100 Comments Add your own

• 1. Danell  |  February 28th, 2010 at 9:53 pm

  Hey, my ABSOLUTE RULE for changing sheets is: whenever I damn well get ’round to it. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone several months without changing the sheets on our bed. I mean, I don’t make a HABIT of that or anything. I would say that in general I get around to it once or twice a month. Perhaps I’m gross, though.

  Other than that, anybody who has any sort of….accident on the bed gets changed pronto. That goes for us and the kids. Actually, I guess that’d be the ONLY time I change kid sheets…because something usually happens often enough that I don’t need specific schedule to remember to change them.

• 2. Kate  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:18 pm

  I totally do change my sheets every other day, because I L O V E the feeling of getting into a bed with clean sheets more than just about anything in the world. I also have a dog who sleeps on the bed and that grimes things up pretty darn quick.

• 3. aly  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:19 pm

  i “aim” for every 2 weeks, but uh… i often forget. maybe once a month? (unless that’s gross? and then no! every week! of COURSE!).

  i cannot imagine the amount of sheet sets it would take to change them every other day. that’s what– at least 3-4 sheet sets (if you’re doing wash 1x/week)? 3-4 sets that get washed EVERY WEEK? what the hell? who wants to fold that many queen/king fitted sheets?? and where in her giant mansion does she put 34293478325 sets of sheets??

  good lord. i wish i had a staff and that much closet space. maybe then i’d think changing sheets was a priority???

• 4. Kate  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:21 pm

  Oh, to answer Aly’s question, I only have two sets of sheets. I take them off, wash them and put them back on. In the rare event that I can’t wait to wash and replace them I’ll use the second set of sheets. So, there’s really no storage required and I’m sure as hell not folding them either!

  Ten bucks says that is not how it works at Kelly Ripa’s house, of course.

• 5. Caitlin  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:26 pm

  Heh. Erm. Usually whenever I start feeling Bits at the end of the bed when I jam my feet down there? Let it be said that (OMG this is gross) we have only wood floors, and 90% of our heat comes from the woodstove, which is in the middle of our living area, which means every day when wood gets hauled in, Wood Bits fall all over, so unless we vacuum or sweep EVERY damn day, Bits can get tracked all over pretty quickly. We, uh, also have two cats. So, our house, despite our frequent cleanings, will NEVAR be clean enough. So, yes, Bits. Bits in our bed, eventually, no matter how much we sweep or wipe off our feet before climbing in. All of this to postpone the grossness that is to tell you…we change the sheets whenever we get around to it. Usually about once a month. I wish we did it every week or so, but it just doesn’t happen. Hey! At least we change them more than once a year! (Which is more than I can say for a former college roommate who also LIVED AND ATE AND DID EVERYTHING IN HER BED OH MY GOD IT REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST HIDEOUS THINGS I HAVE EVER WITNESSED).

• 6. Jess  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:29 pm

  Dude, even HOTELS don’t change your sheets every other day unless you explicitly ask them to. SERIOUSLY.

  I don’t much care for Lindsey Vonn, but I still like her better than Julia Mancuso. Mostly I feel SORRY for Lindsey. I mean, they stick a camera in her face NONSTOP. We could even hear her unintelligible non-words watching other skiers crash. I mean, that’s just excessive.

• 7. daysgoby  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:30 pm

  Sundays. It’s something that my mother ingrained in me. (Which is HILARIOUS because the rest of my house? Usually looks like a train went through.

• 8. Melody  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:37 pm

  I remember hearing the phrase “change the sheets” for the first time as a kid. I was so confused. Change the sheets into what? A fort? A dress? A tablecloth?

  My mom told me that sometimes people have more than one set of sheets to put on their bed–so they take off one set of sheets and put a new set on. What utter decadence!

  As an adult, I still only have one set of sheets. Okay, and actually, I lost the top sheet somewhere along the way. So I just have a fitted sheet. I have other linens that go with other beds in the house, but for my bed–just the one (it’s the softest). I wash it, and all my blankets, every two months or so in the winter, and more often the rest of the year when allergens threaten and loom.

• 9. jonniker  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:38 pm

  Aly, I do laundry every damn day, but not SHEETS every day. The kid, she adds an assload of laundry.

  And my sheet-changing habits are like all y’alls, except for Kate, who is a MIRACLE SHEET-CHANGER.

• 10. Reagan  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:40 pm

  I love hearing about Sam’s milestones! You are the first blogger that I followed through her pregnancy, and I remember thinking of you during the due date time and being excited to finally hear about her birth! It seems weird, but I guess this is the age of the Internet and all that jazz.

  And YES, that is WAY excessive and, furthermore, not very environmental friendly! I think I change my sheets once a month or something, or just when they get that non-fresh feeling, ya know?

• 11. Sarah Lena  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:45 pm

  I think it’s fair to say 1) Kelly Ripa ain’t changin’ nobody’s sheets; Consuela is OBVSLY doing that for her and 2) this is the same woman who endorses Electrolux appliances and probably doesn’t boil water. Why anyone would have a conversation surrounding her homemaking skills is BEYOND me.

  Also? HATE THE NEW TATTOO.

  … I sort of hate Kelly Ripa.

