How often you need to wash bedding in heatwave - including pillows

Even if you have a fan on during the night, you’re bound to sweat more in hotter weather, so how often should you be changing your bed?

Chloe Barrow, interior expert at Laura James, said that homeowners should wash their sheets at least once - if not twice - a week during summer.

“In the warmer months, I recommend washing your bedding every week as a minimum,” she said. “Hot nights mean more sweat and skin cells accumulate in the sheets.

"If you experience night sweats, are prone to allergies, or have pets sharing your bed, I recommend upping this to twice a week to help maintain freshness and to be hygienic."

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And she said it’s important not to forget to wash pillows. "The most common mistake people make when cleaning bedding is not washing their pillows,” she added. "No, I don’t mean pillowcases, I mean actual pillows.

"I recommend doing this at least twice a year as a minimum, and treat them according to their filling. Synthetic pillows tolerate warmer washes.

"But feather or down should be washed cool and air-dried flat to avoid clumping or damage. If you’re a night sweater, I’d recommend washing your pillows a couple of times over the summer period."

Meanwhile, Clean queen Alison Chadwick from Stockport near Manchester, who has 161,000 followers on Instagram, previously told The Mirror bedding should be washed once a week - even more if you let your pet sleep alongside you.

“We don’t let our dog on the bed but if we did I would definitely wash the bedding once a day as Ginger is big, slobbery and smelly - like the one out of Turner & Hooch,” Alison said. “If he was less stinky I’d probably only wash them once a week.”

The 43-year-old ‘cleanfluencer’ also gave some tips on keeping laundry smelling fresh without having to fork out for expensive products.

She says: “I’ve found that cheap fabric conditioners are just as good as the expensive ones and you can keep clothes fresher by cleaning your washing machine every six months.

“A great tip is to cut a lemon in two and put a squirt of toothpaste in your drum. Try leaving the door open after every wash to dry out the drum. You can also put bicarbonate of soda in the drum of your washing machine, which helps to soften your laundry.”

She also has tips on making clothes that have been worn more than once smell good.

“Anything that you’re wearing close to the skin - like T-shirts, sportswear and bras - need to be washed more often, but outer clothes can be worn for longer and there are ways you can keep them fresh,” she says. “Just freshen them up with Febreeze, Fabulosa or Lenor Crease Releaser Spray."