Kicking up a stink: new survey reveals single men clean their bed sheets just four times a year. Gross!

The average single man in the UK changes his bedlinen once every three months, despite having several 'visitors' to stay during that period

Ok, ok, so we all know that men can be a bit, well, gross... but a new survey has revealed some shocking facts - the average single man changes his bed sheets just four times per year. Urgh, just writing this is making our stomachs turn!

Unwashed sheets
aren't just smelly and disgusting, they also contain thousands of dead
skin cells, which in time can lead to allergies and even bed bugs.

And
if you're worried about your teenage son, you've got good reason -
younger single lads, aged between 18-25, are officially the grubbiest
age group, with 55% claiming to wash their sheets once every three months or less.

bedroom with white bedsheet white pillows and blue book

(Image credit: TBC)

The survey, carried out by mattress company Ergoflex, revealed that coupled-up Britons change their sheets most frequently - every two weeks - while single women
change theirs every 2.5 weeks.

******

Last year we wrote a story about how dirty women are, but it seems the tables have well and truly turned - 62% of women now wash their sheets once a week.

Unsurprisingly, it's also women who take charge of the laundry in 81% of relationships.

To
add to this, 17% of the single men who took part in the survey claimed
that a prospective partner has been ‘put off' by the cleanliness of
their bed sheets. 

bedroom with white bed with pillows and yellow flowers in vase

(Image credit: TBC)

When asked whether or not they always changed guest bed sheets after having visitors to stay, just 32% said 'yes'.

Of those who didn't, two-thirds claimed that they left the same sheets on until they'd had 'several guests' to stay in them. Yuck!

bedroom with white bedsheet pillows and glass with plate

(Image credit: TBC)

Jed MacEwan, the spokesperson for Ergoflex UK, which carried out the survey, said: 'We were quite alarmed at the apparent lack of basic hygiene from some respondents.

'Unclean bed sheets contain tens of thousands of dead skin cells that we shed every night and, by going months without cleaning them, you're risking some distinctly unpleasant consequences every time you go to bed.

'Dust mites would find a perfect habitat in such unhygienic bed sheets and it's well documented that they can cause allergic flare-ups, asthma, rhinitis and other physical reactions.'

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