Did you know that you have a garbage disposal living in your bed? People shed 15 million skin cells a night, which end up on your pillowcase and in your sheets.<br />Dust mites eat these cells. And the longer you wait to wash your bed linens, the more they have to eat--and the more time they have to multiply. Yuck!<br />Dust mites and their feces produce proteins that cause red, itchy eyes, and runny noses in allergic people. Fungus can also build up on bedlinens.<br />One study found a typical pillow has as many as 16 different fungi. Another found dirty linens have several thousand times more bacteria than a toilet seat.<br />Dirty sheets can also act as a giant, dirty makeup wipe. Oils and cosmetics that rub off on the pillowcase get transferred back, clogging the pores and causing acne.<br />To avoid all this, just wash your sheets at least once a week, using the hottest water possible. That'll kill plenty of those gross creepy-crawlies.<br />By the way, Business Insider reports one survey revealed 55% of single men between 18 and 25 changed their sheets just four times a year. Yikes!
