Is there anything better than crawling into bed after a long day or snuggling up on the couch under a comfy blanket? This feeling is even more blissful when you have comfy and soft cotton blankets on your bed or sofa. But as you’re relaxing and drifting off to sleep, you may not be thinking about the right ways to care for your sheets. As much as you don’t want to climb out of bed to do laundry, it’s important to wash your cotton sheets regularly and properly to make sure they stay soft and strong. Here are our five rules for washing your cotton sheets.
1. Wash Your blankets, towels, or throws regularly (even though cotton blankets do not need to be washed as much as we explain here). Your sheets absorb your body’s oils, sweat, and germs. This residue accumulates quickly and can even cause dust mites.
2. Follow The Care Instructions – And avoid very hot water. It seems logical to get rid of all dirt and stains by washing them with very hot water. But unless you have a cold or the flu, you want to avoid washing your blankets and towels in hot water. Hot water will cause them to shrink and fade over time. The heat also deteriorates the high-quality cotton fibres. The best rule of thumb is to follow the care instructions on the label of your blanket, towel or throw. This will guide you on which washer settings to use.
3. Avoid using harsh detergents. They won’t do a better job than mild detergents cleaning your cotton blankets and towels. Harsh detergents can actually damage the high-quality cotton fibres in your product. Using a gentle detergent and a small amount of fabric softener (or better: none!) will aid in extending your blankets’ lifespan and will keep them soft and durable.
4. Wash your blankets, towels or throws separately. We all want to save time when it comes to doing the laundry. Nevertheless, it is not a good idea to toss your blanket or throw in the washing machine together with jeans or zipper hoodies. The zippers can get tangled in the cotton fabric, ruining your beautiful throw. Usual towels and clothing also require more water to wash, so mixing your cotton blankets and towels in the same cycle will result in longer drying times. And you don’t want to dry your Tayf cotton products with towels and clothing either. Towels and clothing produce a lot of lint that can cling to the sheets causing the fabric to break down and lose its softness.
5. Dry your blankets with low heat. There’s no worse feeling than making your bed and realizing that your bedspread no longer fits. To prevent your blankets from shrinking over time, don’t dry them with high heat (better: don’t dry them at all in the dryer!). Instead, dry your towels and throws at a very low temperature. If f they’re still damp when the cycle is over, consider hanging them to dry. You don’t want to pop them back into the dryer for a few more minutes. Over time, high heat will cause your blankets to shrink and even tear. If you have the space and warm weather conditions, line or hang dry your wet blankets, towels, throws and scarves. Plus — there’s nothing better than the smell of freshly washed linen that were dried in the wind.