How Often Should You Wash Your Bedding To Prevent Acne?

popping pimples worsen acneAcne mechanica is any type of acne that is the result of material or objects touching you face. When your pillowcase isn’t laundered or changed regularly, a build-up of dirt or oil from the environment as well as your skin and hair touching the pillow is transferred back onto your skin. This can clog pores and cause blemishes.
The truth is, you should wash your sheets at least once a week.
Of course, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but we like this number because it’s frequent enough to avoid building up levels of contamination you really need to worry about, but it’s also pretty realistic for many people.
That’s just a general number, though. A myriad of factors determine if you should wash your sheets more often than once a week based on your lifestyle. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

  • Do you wear pajamas to bed? They can trap some of your dead skin cells so they don’t wind up on your sheets.
  • Do you shower before bed? That gets rid of some of those dead cells, too.
  • Do any pets sleep with you?
  • Do you move around a lot in your sleep? If you’re a “dead-to-the-world sleeper,” you’re less likely to shed skin. You’ll still shed some, but not as much as if you were constantly thrashing around in your sleep.
  • Do you drool all over your pillowcase every night?
  • Do you have skin issues such as acne or eczema?

Sometimes life gets in the way, though.

That’s especially true if you don’t have easy access to a washing machine and dryer. We get it.
We also strongly advise you always wash your face before bed, even if you only applied a serum, moisturizer and sunscreen during the day. That will help ensure that you’re not putting a dirty face on a dirty pillowcase, at the very least. If you can squeeze in a shower before bed to slough off dead skin cells, that can be helpful, too.
If you want to take further precautions, making your bed daily is an excellent idea. As you make your bed, tiny dry particles your sheets have accumulated fall to the floor. Then it’s a job left to your vacuum.
Finally, if laundry is the bane of your existence, you might want to consider buying more sheet sets so you don’t have to wash them as often. Where there’s a will (to avoid the drudgery of laundry day), there’s absolutely a way.
Beyond these tips, another thing to consider is what kind of detergent and fabric softener you are using and make sure they don’t contain pore-clogging ingredients. It's always better to use fragrance-free detergent. To help prevent static electricity accumulating on your clothes in the dryer and avoid using fabric softener in general, you might want to try using a ball of tinfoil instead.
We hope these tips help you prevent unwanted acne that comes from sleeping with less-than-clean sheets and pillowcases. For more information on how to prevent and clear your acne, check out our other blog posts. To schedule an appointment with us, click here, or give us a call at 801-800-6602.

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