Bed hygiene in summer: what lives in your mattress
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Every summer, your bed quietly becomes the least hygienic place in the house. And almost nobody does anything about it.
In summer, the body sweats around half a litre per night. That sweat, together with the heat and the humidity, creates the perfect environment for what nobody wants to hear: dust mites, bacteria and fungi love exactly this climate. The mattress and, above all, the pillow — which absorb sweat, oil and skin every night — become their favourite habitat.
Sheets are only the top layer
Most people wash the sheets and think they have taken care of hygiene. But underneath, the pillow you have not replaced in four years and the mattress that has never been aired accumulate months of everything the body releases during the night. This is what breathes against your face, eight hours a night.
And the heat also speeds up the wear: cheap foams soften and lose support faster with sweat and temperature. What should last ten years lasts five.
Sleep hygiene in summer, properly
It is much more than a made bed:
- Washing the bed linen more often and at 60 degrees — a lower temperature does not kill dust mites.
- Airing the mattress in the morning instead of covering it straight away with the duvet. Let the humidity from the night out.
- Using a washable protector. It is the barrier between the sweat and the mattress, and it goes in the machine — I explained here how to choose the right protector. See the mattress protectors.
- Replacing the pillow once it is past its life span. Yes, it has an expiry date — typically 2 to 3 years. See the pillow range.
It is not only the heat
What ruins your sleep in summer is not only the temperature — it is also what lives in your bed because of it. Replacing the pillow and protecting the mattress is half the work; the other half is keeping everything cool, and I cover that in the guide on how to sleep in the heat.
See also
