Ah, our good old trusty sleep companion - the bed. Whilst we couldn't stand the thought of going to bed during childhood, now we simply can't bear to leave it each and every day our daily commitments call upon us. And it's no wonder we adore our bedtime time so much, seen as we spend roughly a third of our lifetime chilling in the sheets - whatever that may be.
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Aside from sleeping, there's another activity we often associate with the bed and it's actually the complete opposite of sleeping. Intrigued by the bed habits of the average person Mattress Advisor decided to conduct a study in order to see how clean we keep our sheets, especially after getting down and dirty in them. The results were interesting, to say the least.
After surveying 1,000 people regarding their bed habits, the study had found that the average individual changes their bedsheets every 24 days but can go as far as 35 days before deeming their bed as 'gross'. Breaking the respondents down into categories of gender and relationship status, things begin to go haywire and things truly do begin to get dirty, and not in a good way.
Oncesex was added to the mix with regards to how often we wash our sheets, the study found that there was a staggering difference between the average man and woman. But who came out the grossest? Sorry to have to say it, but fellas - we're looking at you. It turns out that whilst women wait around four days before it comes to washing their sheets after a romping session, it takes men as much as 11 days on average to throw them in the washer.
When we look at one-night-stands, the number of days slightly improves for women who only take 2 days to wash their sheets after they've become 'soiled through sexual activity' (yup, it's not as glamourous as the movies say). But, men? The study found that the average man takes as much as 18 days to wash sheets after a night with a one-off 'guest'. Yikes.
Although, men aren't all that bad when it comes to bed hygiene. Indeed, the study had found that men are actually more likely to wash their sheets before a night of passion. 48% of men admit to ensuring their sheets are washed compared to a slightly lesser 39% of women. But who has the least dirty bed habits? As it turns out, married men actually came out at the top, overthrowing their female counterparts! Married fellars actually wash their sheets every 19 days, compared to married women who are just a little behind, leaving 22 days between each wash. On the flip side, single men come out the worst of the bunch going a whopping 37 days before a wash.
So - feeling grossed out or pleasantly reassured?