The sheets in your bedroom need to be washed on a consistent basis, and you have to be quite careful that you keep them neat and clean. When you sleep, all of the tiny droppings from your skin and the microscopic insects that walk on it are lodged in the sheets, and it is imperative that you clean them.
Not only that, but stains caused by body fluids such as sweat will also leave a permanent mark, so you have to be careful that you clean the sheets regularly. Keeping your bed sheets neat and clean is an important part of basic hygiene.
If you haven’t washed your sheets in a long while, you are basically inviting a number of other diseases into your house.
The bedroom needs to be a clean space, and it all starts from keeping your bed sheets clean. Now, ideally, you should wash your bed sheets after every three to four days. Most people do not really follow this; they usually prefer changing the bed sheets after a week or so.
However, washing the sheets is quite different, because you will have to be really careful that you get all the stains out.
Simply dipping the sheets in water and pouring some detergent in isn’t going to be enough. You need to make sure that the sheets are properly soaked and cleaned.
Many people have difficulty in cleaning their bed sheets consistently at home because they don’t have such a free supply of water. If you don’t want to use up water after every few days to clean the bed sheets, you need to take a slightly different approach.
Keeping the bed sheets clean without washing them is obviously going to be hard.
More importantly, you should know that no matter what technique you use apart from a thorough dry clean, the bed sheets just won’t be as clean as they would be if you were to wash them thoroughly.
So, while it is possible to clean them slightly without using any water, this won’t be a permanent solution. For proper cleanliness reasons, you will want to clean the bed sheets after every week or so.
But, if you want to know how to clean the bed sheets to a certain degree without washing them with water, here are a few methods available to you.
1 – Using Baking Soda
One of the best ways to freshen up the bed sheets and get rid of some weird smells is to use a bit of baking soda. Baking soda is widely regarded as a natural cleaning agent and also a deodorizer and it is capable of getting rid of any embedded smells from the sheets with considerable ease.
If you want to get rid of any smells in your bed sheets, you will want to first lay them down on a flat surface. Ideally, the best way to approach this is to first keep the bed sheets in an open area, preferably under the sun, for a few days.
By exposing the sheets to the sun, you will be able to get rid of a considerable number of smells and it also serves as a natural disinfectant to a certain degree, helping you get rid of any insects or other microscopic beings that might be lodged up in the bed sheets.
Once you have left the bed sheets hanging for at least a day or two, you need to beat them thoroughly. Use a baton or use your hands to shake and beat the sheets as tightly as possible so that all of the dust that has accumulated within the fabric is released over time.
Now, when the sheets have been exposed to the sun for a while, the next step is to use the baking soda. You need to pour the baking soda on the sheets and let it sit for a while.
It’s the perfect cleaning agent for almost all kinds of materials, and it works like a charm. You have to make sure that you let the baking soda rest for a while so that it is able to completely go in between the gaps.
Then, you can just make use of a conventional vacuum cleaner and get rid of all the baking soda that you have sprinkled on the bed sheets. It’s a pretty simple and effective way of cleaning up the bed sheets and freshening them without using any kind of water.
However, you should know that this method is only suitable for getting rid of odors from the bed sheets.
It’s really not going to help you get rid of any stains, so if you want to remove stains from the bed sheets, you need to be particularly careful about using this method. It’s really not going to bring you the results you want.
2 – Blotting the Stains
Another method that you can use to get rid of stains from your bed sheets is to blot them out with a simple dry sheet. If you have stains on the sheets, you need to take great care to remove them.
There are conventional detergents and cleaning liquids available in the market, but since you don’t want to wash them thoroughly, the best thing to do would be to first get the stained areas a bit wet.
This will help loosen the stains from the fabric first. Then, add a few drops of vinegar or a local liquid detergent, and let it sit there for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Then, you can just make use of a microfiber cloth to blot out the stains as thoroughly as possible.
This method is quite effective for recent stains that have to be removed from the bed sheets. You need to make sure that you blot the stains with a bit of force.
However, you also need to understand that the likelihood of being able to remove all of the stains completely is very low. You might be able to reduce the color intensity of the stains, but you probably won’t be able to get rid of them completely.
3 – Dry Cleaning
If you don’t want to wash the bed sheets by yourself, dry cleaning is an effective option. Dry cleaning isn’t primarily washing, because it involves making use of a liquid solvent that cleans your clothes instead of water.
The difference is that the liquid solvent evaporates on a much quicker basis, and the solvent itself does not contain water at all.
In fact, there are only a handful of liquid solvents that contain a bit of water, and because it’s so much less, it usually evaporates very quickly. However, you need to understand that dry cleaning the bed sheets is not going to be possible at home.
Dry cleaning is usually carried out in incredibly complex machines, and the best thing to do is to take them to your local laundry store.
More importantly, you need to know that dry cleaning is usually expensive, and for bed sheets, it’s going to cost you a considerable amount of money.
Ideally, if you haven’t cleaned your bed sheets in a long while, you should consider taking them to the dry cleaner and getting them thoroughly washed.
It’s recommended that if you are not going to wash them, you should get the bed sheets dry cleaned at least once a month.
4 – Other Methods
There are linen sprays available in the market that you can use to clean your sheets as well.
Linen sprays are a temporary measure and are used primarily for freshening up the sheets; they won’t help you get rid of the stains properly. It’s incredibly important that you take great care and make sure that you spray the sheets properly and then let them rest.
These sprays usually contain a series of different chemicals that are designed to help get rid of any weird smells or odors from your sheets. Once you properly spray the sheets, let them aerate for a while.
Lay them straight down on a flat surface or hang them up on a clothesline. You will need to give it a bit of time to ensure that the linen spray does not get lodged in between the sheets.
Once the bed sheets have been cleaned, you can then put them on the bed again. However, you should know that none of these methods are as effective at keeping the stains out and the sheets clean as compared to a thorough wash.
Because you are going to be using the sheets so often, you have to make sure that you clean them regularly.
Using dirty sheets in your bedroom is not a wise idea, and could result in a litany of health issues for you as well. It needs to be a part of basic hygiene, so it’s important that you clean the sheets regularly and avoid using these methods for longer periods of time.
These are just some ways to clean the bed sheets without washing them.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.