• 12. Vicki  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:46 pm

  I love reading people’s different takes on things. On the first night of women’s skiing I pretty much echoed your sentiment – if you swapped Vonn and Mancuso’s names. Something about Julia Mancuso just bugs me – I think she reminds me of the uber-entitled girls I went to high school with. Not a terribly good reason to dislike someone I’ve never met… (but thought maybe I was picking up on something real when someone I know who knows her described her personality in umm not a very nice way)

  And, oh, our sheets? When we do laundry – which involves hauling everything to the laundromat. So, at least two weeks – or until the underwear runs out.

• 13. Rhi  |  February 28th, 2010 at 10:53 pm

  I change my sheets once a week. And, I fully admit to storing my spare set of sheets in the dryer during the week. Because folding sheets is STUPID.

• 14. Elizabeth  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:03 pm

  Yep, I change the sheets every Sunday. My mother also drilled that into me. I fully expect to find myself polishing shoes while watching Masterpiece Theater in a few short years (my mom does this EVERY Sunday night).
  The duvet cover I only change when it looks dirty though. And the crib sheets? Really, only when they look FILTHY, because damn, are they ever annoying to change.
  There is something really awesome about getting into clean sheets on Sunday night though- starting the week out right.

• 15. Elizabeth  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

  Sheets:

  on our bed, depending, maybe once every couple of weeks… sometimes and mostly less than that and have gone 4 or even (gasp 5 again depending) (don’t gross out on me)

  the kids (10,7,and 4)… depending, once a month usually when we finally see fit to force them to clean their rooms, sometimes (gasp!) longer.

• 16. Jessica  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

  I refuse to go on record as to the frequency of the changing of the sheets in my household.

  I guess that I proof that they aren’t changed frequently enough.

  As far as my daughter’s room, OMFG!

• 17. Steph the WonderWorrier  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:22 pm

  I usually do my sheets every two weeks, and frankly… every now and then I get lazy about that. But my ~*intention*~ is to do it every two weeks (many weekends I’m not sleeping in my bed here at home, as my boyfriend lives elsewhere, so I may only sleep on the sheets 8 times before I change them, not a full 14).

• 18. Melanie Kerton  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:26 pm

  my daughters crib sheet gets changed fairly frequently because oh my gravy the DROOL…… but I only use those stretchy knit sheets so they at least are easy to change… my sheets get changed about every 2 weeks, I strive for weekly but it just doesn’t happen…. course this week they were changed twice, do to the 4 yr old playing “fort” in my bed and bonking his nose which bled like crazy all over everywhere…..

  My son’s sheets—well I aim for every 2 weeks, but its hard…. he only has one set of cars sheets and of course i cant find the same set anywhere and he is so set in his ways that I dont dare replace them with a different set of car sheets, so they have to be washed and replaced either in the morning but before nap or in the afternoon but before bedtime, so the quick turnaround time really makes me lazy about getting his changed

• 19. Jessica  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:34 pm

  Oh boy. Can’t believe I’ll admit this, but hell, no one knows me here! We change our sheets whenever we have company come, because we usually give up our bed for them, because they are usually one set of parents, who, while not elderly, prefer a real mattress, to, say, an air mattress. ANYWHO, people visit us, um, every three months or so? Oh boy. So, I guess that’s how often our sheets get changed.

  *slinks away quietly in her own stink*

• 20. Marie Green  |  February 28th, 2010 at 11:55 pm

  My ideal for our sheets (adult bed) would be once a week. In reality it’s never quite that often, but it’s usually every 2 weeks. Once in awhile we venture into once-a-month land, but not intentionally.

  My kids sheets are a different story. We change them whenever they are peed, puked, or spit up (for babies) on. It seems like someone is leaking through a nighttime pull-up/diaper, or waking up barfing often enough those first few years that sheet changing frequency isn’t a problem. Now that my kids are older though, we are HORRIBLE about changing their sheets. Like, every-other month? Maybe longer?

  The thing is, they all sleep so pajama’d that it doesn’t seem as necessary. No skin cells are getting even TOUCHING their sheets, due to blanket sleepers, etc. Still, I’d love to wash them more… but somehow it just doesn’t happen.

  Look at that! Paragraph after paragraph about SHEETS! Oh, and I think Oprah once said she (or “she” for we all know she doesn’t do it herself) likes them changed every 3 days. And her guest- a dust mites expert or something- ROLLED HIS EYES at her, and stated that “for most Americans that’s not possible.” Which she handled gracefully and well. I do love Oprah, but sometimes her distance from my reality is alarming!

• 21. Marie Green  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:01 am

  Ha, ha, I love Rhi’s idea of storing them in the dryer. Because then, you could change sheets at bedtime, spin the clean ones until hot, and hop into a preheated bed!

• 22. Nicole  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:06 am

  So our sheets? Once every week or 10 days or so. Sometimes two weeks. Darren has night sweats so they get changed whenever I get tired of the smell fairly often.

  The sheet on the baby’s mattress? Um. Well. Whenever it looks gungy or needs it because of a diaper failure.

  Because really. Someone has to have a better way of putting sheets on a crib. Taking the whole mattress out to change the sheet is just Not Cool.

• 23. Jennie  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:09 am

  Unless necessary to do so sooner, we change them about 1-2 weeks, usually two. Fine, sometimes three.

