Every morning, before I do anything else, I fix my bed.
Every morning except Tuesday, that is. On Tuesday mornings, I wake up and immediately strip my bed, sorting its linens along with the rest of my laundry to be washed. My bedding will be washed in hot water and dried in order to rid it of any allergens–then I’ll fold it and place it at the bottom of my rotation of four sheet sets in the linen closet.
While my laundry is going, I pull the top sheet set off the rotation in the linen closet and remake my bed, allergen free.
Every evening, I bathe or shower before going to bed, removing any allergens I’ve collected throughout the day, lest I transfer them to my bedding.
Every day except possibly Monday. If I am exhausted on a Monday night and don’t have the energy to bathe, I excuse myself and go to sleep with the yuck of the day still on. After all, I’m going to clean my sheets the next day–the only suffering I’ll experience will be in that one night.
But what am I to do when I finish a long telephone conversation with my sister rather late on a Tuesday night? My sheets are completely clean–they have not even collected any sloughed off skin, much less any pollen or dust from my every day life. Yet I am exhausted. The thought of trying to manage a bath or shower is overwhelming.
I can’t abide dirtying my brand new made bed.
I sleep on the futon and the cleanliness of my bed linens is preserved another day.
This is so interesting. Just last night, I was wondering how much of my allergy problems could be due to allergens in my bed. During the day, I don’t feel bothered by my allergies; but recently, every single night, they flare up and drive me nuts. Maybe it’s the allergens on my sheets?
FlyLady would be very proud of you for all your good habits. ;-)
Establishing the habit of showering before bed has certainly helped with getting my allergies under control. I’ve also had good success with using a mattress cover that blocks off any allergens that might be in the mattress itself.