70% of Brits are breeding bacteria in the bedroom
New research by Dreams Beds reveals almost 70% of Brits don’t change their bed weekly as recommended.
The survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 68% people surveyed didn’t know that dirty bedding could cause allergic reactions, illness, infections and spread viruses. This will come as a shock to 29% of us who religiously take a shower every night before turning in and the 26% who opt to sleep naked at night.
57% are also guilty of making a mess in bed by taking food up with them. Chocolate is the preferred bedtime snack with a quarter admitting to sneaking a bar of chocolate or two in bed. A fifth will also leave a trail of toast crumbs regularly.
But we’re not the only cause of bacteria in the bed. Almost 57% let their pets sleep on their bed, adding to the dangers of what could be lurking in the bedding. Over a quarter of us letting our furry friend in every night!
Even though we are lying in our beds every night, 68% clean surfaces and their kitchen more often than their bedding. 62% do their loo, with the same again doing the bathroom. Another 62% the hoovering more often than changing the bed!
67% also don’t wash their sheets at 60 degrees, the optimum temperature at which to kill dangerous bacteria. In fact, 57% load up the machine for a 30 or 40 degree wash which is considered the norm. Washing at any other lower temperature, means that bacteria can still be present.
Many Brits have never thoroughly washed their bedding. 37% never clean their mattress, 30% fail to freshen up their pillows and 24% declining to dry clean the duvet. In fact 27% owned up to not replacing pillows after three years. 22% admitted to not buying a new mattress after the recommended eight years. 20% also failed to swap their duvets.
Those in Yorkshire/Humber and Northern Ireland need to take heed as they changed their sheets the least often. Singletons are also clearly happy in their own skin as 28% of them change their sheets every week as opposed to 34% of marrieds and 30% of those living with partners. And despite calls for equality, it seems that washing the sheets is still a woman’s domain with over 3 quarters of women either initiating or deciding when to change the bed.
According Dreams’ research, 71% of Brits have never recycled a mattress in the past. Furthermore 12% never having disposed of one at all!
View the full case study here to find out how we carried out this research and the coverage it generated.
