Dirty Bed Cleaning Guide and Yearly Schedule

Key points from the guide

• Sheets: wash weekly.
• Pillows and mattress protector: 6 times a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November.
• Comforter and duvet: 4 times a year, in January, April, July and October.
• Mattress: clean 2 times a year, in January and July.
• July is the only month in which every item is due.

All points are from the graphic by NapLab, which lists eight web articles as its resources.

The dirty bed cleaning guide in text

Banner: Produced by NapLab.com. Title: The Dirty Bed Cleaning Guide. Five cards ask “How often should you clean your…” and answer: sheets, weekly; pillows, 6 times a year; mattress protector, 6 times a year; comforter, 4 times a year; mattress, 2 times a year.

Annual Cleaning Schedule:

Fact panels below the schedule:

Resources printed at the foot: 1, today.com (why you should clean your mattress); 2, goodhousekeeping.com (how often to wash a mattress pad); 3, fcdrycleaners.com (how often to wash your comforter); 4, valleysleepcenter.com (is your pillow as clean as you think); 5, businessinsider.com (dirtiest object in the bedroom is your mattress); 6, redbookmag.com (what happens when you don’t wash sheets); 7, aarp.org (making your bed and dust mites); 8, iflscience.com (why you maybe shouldn’t sleep naked). NapLab logo.

How NapLab explains the schedule

NapLab’s article that accompanies the graphic gives the reasoning behind each line [1]. It says to wash sheets at least once a week, along with pillowcases, because pillowcases gather bacteria at nearly the same rate. Pillows and mattress protectors are every other month; the article advises checking the care label, as many protectors need air drying or low heat, and never ironing a protector.

For the comforter or duvet cover it recommends at least four washes a year, more often if you sleep without a top sheet, because the comforter then touches your skin directly. The mattress itself needs cleaning at least twice a year, which NapLab says usually means baking soda and a vacuum cleaner [1]. The article also says people tend to wash their bedding every 20 to 40 days on average [1].

Notes on this infographic

• The bacteria, sweat and dust mite figures come from the magazine and blog articles in the graphic’s resource list, not from primary studies. We have not checked them, so read them as the graphic’s claims.
• The “how long can it live in bed” times are not from a health body. The NHS says flu germs from coughs and sneezes can live on hands and surfaces for 24 hours [2], longer than the 8 to 12 hours on the graphic.
• “26 gallons” is in US gallons, about 98 litres (our conversion).
• The washing frequencies are NapLab’s recommendations. The graphic is from a mattress review site, and the article carries affiliate links [1].

Questions about keeping a bed clean

How often should you wash your sheets?

Weekly, according to the guide, together with pillowcases [1].

How do you keep your bed clean?

The guide’s answer is a schedule: sheets weekly, pillows and mattress protector every other month, the comforter or duvet four times a year and the mattress twice a year. It also suggests a duvet cover for homes with pets or children, because it comes off and fits in a standard washer [1].

What happens if you don’t wash your bedsheets every week?

The graphic’s answer is that bacteria build up: it says sheets left for one week carry 24,631 more bacteria than a bathroom doorknob. NapLab’s article puts the count at about 5 million bacteria per square inch after one week [1]. Neither figure comes from a health authority.

Sources

1. NapLab, How often should you wash your sheets, pillows, protector, comforter and mattress?. The creator’s original post of this graphic.
2. NHS, Flu.

Last reviewed 30 October 2026