Social networks are full of motivational videos that invite you to do a good morning routine to make the most of your day Many people point out the importance of making bed as soon as possible, since your brain interprets it as the first complete achievement of the day. But be careful with it, as it can do more harm than good. It’s not critical to making your day flow as it should, and it’s a habit that dust mites love.
What is actually recommended is to raise the blinds, make the bed wider, ventilate the room and make the bed only after about an hour has passed. If you have to leave the house less than that time, you can leave the bed unmade until you return. Really, nothing happens.
A breeding ground for dust mites. Dust mites, as their name suggests, live in dust. However, contrary to what some people think, they do not feed on it. Rather, they feed on organic matter such as insect remains, nails, or exfoliated skin. The latter is something we have a lot of and release a lot while sleeping and rubbing against the sheets. If we add that a lot of dust accumulates on mattresses, we see that beds are an amusement park for these mites. In fact, moisture from sweat and our breath encourages them to expand even more.
An unmade bed is better than allergic rhinitis. If we make the bed as soon as we wake up, we’ll seal in that moisture and leave dust mites a comfortable place to live. They do not, as such, cause disease. However, their faeces and the residue that remains from their carcasses contain substances that act as allergens. This is why many people suffer from asthma or allergic rhinitis when exposed to them. According to a study carried out in 2004, mites are the first trigger of allergic asthma (53%) and rhinitis second in Spain (39%). Although this is an older study, observations made in allergy clinics today seem to follow a similar pattern.
More common than you think. The most widespread dust mite in Europe Dermatophagoides pteronysinusAlthough there is an abundance in some regions Dermatophagoides farina. They are not visible to the naked eye, but they are present in a large number of beds. For example, in a 2006 analysis of 3,580 mattress dust mites, allergens Der 1 and Der 2, the two most associated with asthma and allergies, were detected in 68% and 53% of samples, respectively.
What should you do?. By leaving the bed open for a sufficient period of time, the moisture that encourages dust particles to expand is reduced. There’s no gold standard for how long you should make your bed, but some studies and experts suggest between half an hour and two hours. There are also those who recommend all day. Of course, we should not skip the ventilation part, since, in addition to air renewal, the sheets dry more quickly.
We should do this every day, although it is recommended to vacuum the mattress from time to time, as it helps keep these pesky bugs away. Additionally, of course, you should wash your sheets at least once a week, preferably with hot water. In short, if you make your bed as soon as you wake up, your day will not go well. Psychologically this is not so necessary and, on other levels of your health, it can be a problem.
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