• 24. Jessica  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:09 am

  Oh, I aim for two weeks but I bet it’s more than that. I have lots of mismatched and ugly sets but they came in handy when I was nursing and I’d leak every night and before I started using Pampers at night and the baby would pee all over the bed.

  I change his sheets every few months? Eek! But in my defense, he sleeps in my bed most of the night and sometimes for naps. So they aren’t even dirty.

• 25. Heather  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:33 am

  If I wasnt completely lazy I would love the idea of fresh sheets every other day! They feel so crisp and clean! Doesnt Oprah have fresh sheets daily? As it stands I change them once a week but it’s gone longer when I’ve forgotten.

• 26. JCF  |  March 1st, 2010 at 1:04 am

  I aim for once a week, but sometimes it ends up being probably every two weeks. My husband tends to sweat a lot in the summer, so I change a lot then or when we have a tiny baby sleeping with us (which we will again this summer, but not for the moment). So I guess my answer is approximately every week, unless the sheets have been sweat on, peed on, barfed on, or pooped on. The as needed.

  I change my kids’ sheets about every two weeks or as needed (pee, poop, barf, etc.)

• 27. Carla Hinkle  |  March 1st, 2010 at 1:21 am

  The grown up sheets every week. Really, I guess I must be in the “my mother ingrained it in me” club on that one because I have a distinct memory of stripping the sheets off my bed once a week as soon as I was old enough to do it, and I really have done it ever since. There are not many areas in which I am a housekeeping standout, but hey! I guess I found one.

  The kids, though … the baby’s sheet I change probably 2X per week because he is only 2 months old and spits up sooo much, I can’t stand to make him sleep in it. But the big kids (3 and 6)? They are lucky to get their sheets changed once a month. Because they have bunk beds and those are a pain in the ASS to change, especially the top bunk.

• 28. Jenna  |  March 1st, 2010 at 6:24 am

  -Every time I watch Kelly Ripa I remember how she used to be on this local NJ dance show called Dancing on Air (it’s possible-nay, probable- it was “Dancin’ on Air”) when she was a teenager. Her boyfriend at the time was a puny twerp named Mike Kelly and she was obsessed with how her name would be Kelly Kelly if they got married. And I always wanted to smack her, just a little.

  -I change my sheets whenever they ick me out. Sometimes that’s every week (when it’s hot and we’re sleeping with the windows open or when we’re especially dirty). I do love my little crib sheet topper dealies with snaps that go around the crib slats. Changing crib sheets should be an Olympic sport FOR REALS.

• 29. Jess  |  March 1st, 2010 at 6:49 am

  I aim for once a week, but it is not regimented. If I had someone who would change the sheets and wash them for me, hell yes I would change them all the damn time. But my washer is busy with all the clothes my family insist on wearing.

• 30. Jess  |  March 1st, 2010 at 6:50 am

  Oh- and kids sheets: um, whenever they have an accident or I’m feeling particularly laundry frisky…like before we have overnight guests and they may be sleeping in my kids beds while my kids sleep in a sleeping bag.

• 31. Laura  |  March 1st, 2010 at 7:39 am

  In the winter, I probably only change them every two-three weeks? We only have one set of flannel sheets that I really like and I get lazy. But in the spring and fall especially, I am almost OCD about sheet-changing because I have HORRIBLE seasonal allergies and we seem to get a lot of pollen in our bedroom. I usually end up washing my pillowcases every day and the whole bed 2x a week.
  The kids’ sheets I change as needed, after a bedwetting or diaper leak or what have you.

• 32. Jamie  |  March 1st, 2010 at 8:36 am

  We usually wash our sheets about every 2-3 weeks. I *AIM* for every two weeks but, you know, life happens.

  I should mention though that currently we are part-time co-sleeping so they get changed much more frequently due to milk / baby vom / diaper leakage. Any time any of that stuff happens it’s down to the washer with ya, one set of sheets, because… ew.

• 33. Kristin H  |  March 1st, 2010 at 8:39 am

  I really love clean sheets, so I change ours about once a week, on occasion every two weeks. I am not so good with my kids…theirs I change whenever I remember to. Maybe once a month? BUT when they were babies, I found changing the crib sheets often helped prevent baby acne. So I did the crib sheets several times a week.

• 34. Violet  |  March 1st, 2010 at 8:42 am

  Ours and my 4-year olds – probably once a month, maybe a little longer. We rent our basement, which is where the washing machine is, to a friend. I don’t like to impose too much, so we do a little here and there, and my husband takes a load or two to his mother’s when he visits. Then once a month or so we take EVERYTHING to the laundrymat, and throw in every towel, sheet, and backload we’ve got.

  But my 1-year old? Every 3 days or so. His sheets don’t hold up to leaking diapers or spilled bottles very well.

• 35. Cheryl  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:01 am

  Your brain works like a pachinko machine. It’s amazing you get any sleep at all.

  As far a sheet-changing goes, we try to be environmentally friendly by changing them as infrequently as possible. I think I just heard a chorus of angels sing.

• 36. Jessie  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:02 am

  I like to change them once a week but sometimes I don’t change them for 2 weeks. I love the feel of clean sheets and OH MY the fresh smell and if I didn’t give a hoot about the environment I’d change them much more often.

