Do you really need to wash your Bed Linen before using it for the first time?

Your new bed linen has arrived and you can't wait to put it on your bed and slip into the sheets at bedtime.

But we're sorry to say you'll need to wait a little bit longer. It's so important to launder them before dressing your bed, and here's why.

- As you unwrap your pillowcases, duvet cover and sheet, you'll see how smooth they look in their packages, and once you unfold everything, you're faced with deep wrinkles where you hoped there would be smooth luxurious feeling cotton. Only washing will remove them.

- All bed linen is made in a mill, there's no getting away from that. Textile mills often have dust in the air from enormous pieces of fabric being moved around. The fabric is also handled by many hands and put though various looms and machines. It's inevitable that the fabric will need a wash.

- The fabric will also have a 'sizing residue' that you'll need to rinse off. Textile mills use this sizing (often like starch) to enable the fabric to be handled well, to be cut and stitched meticulously - essential with fine detailing such as hemstitch or ribbon trims. 

- But the most important reason is that washing your bed linen ensures the cotton fibres can start to be softened from the very first wash and the cotton can start to breathe.

It may seem frustrating to have to do this extra step, but it's well worth it in terms of the way the bed linen will feel once you get into bed.

The Benefits of Washing New Bed Linen

Practical benefits such as cleaning them before putting them on your clean mattress make complete sense when you think about it. The sizing residue may also make the sheets feel itchy if left unwashed before use.

Chemicals, dust, dirt, and other allergens can accumulate on the sheets before they are packaged up. If you suffer from allergies, it's important to wash all of this away.

How to Care for your Bed Linen

All of our bed linen is made from the finest cotton - either 100% Egyptian Cotton or 100% Pima Cotton. It's best to wash at 40 degrees for the first wash, and you can wash at 30 degrees thereafter. If the bed linen is marked or stained, 60 degrees works well. Don't ever use fabric conditioner as it will just leave a residue on the cotton and will stop it breathing. You can choose to lightly tumble dry and finish with a line dry, but always ensure you press your bed linen before it is completely dry, This way, pressing will be easy and you'll be left with the smoothest results.

Never allow a fitted sheet to dry completely in the tumble dryer. We don't understand the science behind it, but something happens that makes them shrink more than any other bed linen item!

Luckily, we allow for shrinkage when we cut our bed linen. Cotton is a natural fibre. It shrinks. You can't get away from that. Instead we have a 'pre-wash' size that we cut to, so that the 'post wash' size is exactly as it should be - for years to come.

How Often Should You Wash Bed Linen?

Depending on your health needs and lifestyle, on average, you should wash your sheets once a week. This will help to avoid bacteria build up which will in turn cause skin reactions, may trigger asthma and cause other reactions. Obviously wash more frequently if you have pets sleeping on the bed or if you're a hot sleeper who sweats.

How Often Should You Replace Your Sheets?

London & Avalon bed linen is made from only the very best cotton, which ensures the longevity of your bed linen. The meticulous details such as tiny tight stitching and the use of a grosgrain ribbon helps to ensure they will last even longer. We test all of our fabrics with independent laundry engineers, because we supply large hotel groups with our bed linen. These hotels launder the linen in large commercial laundries with enormous machines where the linen takes a real pounding. Inferior cotton, or loose stitching would mean the bed linen would fall apart easily. We've never had that problem. 

To even further lengthen their lifespan, ensure you use more than one set. Laundering a set once a fortnight instead of once a week will inevitably lengthen its life. 

With London & Avalon, you can be sure you won't have to deal with any of these issues:

• Pilling, rips or tears - we only use long, strong fibres which won't thin or bobble
  
• Fraying hems - our tight stitching ensures all hems stay in place
• Fading or general discolouration - we test for tensile strength and whiteness and brightness. Only the best cotton passes these tests.
  
• Worn elastic that no longer holds a fitted sheet on the mattress - our elastic goes ALL the way around the hem, ensuring the sheet won't move in the night.

For any more tips and tricks, do please get in touch with one of the team at sleepconcierge@londonandavalon.co.uk, and sleep well.