White bedding care

1 min read

Hampton and Astley Egyptian cotton bedding in pure white

A freshly made bed with luxurious white cotton sheets can really make a bedroom feel like a five-star hotel. The classic, timeless elegance of pure white bedding makes it an ever popular choice. But how easy is it to keep white bed sheets and duvet covers looking bright and new, while still feeling silky-soft and smooth too?

Here we outline our top five tips for caring for your white cotton luxury bedding.

1. Keep it clean
As always, prevention is better than cure, so try to keep your white bedding free from marks and stains. Always remove your make-up before bedtime and avoid eating and drinking on your bed.

2. Deal with stains
Should the worst come to the worst and you do spill something, try to deal with it immediately, before the stain has a chance to set.

Dab it first with kitchen roll or a dry tea towel to remove as much surface liquid as possible. Then wet a clean sponge or cloth, put a dot of a mild washing up liquid on the cloth and gently blot the stain. If you can, remove the sheet and run it under cool water to flush out the stain. Then pop it in the washing machine and give it a wash.

Pure white Egyptian cotton bedding by Hampton & Astley

3. Never use bleach
A common misconception is that bleach is good for keeping bed sheets white, but in fact it can damage the cotton and turn white bedding yellow over time.

If you do get a difficult organic stain, such as coffee, juice or blood, or your sheets have yellowed slightly over time, use an oxygen based stain remover instead. This type of cleaner uses the gentle power of oxygen bubbles to release organic stains.

Dissolve the stain remover in a bath of warm water and leave the sheets to soak overnight, then wash as normal.

4. Wash often
It’s a good idea to wash white bedding regularly, ideally once a week, as this prevents build-ups of sweat, dirt, oil and dead skin that can leave bedding looking dull and dingy.

Turn your pillow cases, duvet covers and fitted sheets inside out, roll them into a ball and put them in the machine. Then wash on 30 degrees with a gentle laundry detergent.

Hampton and Astley pure white Egyptian cotton sateen bedding set

5. Air dry
To keep white sheets looking bright, don’t tumble dry them. Instead, if you’re able to, hang them outside on a washing line, but if not hang them indoors on a drying rack.

If you’re using a rack, placing a de-humidifier machine in the same room is really helpful, as it speeds up drying. De-humidifiers work by trapping and removing water from the air, which also prevents your house from getting damp

Once your sheets are dry, you can make the bed and enjoy the pleasure of jumping in between your clean white sheets. To keep your bedding fresh through the week, turn down your duvet every morning and plump up the pillows to let air circulate during the day.

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