• 37. kakaty  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:04 am

  We aim for changing them every Sunday. It was something my mom did when we were kids…Sunday meant church, sunday school, a pancake breakfast and changing the sheets. I will say that we don’t always hit the weekly mark, but at the very least change them 2x a month. I miss having a cleaning lady who did it for me every Tuesday (she washed the sheets, too!) when I was pregnant with my first. Ahhh – life without daycare bills was nice!

  As for the Vonn thing – I totally agree with you…I hate the way the media has made her into this darling. I think it puts her (and most other female athletes) in a bad place.

• 38. Kris T  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:26 am

  Since it’s just the hubby and I, while I aim for earlier, it averages to be once a month, unless Kev has an oil/transmission fluid change go arwy (he’s a mechanic). Even if he showers I can still smell it the next morning, those get changed pronto.

  Something bugs the crap out of me about Linsday Vonn. I mean.yes, she was trying to be accomodating for the media (who overdid her coverage beyond belief) but in the end I found everything that came out of her mouth as well as her seemingly endless, unblinking, earnest stare at the reporters while answering a question, highly irritating.

• 39. Sally  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:31 am

  I started to read the comments and then I had to look away, because I kept reading the words “every two months” and “bits” and I felt the bile rising in my throat. Once a week. I change them once a week. Baby’s sheet gets changed probably every 2 weeks, or more frequently if he has a cold and has snotted everywhere.

  “Bits.”

• 40. Meg  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:33 am

  This reminds me of when I saw an Oprah and she recommended getting new pillows every 6 months. Which made me laugh since I only like flat pillows and therefore don’t even sleep on a pillow until it has been broken in for a year or so. And sheets? My other half likes them changed weekly and so that sometimes happens, but often it is more like 2 weeks. I try to change them all at once, so I don’t forget the kids’ beds.

• 41. Andrea  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:37 am

  I would like to change my sheets every week, but it ends up being closer to every other. I wash the blankets more often which I realize seems silly but my dogs sleep on them, so they get dirty quickly. We don’t have kids, but I’m a nanny and I change the two year olds sheets once a week. Their parents do the older kids twice a month. If I notice them looking grungy I will change them too.

• 42. Christine  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:40 am

  I aim for once every two weeks, but uh, forget, and it gets done probably around every three weeks or once a month, except for in the warm months when we are sweatier.

  No kids though. AND yes, I saw that Oprah thing about the 6 month pillow change and let’s just say I’ve had some pillows that are old old old.

• 43. Christine  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:40 am

  OH also, I will wash them right after we’ve had a cold, because that stuff grosses me out.

• 44. Suniverse  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:42 am

  I saw Kelly Ripa say that and I immediately wanted a maid to change my sheets EVERY DAY [suck it, with your every other day!]. I love clean sheets!

  Right now, it’s about every 2 weeks, though I aim for weekly. My daughter does her own, when I remember to remind her.

  As an aside – years ago, I was friends with a group of women and somehow, changing the sheets became a euphamism for having sex. And now, anytime anyone discusses how often they change the sheets, I immediately assume that they are discussing their sex lives.

• 45. Annie  |  March 1st, 2010 at 10:04 am

  The media is always looking to pit women against each other. And even if there IS some kind of drama between Lindsay Vonn and Julia Mancuso, I find it highly BORING next to both of their amazing skiing. And… Julia Mancuso is beautiful, too, in my opinion. So the media can shove it!

• 46. Swistle  |  March 1st, 2010 at 10:15 am

  I’m with Cheryl: I’m on the environmentally-friendly sheet-changing schedule.

  I got that friend paranoia too! I started thinking about what other people might dump ME for.

• 47. Shelly  |  March 1st, 2010 at 10:17 am

  I aim to change our sheets every 2 weeks, but in reality I only get around to it about every 3 weeks to once a month. My daughter’s sheets, on the other hand, um, well, less frequently. Her bed is right against the wall, so it’s a real bitch to make up. Um, yeah, I’ll be doing that tonight.

• 48. Andrea (@shutterbitch)  |  March 1st, 2010 at 10:59 am

  I would like to say I do so every week, but I’d be lying. Once a month is probably more typical, with occasional changes more frequently if something gross happens, like a kid spilling his milk in our bed or a leaky diaper. I change the kids’ sheets as often unless there are accidents, which seem more frequent, so they get changed probably twice a month or maybe as regularly as once a week, depending on the accident turnaround.

  I got annoyed with the Lindsay Vonn coverage but I get that part of it was because of her shin problem. It’s all part of the insurmountable odds thing that Olympic coverage tries to play up to make the athletes seem more superhuman than they are. What annoyed me about Vonn though is that she was carried around at the closing ceremonies last night with a boot on her leg. For serious? I know it’s been injured, but didn’t she SKI on it? She can certainly walk on it then. Unless that was a fresh injury that I missed her getting in the last event that she (fell) competed in. Didn’t she fall in almost every event except the one she won? Whatev. Go Julia Mancuso.

