Why you should never make your bed
People often tell you to make your bed because it “starts the day off well” or that it brings order and calm.
But the lazy among us have always known making your bed is a bad idea.
For starters, it’s difficult to see the point of arranging all your throw pillows and stuffed animals on the bed if you’re only going to push them off hours later.
If you have to leave the house early in the morning you’re probably all bleary-eyed and you don’t have the time or desire for tackling chores.
Even if you thought about making your bed, as soon as someone nags you to do it, that immediately makes you not want to do it. It’s all very complicated.
Plus, it’s harder to get comfortable in your bed if it’s been made and the sheets are firmly tucked in. (I like to create a cocoon out of blankets and fold all the sheets up around my legs, to the point where it’s stupidly warm, which is why bed-making is not for me.)
Another thing to consider: if you make your bed in the morning, that means you’re telling yourself that you won’t be getting back into it for the rest of the day, and you just don’t need to place those boundaries on yourself.
Finally, all these very valid points have now also been backed up by scientific evidence. Thanks science.
According to reports, making your bed every morning may be bad for your health.
The reason is dust mites; they don’t just look nasty, they are nasty.
In the average bed there’s as many as 1.5 million microscopic mites crawling around and feasting off the skin cells you shed while you sleep.
In the morning, if you make your bed immediately, all of the skin cells, sweat, mites and their droppings – which can cause asthma and allergies – will be trapped underneath.
However, if the bed is left unmade, the mites, dead skin, the sweat, all of it, will be exposed to fresh air and light.
So, if you have to make your bed it is better to wait until the evening. By that point your bed is much less appealing to dust mites and they will have died from dehydration or just lost interest.
What you should do to mitigate allergies is wash your sheets every one-to-two weeks, use a damp mop or rag to remove dust and encase your mattress and pillows in dust-proof or allergen impermeable covers.
There you have it. Will this reason stop you from making your bed of a morning? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Madeline Wedeswelier. First appeared on Domain.com.au.
Related links:
Is it possible for your house to be too clean?
10 toxic items in your home that might surprise you
9 over-cleaning habits that damage your things