If you don’t regularly wash your sheets, this could lead to a build-up of dead skin cell deposits which will feed more dust mites. The droppings from these dust mites can trigger allergies and exacerbate asthma.
Morning showers, on the other hand, can help remove dead skin cells as well as any sweat or bacteria you’ve picked up from your bed sheets during the night. This is especially important to do if your sheets weren’t freshly washed when you went to bed.
A morning shower suggests your body will be cleaner of night-acquired skin microbes when putting on fresh clothes.
You’ll also start the day with less sweat for odour-producing bacteria to feed on – which will probably help you smell fresher for longer during the day compared to someone who showered at night. As a microbiologist, I am a day shower advocate.
IMPORTANCE OF WASHING YOUR SHEETS
Of course, everyone has their own shower preference. Whatever time you choose, remember that the effectiveness of your shower is influenced by many aspects of your personal hygiene regime – such as how frequently you wash your bed sheets.
So regardless of whether you prefer a morning or evening shower, it’s important to clean your bed linen regularly. You should launder your sheets and pillowcases at least weekly to remove all the sweat, bacteria, dead skin cells and sebaceous oils that have built up on your sheets.
Washing will also remove any fungal spores that might be growing on the bed linen – alongside the nutrient sources these odour-producing microbes use to grow.
Primrose Freestone is Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology at the University of Leicester. This commentary first appeared on The Conversation.
