Stop Making Your Bed, It's Bad For You

[orangeblossom]

mix1051.cbslocal.com/2015/09/11/stop-making-your-bed-its-bad-for-you/


There’s an article that came out in 2005 that’s resurfaced called “Why You Should Never Make Your Bed” from The Loop. Most people never heard of it, so it’s making its rounds on social media now. Basically, the study found it’s healthier if you stop making your bed.


Here’s the science behind the study, oh and prepare to be grossed out…


The average bed has up to 1.5 million dust mites living in it. These are the microscopic little bugs that feed on dead skin cells from your body and yes, every bed has them! They’re bad because they produce allergens that you inhale while you’re sleeping, which can make your allergies worse or even cause asthma attacks.


Here’s why making your bed is bad…


The mites need a warm, moist environment to survive. Which is exactly what your bed is, because you sweat a lot at night and it ends up in your sheets and on your mattress. So, if you make your bed as soon as you wake up, it traps all that moisture in.


So, if you refuse to make your bed, like me… It dries out your sheets and mattress because it’s exposed to light and fresh air, which kills a lot of the dust mites. So, the best thing to do is not make your bed at all. You’re welcome!

[orangeblossom]

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4181629.stm

Untidy beds may keep us healthy

Failing to make your bed in the morning may actually help keep you healthy, scientists believe.
Research suggests that while an unmade bed may look scruffy it is also unappealing to house dust mites thought to cause asthma and other allergies.

A Kingston University study discovered the bugs cannot survive in the warm, dry conditions found in an unmade bed.

The average bed could be home to up to 1.5 million house dust mites.

The bugs, which are less than a millimetre long, feed on scales of human skin and produce allergens which are easily inhaled during sleep.

The warm, damp conditions created in an occupied bed are ideal for the creatures, but they are less likely to thrive when moisture is in shorter supply.

'Small glands'

The scientists developed a computer model to track how changes in the home can reduce numbers of dust mites in beds.


Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die
Dr Stephen Pretlove
Researcher Dr Stephen Pretlove said: "We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body.

"Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die."

In the next stage of their research, the scientists are putting mite pockets into beds in 36 houses around the United Kingdom to test their computer model and will investigate how people's daily routines affect mite populations.

Building features such as heating, ventilation and insulation will also be altered to monitor how the mites cope.

Dr Pretlove said the research had the potential to reduce the £700m spent treating mite-induced illnesses each year in the UK.

"Our findings could help building designers create healthy homes and healthcare workers point out environments most at risk from mites."

Dr Matt Hallsworth, of the charity Asthma UK, said: 'House-dust mite allergen can be an important trigger for many people with asthma, but is notoriously difficult to avoid."

Professor Andrew Wardlaw, of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, agreed.

He said: "Mites are very important in asthma and allergy and it would be good if ways were found to modifiy the home so that mite concentrations were reduced.

"It is true that mites need humid conditions to thrive and cannot survive in very dry (desert like) conditions.

"However, most homes in the UK are sufficiently humid for the mites to do well and I find it hard to believe that simply not making your bed would have any impact on the overall humidity."

[tacosforlife]

But if I don't make my bed, I might get a cat hairball in my vag.

WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO???

[Velar Fricative]

[IIOY]

This has been floating around FB for a couple weeks now, and my question is how long the dust mites need to be exposed to air and light to die. I need a cleanly made bed. A messy bed just isn't gonna happen in my lifetime.

Side note: my grandmother never made her bed right away and was always firmly in the "let it air out" camp. I picked this up from her ages ago and to this day flip all covers to the foot of the bed and leave it unmade for a while before making it.

[ECB]

I've been leading this trend for years.

[msmerymac]

This is why people use to "air out" the bed in the morning and then make it later in the day.

[orangeblossom]

Sept 15, 2015 10:56:55 GMT -5 IIOY said:

This has been floating around FB for a couple weeks now, and my question is how long the dust mites need to be exposed to air and light to die. I need a cleanly made bed. A messy bed just isn't gonna happen in my lifetime.

Side note: my grandmother never made her bed right away and was always firmly in the "let it air out" camp. I picked this up from her ages ago and to this day flip all covers to the foot of the bed and leave it unmade for a while before making it.

The second article I read on Th.e Loo.p, said to leave it unmade all day, and make it at night, if you must.

[laurenpetro]

i'll take dust mites over a cat-hair tampon, TYVM. i don't even have a cat and i'm still askerred.

[IIOY]

Sept 15, 2015 11:00:33 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Sept 15, 2015 10:56:55 GMT -5 IIOY said:

This has been floating around FB for a couple weeks now, and my question is how long the dust mites need to be exposed to air and light to die. I need a cleanly made bed. A messy bed just isn't gonna happen in my lifetime.

Side note: my grandmother never made her bed right away and was always firmly in the "let it air out" camp. I picked this up from her ages ago and to this day flip all covers to the foot of the bed and leave it unmade for a while before making it.