• 49. Brenna  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:01 am

  Oh, man. I wash our sheets (not change, only 1 set in this house!) every week if I’m on top of things, so it usually more like 2-3 weeks. The kids sheets are more like once a month, except for my older daughter’s. She has a loft bed which, as far as changing sheets goes, is the biggest pain in the ass EVAR. So the poor kid’s sheets only get changed when they start to smell. I’ve looked into those fancy zippered top sheets, but they’re expensive!

• 50. Robin  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:03 am

  We change our sheets twice a week. I LOVE clean sheets and I swear I sleep better when the sheets are clean. I would totally change them every other day if that didn’t involve washing sheets every other day. I change the crib sheet once a week.

• 51. Li  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:04 am

  Thank you for this post — because every night when I put Eliya to bed, I have a brief minute of feeling like the world’s crappiest mom and housekeeper since i’m not exactly sure when I last changed the sheets on her crib but I am absolutely positively going to do it tomorrow. Really, I swear.

  Good to know that I am not alone in dreadig the crib sheet changing and not quite getting around ot it on a regular basis….

• 52. Suebob  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:09 am

  I have the best intentions of changing sheets once a week. That’s as big of a claim as I can make.

  I would, however, LOVE to change sheets every day, because I sleep so much better on fresh sheets. I’m just not organized enough and waaaay too lazy.

• 53. jonniker  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:15 am

  Incidentally, my Sheet Changing Goal is every two weeks. I don’t really, um, hit this goal as often as I’d like.

  But! Like many of you mentioned, I wish I could change my sheets every day. I LOVE Clean Sheet Day, and always sleep better those nights, too.

• 54. Auntie G  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:34 am

  May I share the best crib sheet hack I have ever heard (and used)? Assuming you have several crib sheets and pads, put them ALL on the mattress: waterproof layer, then pad, then sheet, pad, sheet, pad, sheet until you are done or you can’t make any more fit. THEN when you have to change the cribsheet, all you have to do is pull off one sheet and one little pad and you are SET. The mattress can stay put. Of course, a titanic blowout/leak/barf that affected many layers could be an issue…maybe you want to keep one dry sheet in the linen closet just in case…but OH MY LANDS, this tip has made me dread this chore so much less. It never would have occurred to me to do this if another mom hadn’t told me about it. Also, I always put the same sheet on the bottom layer (I don’t have lots of matching crib sheets; I have different patterns) so that I know when I’m at the bottom and will need to haul that damn mattress out of the crib again soon and start the fun all over again…

• 55. Nothing But Bonfires  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:41 pm

  Ooh, if I were super rich I’d change them every other day. NOTHING better than getting into bed with fresh sheets. As it is, I usually change them every week, and this is super nerdy but I always aim to do it Friday night so that I can hop into a nice clean bed and know that THE WEEKEND HAS BEGUN. Oh yes: ten years ago, Friday night would have been marked by a night out on the town. These days, it’s marked by nice fresh sheets. My teenage self would be appalled.

  (PS: Does anyone else also aim for fresh pajamas and fresh towels on Fresh Sheet Day? No? Just me?)

• 56. Amy  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:45 pm

  I TRY to change them every other week but since I also have to go to a laundromat, that sometimes gets pushed to once a month. I used to nanny for a family that required me to wash their kids’ sheets 1ce per week and that was a pain in the patootie. Their kids weren’t that dirty and it seemed like a lot of water/electricity/soap to go through just for crispy sheets.

  On Lindsey Von…try living in Minnesota, the state of her origin. It’s all Lindsay all the time here. Meh.

• 57. julie  |  March 1st, 2010 at 12:54 pm

  Every week, but only because I have a cleaning lady.

• 58. Kader  |  March 1st, 2010 at 1:01 pm

  I don’t really have a plan for how often to change the sheets. When I hit one of those house-cleaning binges, I always change the sheets. Sometimes I just get tired of the sheets, so I change them. We have 5 sets of sheets, and they all fit in one drawer.
  We once had a housesitter who slept in our bed for 10 days and didn’t change the sheets before she left. There was dirt in our bed. Not just the hint of dirt. Actual, visible clumps of dirt. WTF??
  Oh, one more thing. Apparently, I have an obsession with pillowcases. I don’t change pillow cases more often than I change sheets. But I have about 40 pairs of pillowcases. And I really can’t tell you why.

• 59. Melissa C  |  March 1st, 2010 at 1:04 pm

  For our bed, my goal is weekly, but I don’t always manage that and consider every 2 weeks to be good enough. I do change the baby’s crib sheet weekly though.

• 60. Lynnette  |  March 1st, 2010 at 1:42 pm

  I am also a fan of putting layers of crib sheets and waterproof pads on the crib. I first heard about this bed “lasagna” from Swistle and thought it was genius. Three sheets and pads last Baby Girl about a week.

  My sheets? Usually every couple of weeks if I’m feeling ambitious. I do love that feeling of a freshly made-up bed, though. It’s all the more special when it happens sparingly.

• 61. Michelle  |  March 1st, 2010 at 1:49 pm

  This post made me laugh. We aim for every week, but it’s usually every two. I can’t imagine having to change sheets every other DAY! Jeez Kate, WTF are you? Superwoman? I’m totally clicking over to see what kind of girl does that. I even stay home and still can’t make it happen.

