According to Sleep Advisor, your bamboo bed sheets, as with every other regular sheets, need changing regularly, preferably once per week to prevent allergies from dust mites. These tiny vexatious insects thrive in moisture, and as we sweat night after night, we create a perfect environment for them to reproduce. What aggravates this even more is the fact that our bodies shed approximately 30,000 dead skin cells on our sheets every night which gives these pesky creatures the right amount of food to feast on.
This is why bedding needs to be washed regularly, and since bamboo sheets are slightly more delicate than the regular cotton sheets, we’ll guide you through the process. Once you read our ultimate bamboo sheets care guide and see how easy it is to maintain this sustainable yet luxurious bedding, you will never have to worry about the tediousness of caring for your bamboo sheets again.
Ultimate Care for Your Bamboo Sheets: Step By Step Guide
Washing Bamboo Bed Sheets: Step By Step Guide
There is no shade of doubt that bamboo sheets boast some antibacterial properties, but they still require a proper wash every seven to ten days. What makes this process trouble-free is that there is no need to hand-wash these beauties as they are machine washable.
In order to preserve your bamboo sheet sets in a top-notch condition, however, you need to follow the steps below:
- Pretreating stains is the first and foremost step towards keeping your sheets impeccably clean. Although it is desirable to use a pre-treatment product, make sure it is chlorine-free since chlorine bleach can cause yellowing and destroy the fabric.
- Instead, apply an enzymatic-based stain remover directly on the stain and let it soak for at least ten minutes before tossing the sheets into your washing machine.
- The next step towards washing them safely is to put them in a washing machine separately in order to avoid friction with rough material, such as towels, coarse cloth, or something with a zipper on it.
- As a general rule for any bamboo fabric, use a cold or warm machine wash on a gentle cycle.
- Last but not least, use a gentle, liquid detergent. Add about a tablespoon of your liquid detergent per regular load size.
How to Get Blood Out of Bamboo Sheets?
A rule of thumb for removing stubborn stains from bamboo sheets is to start with a light or natural technique, and then work your way up with slightly more aggressive techniques. Of course, none of the techniques should contradict the instructions that the manufacturer has given.
- To remove blood stains, presoak your bamboo sheets using a non-bleach stain remover and cold water.
- If, however, you must bleach them, we advise using an oxygen-based bleach as we already mentioned that chlorine-based products may ruin your sheets.
Another way to treat blood stains is by applying a mixture that consists of water and vinegar.
- Mix one part vinegar with four parts water and dub a colourless cloth into the solution.
- Dub the cloth gently at the stain without rubbing it roughly to prevent damages to the bamboo fibres.
- Leave the solution to rest for several hours before putting your sheets into the washing machine.
Drying Bamboo Sheets: Choose the Best Method
Air Drying
The most effective way to dry your bamboo sheets is to line dry them outdoors providing the weather conditions allow this. As they might take a while to fully dry, we recommend hanging them out in the morning.
In ideal conditions, your sheets should dry in a place where there is a light breeze, away from direct sunlight.
Tumble Dry Bamboo Sheets
Although not as good as air drying, machine drying is quite acceptable for bamboo sheets. Ensure that your dryer is set on a low tumble dry setting and uses low heat as you want to avoid damage due to high levels of heat.
Ironing
As with almost any other type of fabric in the bedding industry, bamboo sheets are susceptible to wrinkling. Even though you can significantly reduce this by hanging them to line dry outside, you may sometimes need to use an iron to remove the wrinkles. Make sure you choose the lowest heat setting as heat can damage your sheet, or even cause them to shrink.
In Summary
While it may seem like a tedious chore sometimes, washing your sheets once a week is indeed worth the effort. And as you can see, caring for your bamboo sheets is not that different than caring for any other sheets if you remember the points mentioned above, such as washing them with cold or warm water and avoid using chlorine-based products.
FAQ
Can I use bleach and fabric softeners when washing my bamboo sheets?
Although you can sometimes use an oxygen-based bleach to remove tough stains, it is not preferable. Fabric softener is also not recommended not only because bamboo fabrics are naturally soft but also because these products can damage your sheets in the long run.
Should I always wash my sheets separately?
Yes. There are no exceptions to this rule unless you want to put them into the washing machine together with some other colourless, gentle fabrics.
Can machine washing bamboo sheets shrink them?
Yes. This is why you should always choose the lowest water temperature as well as a gentle cycle.
Should you wash bamboo sheets before usage?
Before letting your body relax within the world of those incredibly soft bamboo bed sheets, it is recommended that you wash them first.
How to whiten bamboo sheets?
There are several natural ways to whiten your bamboo sheets which include adding a little bit of lemon juice or white vinegar to your wash cycle.
Do bamboo sheets pill?
When compared to other fabrics, such as cotton, bamboo sheets are not as susceptible to pilling. This is due to the safe anchoring of bamboo fibres in the unique weave of these quality sheets.