10 Helpful hints for washing linen

We spend on average 1/3 of our lives in bed. Therefore, having a clean, hygienic, comfortable sleeping environment is essential for our health. The selection and care of our bed linen plays a major part in it. Our beds create an ideal environment for bacterial growth and bugs with our sweat, dry skin and other bodily fluids. It is recommended that we wash our bedding once a week and more often in summer.

What are the best ways to care for your linen to ensure it’s clean, while still holding their colour and softness?
Here are 10 useful tips on how to wash you bedding from the Luna Luxury team:

1- Wash your bedding in cold water on a delicate cycle
Hot water can degrade the fibres over time, leaving you with shrunken sheets and fabric balls. Washing your bedding on the delicate cycle gives them a gentle massage yet still fully cleans. A fast cycle wash is more of a surface clean and thus not as thorough.

2-Use less detergent

Wash your linen with less detergent than recommended on the bottle because washing them with too much detergent causes a build-up that can make your bedding and towels stiff.

3- Handwash larger items

If your duvets and blankets do not fit in your washing machine, you can handwash them in a bath tub or use your local laundry to wash and dry them. 

4-Wash your bedding alone

This will help with a thorough cleaning of all dead skin and sweat through the fibres. It also prevents mixing with tougher fabric types that would rub against your bedding; aging the fabric and causing the colours to fade quicker.

5- Air dry your bedding

It is recommended to air dry your bedding for several reasons that you can find in the article “benefits of air drying your bedding”. However, if you don't have the space or time to do so, just make sure you don't overfill your dryer. 
When you overfill the dryer, you don't leave your bedding enough space to fluff up. This results in nasty wrinkles, and your sheets will come out of the dryer looking like a tornado ran over them. These wrinkles are not only unpleasant aesthetically but also have a negative effect on your sleep by disturbing your comfort.

6- Avoid using fabric softener and laundry crystals

Adding fabric softener or dryer sheets/laundry crystals reduces the absorbency and breathability of you bedding.

7- Removing wrinkles

When you wash your sheets, you can take them out of the dryer a bit early and put them on the bed when they are slightly moist, to remove any wrinkles.
Also if you are patient enough to iron your bedding, like my mother, it’s another good way to remove wrinkles as well as making sure they are completely dry before storage or use. Hanging them on the line after the dryer when they are still moist is another idea to complete the drying quickly while removing the wrinkles.

8-Fragrant bedding

If you are after a natural way for your bedding to have a fresh and nice smell you can store them with lavender rice bags or soap blocks.

9- Keeping the white colour

To keep the bright whiteness of your bedding, try adding half a cup of baking soda to your load along with your regular detergent. Then just before the rinse cycle, add half a cup of white vinegar to the load. Don't worry, the vinegar smell will rinse away. We promise your sheets won't come out smelling like pickles.

10- Front loader vs top loader washing machines

If you’re in the market for a new washing machine, we recommend front loading machines due to them being more energy efficient and using significantly less water. They are typically quieter and have a higher spin speed for a more efficient drying. Front loaders also create minimal friction, so are much gentler on bedding as compared to a top loader.

Have a healthy and peaceful sleep 😊