• 62. monkey  |  March 1st, 2010 at 2:36 pm

  Julia Mancuso models and is actually sexier than Lindsey Vonn, so I doubt the media is focusing on Lindsey over her because of her lack of looks. I just feel like the media zooms in on the one person they think has the best chances for crazy batches of medals + some charisma and gives reasonably non-crazy soundbites. Lindsey Vonn was ranked #1 (or so I thought), is married to her coach, and seems like a goody two shoes. Julia Mancuso was underperforming (comparatively) and really redeemed herself at this Olympics. A lot of people think the track favoured her skillset. Personally, I think these rivalries get exacerbated up by the people reporting on them.

  It’s kind of the same way this year the male figure skating golden boy was Evan Licey-Chex. Everyone dropped Johnny Weir like hotcakes for having an uneven career post-Turin, being flamboyantly gay and giving generally no-no snarky (and frankly, made-of-awesome) press conferences. If you actually watch his reality show you can see that while he mocks Evan, he actually says a lot of nice things about the fact that Evan’s wins over the year helped him get to the Olympics.

  I just can’t take any of the Olmypics reporting (along with heart warming stories) very seriously. I think it’s all about focusing on the predicted superstars for ratings purposes.

• 63. beyond  |  March 1st, 2010 at 3:47 pm

  i love nothing more than sleeping in a fresh-linen-bed! so ideally i would change the sheets twice a week. that said, i aim for once a week. it usually happens every ten days, or every two weeks or so. i see that most of your commenters are on the same schedule as me, so thanks for making me feel normal.

• 64. Home Sweet Sarah  |  March 1st, 2010 at 4:09 pm

  I change our sheets about once every two weeks or three, but honestly, it really depends on how much my husband has screwed up the bedding the night before. If it looks like it’ll take me forever to make the bed, then I just strip them shiz down and wash the sheets! I don’t know if that makes me lazy or not. I’m going with not.

• 65. Sheryl  |  March 1st, 2010 at 4:58 pm

  If I had an Esmerelda-the-maid, they’d get changed every day. I love fresh sheets.

  As it is….I shoot for weekly (HAHAHA), but it ends up being every 2-3 weeks. Less in the winter, more in the summer (we don’t have AC). How much cat hair I can tolerate at any given time is a good indicator (gross). Also depends on how much I’ve been tossing and turning and now trashed the bed is. A trashed bed gets changed more quicly than when I’ve been sleeping like the dead.

• 66. anna banana  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:06 pm

  Thank you Julie for allowing me not to be the first one to admit that it’s once a week, but only because I have a cleaning lady. I feel so spoiled! But hubby had one waay before we wed and Oh well, I have grown accustomed. I mearly have to find clean sheets in the closet and place them on top of the massive mess on each bed and voila they are changed every Tuesday. I used to change the crib sheets when the girls were babies…all the freaking time, between piss leaks and drool and spit up etc. It just stank!
  If it were up to me, and it was when I was single, I changed my sheets WHENEVER i had occassion too; or enough quarters for the laundromat.

• 67. 12ontheinside  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:13 pm

  Every week. Without fail. Sometimes twice a week. Even then I would prefer it to be more frequently – after all, you sweat all over those sheets all night. It’s not as if you’d wear the same shirt for a week, and I can’t see the difference.

• 68. Coco  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:54 pm

  Once a week.

• 69. H  |  March 1st, 2010 at 9:57 pm

  I change the sheets on all our beds every Friday. That is “laundry day”. Although I do laundry during the week, whenever the hampers are full or someone is running out of underwear, Friday is the day I do everything that hasn’t been laundered during the week, like the sheets. My mom’s laundry days were Monday and Thursday and she had a specific set of items washed on those days. Our pillow cases were done twice a week and — she starched and ironed them. When I was a teenager, that was my job and I only enjoyed it because it could be done in front of the TV.

• 70. SwingCheese  |  March 1st, 2010 at 10:12 pm

  I’m so glad that someone else mentioned ironed pillow cases! Growing up, my mom changed/washed the sheets once a week, and every once in awhile, she would iron them, and it was like sliding into heaven that night! When I told my husband this, he laughed, a lot. Of course, when he was single, he would only change his sheets about once a month. If I was lucky.

  But now? Every week, baby. (See above about mother-indoctrination.) Although when we’re snotty-sick or if the kiddo leaks overnight, then they are immediately changed. ‘Cause ew.

• 71. Danell  |  March 1st, 2010 at 10:42 pm

  12ontheinside: but I’m not going anywhere WEARING my bedsheets like I would a shirt. And I’m wearing underwear and pj’s in the bed, so the sheets are more like the JACKET I’d wear OVER my shirt…and I wouldn’t wash a jacket every few days.

• 72. rebecca  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:12 pm

  BAH/. sheets. at this point in our lives, we are just out of the ‘change the sheets when Violet pees on them so about 3 times a week” phase. Honestly, the kids do so many snotty, poopy, pee-ey, spit-uppy things in their sleep, that i change them when i notice the dirt, about 3 times a month. and since Violet still ends up in our bed magically just about every might…same for my sheets, too.

• 73. KatieR  |  March 1st, 2010 at 11:22 pm

  Our Bed: when Ever I thnk about it or when they look/feel dirty… Andrew, just about every other day some times more, he is 2 and is constently peeing though his diapers…and I hate to admit it on the internet, but he also has a bit of a problem with taking off all of his clothes and diaper and playing with his poop (YUCK I KNOW….head to toe baby!!!) So we have LOTS of sheets for his crib!!!

