THE BEDROOM

BED SHEETS: ONCE A WEEK

HUMANS shed half an ounce of skin each week — a lot of which will be deposited in bed. Meanwhile, such warm, moist environments as your bed are ideal breeding grounds for dust mites, with the average bed containing 10million: your shed skin can encourage numbers, as it provides a food source for the bugs. This can be an issue for those with allergy and can also lead to skin irritation.

So experts suggest changing bed sheets weekly.

The key is the quality of the wash, says Allergy UK’s scientific director Dr Emberlin. To save energy, we’re advised to wash at 30-40c. ‘But it’s important to wash sheets at 60c to kill mites.’

DUVET: AIR DAILY, WASH EVERY THREE MONTHS

IT’S not just our sheets we need to clean. We sweat around 200ml

of fluid at night — this means duvets are the perfect, moist environment for dust mites and fungus to grow, while they can also harbour skin scales. These can lead to allergies such as hay fever and infections including conjunctivitis.

So, each morning, pull back the duvet, leave it off for at least 15 minutes and open the window to release moisture and humidity.

If the duvet has a synthetic filling, wash it every three months at 60c to kill off dust mites, says Professor Ackerley. Feather fillings need professional dry cleaning twice a year, although some can be washed, too.

PYJAMAS: EVERY THREE WEARS

ACCORDING to the American Cleaning Institute, pyjamas should be washed after three or four wears — the exception being if you’ve showered before bed (as you’ll remove dead skin cells and most bacteria), in which case you could go a few days longer.

We all carry bugs on our skin, such as Staphylococcus aureus — which can cause a range of illnesses, from skin infections to (more rarely) meningitis. These bacteria are mostly harmless, unless they get in an open cut.

But the longer you wear ‘dirty’ pyjamas, the more exposed you may be. ‘Wash pyjamas at 60c — or if at 40c, do so with a laundry product that has a disinfectant to kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria,’ says Professor Ackerley.

MATTRESS: EVERY TWO MONTHS

‘AIR your mattress as often as possible,’ says Stephen Foster, a community pharmacist from Kent, who specialises in allergies and respiratory conditions.

‘When changing sheets, leave the mattress exposed for at least 15 minutes. Vacuum the bed once a week to pick up dust mites.’

Carolyn Forte, director of the Cleaning Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, also suggests sprinkling it with sieved baking soda before vacuuming every couple of months. This will draw out dirt and moisture.