The second article I read on Th.e Loo.p, said to leave it unmade all day, and make it at night, if you must.

::sucks air::

Just gonna have to keep using an air purifier, I guess.

[josieposy]

Laziness FTW!

[heyjude]

I hate climbing into a messy bed at night. If it's not made (which is often) it gets made before bed.

This article just sounds over the top though. MAY cause allergies or an asthma attack. MAY?!

Okay then.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

Sept 15, 2015 11:13:03 GMT -5 heyjude said:

I hate climbing into a messy bed at night. If it's not made (which is often) it gets made before bed.

This article just sounds over the top though. MAY cause allergies or an asthma attack. MAY?!

Okay then.

I'm with you. I can't handle a messy bed. I have to make it in order to sleep in it.

[2curlydogs]

Messy beds skeeve me out. How can you fall asleep if the sheets aren't perfectly straight and the covers evenly distributed over each side so it's not too heavy on top of you?




Also, our dogs are confined to our bedroom when we're gone during the day and one has "free reign" of the room. I don't want said dog sleeping on my sheets. I need the comforter as a barrier, dammit.

[CallingAllAngels]

I love this. I think making the bed is the biggest waste of time on earth. My mom is allllll about having beds made. I'm going to send this to her.

I do straighten the covers before we get back in bed, but I can't image that I will ever make my bed on a regular basis.

Also, I have no cats.

[partiallysunny]

Let's go back to the days without microscopes and file this under "things I don't need to know". Kay? Thanks.

[ttt]

Dammit, I just finally got into the habit of making my bed and it makes the whole room look so much nicer and put together.

YOU PEOPLE RUIN EVERYTHING.

[downtoearth]

Hmmm, I wonder if the increased use of foam beds (Temperpedic etc.) has increased this? Those have way less air flow that traditional spring beds and always run hot.

[decemberwedding07]

Sept 15, 2015 10:56:55 GMT -5 IIOY said:

This has been floating around FB for a couple weeks now, and my question is how long the dust mites need to be exposed to air and light to die. I need a cleanly made bed. A messy bed just isn't gonna happen in my lifetime.

Side note: my grandmother never made her bed right away and was always firmly in the "let it air out" camp. I picked this up from her ages ago and to this day flip all covers to the foot of the bed and leave it unmade for a while before making it.

I do exactly what your grandmother did! I let the bed air out for a good hour (or longer) before I make the bed. 

[mrshandy]

What about if you make your bed right before bed?

This is usually when we do this. I need to get into a made bed at night otherwise the sheets and blankets aren't evenly distributed and one part of me is cold/hot. It drives me bonkers.

On the weekends we'll make it probably around mid-afternoon, on weekdays, it's usually evenings.

[KateAggie]

I make my bed daily, and wash my sheets at least once a week. It will sound crazy, but starting off the day with a made bed means a more productive, better organized day for me. I refuse to stop. I made this change in February, and I ain't goin' back.

[redwino]

I love crawling into a made bed but I rarely do it. We average about 2 days a week of making the bed. I guess I'll cut back on that to ensure a healthy sleeping environment

[simpsongal]

Not lying - DH sent me this research YEARS ago (probably 2005) and for that reason, we only make our bed for company.

[raangoli]

I might be OK with this but my MH would probably make it a day. If I don't make the bed (or just throw the covers back) he will do it. It's not unusual for me to come back to the room and see the bed made.

[KateAggie]

Sept 15, 2015 13:33:58 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

Sept 15, 2015 11:57:58 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

I make my bed daily, and wash my sheets at least once a week. It will sound crazy, but starting off the day with a made bed means a more productive, better organized day for me. I refuse to stop. I made this change in February, and I ain't goin' back.

Yeah, I just don't feel right going through the day knowing that my bed is messy.  Also, a clean, tidy bed can make or break a bedroom, imo.  I usually wash my sheets twice a week, since I have pets.

But even if I didn't, there's something about clean, soft sheets that puts me in a good mood.


Stupid shit makes me happy, okay?  I'm simple like that.  lol  

Clean sheet day is my favorite day of the week.

[pamela]

It's do humid down here that not making the bed wouldn't help it dry out in the summer. AC or not.

[orangeblossom]

Sept 15, 2015 13:24:34 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Not lying - DH sent me this research YEARS ago (probably 2005) and for that reason, we only make our bed for company.

This research did come out on 2005. It's just now making the social media rounds

You've been healthy all of this time, why haven't you handed your knowledge

[sfy]

Most days, I turn everything all the way down to the end of the bed anyway. It looks neat but it gets aired out (though, that isn't why I do it).

[gpw]

I will never have a made bed as long as I am married to my current husband. He refuses and wakes up well after I am gone for work.

[zelda25]

Presumably, these critters have been around forever and will still be here long after we're gone. And I've suffered from them not at all, so...meh.