• 74. robyn  |  March 2nd, 2010 at 11:18 am

  Once every two weeks (sometimes three) for both adults and kids in our house, unless some sort of accident dictates an emergency change. Changing sheets is a frakking pain in the ass.

• 75. Penny  |  March 2nd, 2010 at 4:41 pm

  We change ours every week only because someone else does it for us. Judge away, but I decided that if I’m going to have a family AND work, I’m outsourcing the small stuff if I can afford it, and housekeeping is #1.

  Our kids sheets – once a week for our older one, maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks for our baby.

• 76. jonniker  |  March 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 pm

  What is all this “judge away” stuff about cleaning ladies? Who cares if anyone has a cleaning person? No need to be defensive — I don’t think anyone got hostile about it, and dude, if you have it, use it! We used to, when we both worked. Now we don’t. Some day we might again. It’s fine!

  Unless you’re Kelly Ripa and act high and mighty about your sheet changing. Then I judge you, and your Electrolux appliance-hawking-can’t-even-turn-on-an-oven SELF.

• 77. elz  |  March 2nd, 2010 at 10:54 pm

  Every other day? Exactly how dirty are she and her husb…wait, NO. We have 2 sets of sheets and change sheets every week. My kids (both potty trained) have 3 sets of sheets and we also change those once a week. Just think of how much laundry you’d have if you changed sheets every other day!

• 78. Kate  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 1:28 am

  Considering I just made a daily chore list for my husband ( at his request) and put “change sheets” on it, I suppose we’ll be doing it more regularly. Like every other week. And the kids probably the same. Before the chore list? Probably once a month.

• 79. Alicia  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 1:05 pm

  When I had only my own laundry to do, I washed my sheets every Friday, or more often, sometimes. Now, with five kids… Our sheets are washed every week or two, I’d say. The kids’ sheets get washed really regularly, since they are still young enough for accidents. Almost EVERY day, in fact (for now!)

  We have 2 sets of sheets for each bed, and 5 crib sheet/mattress pad sets for the baby. That’s, y’know, like 15 sets of sheets… No one wants to do that much laundry every other day. Yikes.

• 80. little miss mel  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 2:05 pm

  once a month for us and the two kids, which includes a crib sheet. I think that is pretty decent and doable in my household.

  In the summer, maybe more often if I can get around to it.

• 81. Danell  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 5:13 pm

  OMG, I wish my husband would REQUEST a chore list…of ANY kind, daily, weekly, monthly..any of those would be good! How’d you get so lucky, Kate? =)

• 82. Mauigirl  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 6:46 pm

  My mother always changed sheets every week. I never have. Before we had a cleaning lady sometimes I went 3 weeks before changing them. Now we have her do it, and since she is here every other week, that’s when they get changed.

  Here’s a question for you: How often do you change your towels? My father-in-law has to use a new towel EVERY SINGLE TIME he takes a shower. I was brought up to change towels once a week. Which is about what we do. When I remember.

• 83. Jen  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 8:30 pm

  We’re every two week people around here. I do love the feeling of clean sheets – they never feel quite the same after that first night, do they?

  Isn’t the “Hiiii!” from Sam the best? Avery was just crawling out into the kitchen and then coming back into the living room repeatedly, just so that she could say “Hiii!” over and over. Oh my heart!

  A is also a HUGE lift-the-flap fan. I found an old school Little People school bus book with a million flaps and she could look at that thing all day!

  Also, I would have eaten that whole zucchini too. Yum.

• 84. Farrell  |  March 5th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

  OMIG Kelly annoys the hell out of me. I change my sheets every three days but that is primarily due to the fact that both the cat and dog sleep with me. So, a lot of fur/shedding/hair. gross. I change my daughter’s sheets once a week because the animals do not sleep with her.

  Speaking of, heard on NPR the other day that the British, and more specifically, Londoners (word?) only change their sheets like, NEVER. Like 3x a year or something crazy. So, if ever traveling in Great Britain? Note to self: BRING OWN SHEETS. I’m not sure if the hotels follow this policy or not, but you never can be too careful, can you?

• 85. Shana  |  March 6th, 2010 at 7:10 am

  Lindsey Vonn lost me with the “lookit poor me” whining about her shin. Oh, the shin. The shin heard ’round the world. An out if she performed poorly, and Adversity! she Courageously! triumphed over if she did well.

  Then I caught wind of the fact that Julia Mancuso’s a compulsive tiara-wearer. No offense to any tiara-wearing ladies in the audience, but any grown woman with a princess thing…still has some growing up to do. You’re a badass skier — do you really have to wear freakin’ princess accessories? How is the sporting world supposed to take you seriously? Can’t help but think it plays into sexism, instead of turning it on its head.

  And she has a line of thongs that she sells and models. Awesome. Thanks for, again, playing into the whole sexualization thing. Neither seems classy or the sort I’d want to have a cup of coffee with.

  Sheets: weekly. Dogs sleep with me, leave fur everywhere, think they’re helping.

