For many Britons, laundry is an endless household chore involving many rules for various items. Some need to be washed at a high temperature with bleach, baking soda, or white vinegar to banish stains and kill germs, while others require a more gentle approach.
Laundering bed sheets divides households. The exact temperature at which you should wash them is debatable, as is how often you should put fresh linens atop the mattress. However, homeware designer Linda Barker says there’s another essential to consider when looking after your bedding. She said: “Washing bed linen once a week is a good habit to get into regardless of the season; if this seems too much washing, then at least the pillows and the sheet should deserve this attention.”
Linda continued, “Cooler temperatures in the washing machine will prolong the life of your bedlinen and protect it from unnecessary colour loss.
“Hot water is always damaging to bedlinen as it breaks up the cotton (or silk) fibres and makes them brittle. It’s what the ‘lint’ is in your washing machine. The more lint, the more damage.”
But Linda says switching your 60C wash for something around 40C or below is only worthwhile if you remove certain items from the laundry basket first.
The homeware designer revealed she “never puts anything in the washing machine that might snag or tear the linen” and warned: “Save your regular dirty clothing, those with buttons, zips and fastenings, for another separate load.”
Most washing machines have an “eco” wash setting, which uses warm water so if preferable for bed linens and other delicates. Linda says this is much kinder to linen and the environment.
She said, “I don’t own a dryer, so all my laundry is outside on the washing line. I’ll avoid rainy days, of course, but even in the winter, I can usually get things dry.
“Thankfully, taking care of the environment is the best approach for matching the care of our laundry, so everything is good here. Always use the eco option on your washing machine.”
As for what you’re putting in the machine, Linda suggests reducing the number of chemicals in the washing cycle.
“Often, our washing is to get rid of skin and sweat rather than a buildup of dirt, so don’t be too heavy-handed with the chemicals, which can be too damaging”, she explained.
There’s an easy way to give your laundry, and the washing machine a service. To keep her bedding in top condition, Linda says she washes linen without commercial detergents once or twice a year.
“I use a cup of borax (or baking soda) instead, which is also good for the washing machine”, she said.
