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If You Knew Just How Disgusting Dirty Sheets Are, You'd Wash Them More Often

Did you know that you have a garbage disposal living in your bed? People shed 15 million skin cells a night, which end up on your pillowcase and in your sheets. Dust mites eat these cells. And the longer you wait to wash your bed linens, the more they have to eat--and the more time they have to multiply. Yuck! Dust mites and their feces produce proteins that cause red, itchy eyes, and runny noses in allergic people. Fungus can also build up on bedlinens. One study found a typical pillow has as many as 16 different fungi. Another found dirty linens have several thousand times more bacteria than a toilet seat. Dirty sheets can also act as a giant, dirty makeup wipe. Oils and cosmetics that rub off on the pillowcase get transferred back, clogging the pores and causing acne. To avoid all this, just wash your sheets at least once a week, using the hottest water possible. That'll kill plenty of those gross creepy-crawlies. By the way, Business Insider reports one survey revealed 55% of single men between 18 and 25 changed their sheets just four times a year. Yikes!