How often you should be washing your sheets — to avoid stuffy noses

Clean sheets could mean a clean bill of health.

Experts are warning that not changing your sheets weekly can lead to ear, nose and throat problems, with a stuffy nose being one common effect.

“Though it may seem like a no-brainer, you’d be surprised at how many people don’t change their sheets on a weekly basis,” Dr. Hana Patel, a sleep expert at the UK-based Time4Sleep bed company, told the Sun this week.

She said, “Sleeping in sheets that are covered in dust and dead skin cells will only irritate your nasal pathways further, especially if you’re particularly prone to allergies.”

The advice comes as bedbugs run rampant — especially in Paris, where the icky critters are laying siege to sheets like revolutionaries storming the Bastille.

Changing sheets is not the only way to mitigate nasty allergens, according to Dr. Arthur “Skip” Moeller, an otolaryngologist at Avera Medical Group Ear, Nose & Throat in Yankton, South Dakota.

“Staying on top of cleaning in other areas of the house will also help get rid of any pollen or other allergens you may be bringing into the house, which could make your blocked nose worse,” Moeller told the Capital Journal in 2021. “Most people’s immune systems react silently to allergens.”

Moeller added that a high concentration of allergens in a bedroom setting impacts sleep quality since you can, grossly, inhale them.

Pillowcases often contain more germs than toilet seats, recent research has found.

“While it may not be dangerous … your sleep might be interrupted by coughing and sneezing during the night,” Moeller said.

As far as who is most susceptible, a recent study reported that a little under half of single men wash their bedding only every four months. Couples wash their sheets about once a month, and single women do so about every two weeks.

How to avoid a dusty night’s sleep

Moeller says in addition to changing sheets weekly — while keeping clean ones in a sealed plastic bag — we should be vacuuming our bedrooms every seven days as well.

He also recommends buying sheets with synthetic fabrics, which are less susceptible to collecting dust mites, and giving pets their own room so as to avoid contamination from dander.