.  The expert claimed: ‘This will put that crisp white look back into them, as baking soda has natural whitening abilities, meaning it will boost your detergent’s cleaning power.  ‘If baking soda still isn’t enough to make your greyed bedding bright again, then use an oxy powder to tackle the seemingly immovable stains and leave your sheets looking whiter than white in no time.’ Storing bed sheets  It is also important to consider how to store bed sheets. To keep white bedding looking ‘brand-new’, make sure to store it in a clean cupboard or drawer so ‘unwanted stains don’t appear’.  Also, try to keep really dark sheets stored away from the whites as ‘darker colours can transfer dye’.