The Many, Many Reasons You Should Be Making Your Bed Every Day
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and advice columnist. She'll be here every week helping to answer your filthiest questions. Are you dirty? Email her.
I think you should make your bed every day. Not that you asked, but I'm saying so anyway! You should know about me that I'm not a person who loves giving unsolicited advice, and that the fact that I'm doing it here should indicate just how strongly I feel about this subject. In fact, I feel so strongly that making the bed can make a hugely positive impact on your life that every year I put this challenge out to my readers-this is year number five, and I still hear from a whole bunch of people who joined up in that very first year and continue to proudly make their beds every day.
Today, I'm going to give you a whole bunch of reasons why making the bed is such a good thing to do, and I'm definitely going to talk to the people who believe making the bed leads to insect infestations (that's hogwash, by the way, but we'll get to that in more detail later). I'm also going to undermine all of those things and say that if you don't want to make your bed, then don't. It's your choice, though I still think you should at least try giving the bed-making thing a whirl, and I devoted a recent episode of my podcast to the subject.
So, before you decide that you're going to stick with being a person who doesn't make the bed, I'd like you to do two things. The first is to read this column. Not a huge ask-it'll go fast, I promise. The other thing I want you to do is to try to make your bed, every day in March.
Every single day, yeah. Don't worry; you've totally got this.
Here Are Seven Good Reasons to Make Your Bed
You want reasons? I've got your reasons!
1. A made bed creates the appearance of a tidy and pulled-together bedroom.
2. So what? Well, here's what: It's a small thing, in a way, but also not so small, because coming home to a tidy and pulled-together-looking bedroom will make you feel a whole bunch of positive things. Feelings differ, but some common ones are proud, calm, in-control, and grown-up. Those sound like nice feelings to have, right?
3. If you make the bed every day, the act of doing so starts to get quicker and quicker-in part because a bed that's made every day gets less disheveled while you sleep, and in part because your bed-making skill level will improve.
4. Got pets? Making the bed will help to keep pet hair and smells and drool and etc. etc. etc. off your sheets during the day.
5. Have sleep troubles? So, look: Making the bed isn't going to cure insomnia, and that would be insane of me to say. But, if you're a person who struggles with sleep issues, creating nighttime rituals is a thing that experts recommend. Turning down the bed in the evening can be a component of nighttime rituals that, taken collectively, can signal that it's time to go to sleep.
6. Getting into a well-made bed feels really good. Bearing that in mind can also help you to make the mental switch from viewing making the bed as a chore to thinking of it as a gift you give to yourself.
7. I'm asking you to try it, and only for a month! You don't even need to be a 100 percent-er. You're not going to be punished if you miss a day-in fact, missing a day is often exactly the thing the tips most people into becoming committed bed-makers. If, after a month, you don't think making the bed is a thing worth doing, then don't do it anymore. But you won't know if it is or isn't until you give it a whirl.
The Matter of Bug Infestations & That 2005 BBC Article
In 2005, the BBC published an article entitled "Untidy beds may keep us healthy" that's brought up every year when I begin the bed-making challenge. I wish it wasn't, but it is, and so once again I'm going to address it, despite the fact that many of you will not read this at all and take to the comments or Twitter or Facebook to scream about how making the bed is bad for your health. You're the worst, by the way, but you won't even know I said that because you're not reading this. I should probably call you worse names, just for funsies.
The first point that needs to be made about the article, and about the study it cites, is that it is very specifically about dust mites. It is not, as many people believe, about bed bugs. And even if it were about bed bugs, my criticism would stand (actually, there would be more criticism) because that's not the way infestations work.Back to those dust mites. Here's the thing about them: Unless you have a specific dust mite allergy, which are not all that common, or you have a respiratory concern like asthma, you don't need to worry that much about dust mites. Dust mites sound gross, but they're a fact of life that you've lived all this time not worrying about. Don't start now, seriously. Life is hard enough.
If you are a person who has a dust mite allergy (or respiratory issues), laundering your bedding regularly is the most effective way to keep mites under control. That includes cleaning things like pillows, comforters and blankets, the mattress pad, and so on. Later this month we'll talk specifically about keeping a mattress clean, but the broad strokes when it comes to mite control are to regularly vacuum your mattress. Mattress and/or pillow protectors are also recommended, as is the use of a dehumidifier; mites like a damp environment, and a dehumidifier will help to keep the moisture in your bedroom at optimal levels. While we're on the subject of humidity, I want to point out this expert quote from the piece: "I find it hard to believe that simply not making your bed would have any impact on the overall humidity."
With that said, the crux of the article has to do with allowing your sheets to air out. It is absolutely correct that sheets should be allowed to air/dry out after you've slept on them! What is definitely not correct is the idea that leaving sheets crumpled up in a heap is going allow them to dry, and it's also bizarre that anyone would think it takes an entire day for a set of sheets to dry. Unless you've had a really bad case of the night sweats, your sheets will have plenty of time to air out while you perform your morning ablutions.
Help for Those Who Suffer From the Night Sweats
If you have had a really bad case of the night sweats, you can (and should!) make the bed in a way that gives it a tidy appearance and will aid in the drying and airing out of the damp sheets. The idea is pretty simple: Remove the pillows from the bed and turn the blankets (or comforter, or duvet-whatever you use) and top sheets back to the foot of the bed. Pull the bottom sheet taut and retuck it. Then pull the top sheet and blankets up to the top of the bed, smooth them, and then fold them back on themselves halfway or two-thirds of the way down the bed. Replace the pillows at the top of the bed. Voila! A tidy-looking bed that will allow your sheets to benefit from the air circulation in the room.
How About Some Testimonials? Sure, I've Got Those!
It's fine for me to say all of these great things about making the bed, but it's better if you hear from the people who have joined me in Marches past:
"Nothing long or drawn out, I just wanted to let you know how much I have appreciated your column. Your insistence that making the bed will make a difference HAS made a HUGE difference, especially since I moved across the country and into a tiny studio apartment. Also... I dunno, there's just a general feeling of empowerment that goes with feeling like an adult."
"I'm participating in LAMOB, and am loving it so far. The bedroom really does look so much tidier with a made bed, and plus, why else did I buy pillow shams but to use them on pillows that decorated the bedscape (instead of living in a sloppy pile next to the bedside table)."
"In truth, I'm not a particularly neat person, but I took your LAMOB advice to heart and it has truly changed my life."
"My partner and I got a jump on the bed-making during February. I didn't even have to ask him! I just started making my side of the bed (we have a two-duvet system, since one of us is too hot, one is too cold, and half of us are blanket-hogs) and then he started making his side WITHOUT ME EVEN ASKING. This is a cleaning BREAKTHROUGH. Anyway, thanks for LAMOB. It's a small step, but it's a step we're taking together (!!)."
Why Are All Those People Saying "LAMOB"? What Does That Even Mean?
I mentioned at the beginning of the column that this is my fifth year issuing a bed-making challenge to my readers. Back in 2011, when I started this tradition, I kicked the challenge off with the headline "Let's All Make... Our Beds," which was a play on a regular feature of the site I was writing for at the time. Quite by accident, the acronym LAMOB was adopted as a hashtag for the project-and it stuck. It's silly but I love it and I want to encourage you guys to use it on Twitter and Instagram to track your progress, ask me questions, or just seek out a little praise for your good work. I'm all about the praise! I'll even give out gold stars.
So, are you in?