• 86. Erin (Snarke)  |  March 6th, 2010 at 11:16 pm

  Does it make me gross that the sheets pretty much only get changed when I look at them and think “when was the last time I changed the sheets? These are starting to look kind of grungy!” ? That is mostly because we don’t have our own washer and dryer so changing the sheets means paying for an extra load of laundry in the laundry room of our apartment complex. I’d like to think that if we had our own washer/dryer that I’d change them more often.

• 87. HollyLynne  |  March 7th, 2010 at 2:08 pm

  Every weekend . . . but if I miss a weekend I don’t sweat bullets over it. Our firstborn will be coming along in 7 more weeks though and I suspect that will throw a serious wrench in my sheet rotation. I’m thinking it’ll be him, daily . . . us, maybe pushing into 3 week territory.

• 88. Christy  |  March 8th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

  I have nothing of value to add, but I have to say I’m cracking up at the Electrolux ad featuring Kelly Ripa at the top of the page :b

• 89. LJ  |  March 8th, 2010 at 11:44 pm

  I change the sheets every 2-3 weeks, ALWAYS on a Friday night so I can enjoy them all weekend- and like a previous poster mentioned, with clean jammies & towels for morning **bliss** -but I also cheat and change the pillowcases more often , a couple of times a week. That’s easy enough to do, not much more laundry and feels nice.is pretty

• 90. LJ  |  March 8th, 2010 at 11:49 pm

  oh, and Penny? LOVE the outsourcing comment. Yes to help, No to guilt!

• 91. Trenches of Mommyhood  |  March 9th, 2010 at 2:34 pm

  Don’t ask me! I’m the one whose child had an entire BOOGER COLLECTION on his bedsheet. Not just one or two. An ARRAY. A PLETHORA.

  So, um…yeah.

• 92. Olivia  |  March 10th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

  I used to change the sheet every two weeks, but life with a baby has messed up my schedule. I either change them once a month or I change them twice in a week because of spit-up or a leaky diaper.

  The media’s coverage of Vonn, blech. I was so annoyed watching a race she wasn’t even in, and the camera kept showing her reactions.

  Waaaayyyy up thread, you said you do a laundry every day. You are the first person I’ve heard does and I just don’t understand why people would wash clothes every day. Are you doing half-loads? We have two adults and one baby in my house and I do 4-5 loads a week including diapers. So, I guess I could do one each day, but that would drive me nuts. I have Laundry Day. If it gets dirty before Laundry Day, you have to wait for it to be washed.

• 93. Olivia  |  March 10th, 2010 at 4:18 pm

  “You are NOT the first person I’ve heard does THIS and ..”

  Blah, typos!

• 94. Dani  |  March 10th, 2010 at 11:33 pm

  Um so I change my sheets every weekend unless I am ill or not home. One my hubby swears like a monkey. Two I like the feel of cool crisp sheets. Three as a kid my dad had this freaky thing about sheets and made us change them every holiday no matter what. So if you changed your sheets Saturday and Sunday was easter well too bad for you. Go change those sheets. Also every Christmas each kid got new sheets and that tradition has carried on. I am married and pushing thirty and I still get new sheets every Christmas from my dad. So I have seven sheet sets! I am a sheet hog.

• 95. Dani  |  March 10th, 2010 at 11:35 pm

  Sweats my hubby sweats like a monkey not swears!

• 96. Olivia  |  March 11th, 2010 at 9:30 am

  Dani, thanks for the laugh. I am enjoying the picture of a monkey swearing like a sailor.

• 97. Bejewell  |  March 11th, 2010 at 11:32 am

  On this theory that looks matter in the Blogosphere:

  I’ve never seen a picture of you, but judging from the number of comments on this post, you must be gorgeous. Like, CINDY CRAWFORD gorgeous. Like, 20-Year-Old-Cindy-Crawford-Fresh-Out-Of-Hair-and-Makeup-Just-About-to-Step-Onto-the-Runway-in-Her-Valentino-Gown-With-Her-Hair-Blowing-in-the-Wind gorgeous.

  I, on the other hand, look like Shrek.

  nd judging

• 98. Shin Ae  |  March 12th, 2010 at 7:26 pm

  I don’t know how often I change the sheets. When they need it. I guess ours get changed every two weeks or so. The kids’ usually get changed every week or so (they DO things to the sheets. Pee! Pens! Shoes!). I thought this was all very funny b/c I responded to a tweet from Martha Stewart (Oh how I love her and her tweeting which strikes me as HILARIOUS) about this very issue and then had to delete my answer tweet out of that very “Oh! Once a week! Of course, I do too!” kind of feeling you expressed. Utter sheet humiliation. That Martha saw (okay, probably not really).

• 99. Sarah  |  March 13th, 2010 at 8:20 am

  Ooooh, I love the sheet changing question! In fact, I love questions about the mundane details of our lives, because don’t you always secretly wonder what other people do? You just don’t usually ask because it feels so mundane. Anyway, I change our sheets once a week. And I have a two month old baby, and I change his sheets, ummm, whenever I absolutely have to because its a damn nightmare getting that sheet back on his crib mattress (read: you have to pull the entire mattress out of the crib, disrupt the crib bumpers, and pull 16 muscles in your back to accomplish the task).

• 100. College News and Articles&hellip  |  April 25th, 2010 at 6:03 am

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