That’s exactly why you should not blindly follow things though. There is literally no advantage to a nicely made bed except that it looks nice. If that is not worth the effort of making the bed, then why would you do it?
I can see this, for certain folks. To me, I’d be mad that I’m wasting time on something totally pointless when I could be doing anything else far higher up on my importance meter.
This really depends on the person. For some, there’s benefit to the ritual and then again for the “tidy” bed occupying their space. For others, it doesn’t matter.
My personal opinion is if you tend to not be in your bedroom except to sleep then it doesn’t matter, but if you spend much time in there then making the bed is beneficial.
If those are the advantages then the same advantages could be accomplished by daily filling a cup with water, pouring out the water, drying the glass and putting it back in the cupboard. I’d argue the cup with water is far less effort and yields the same results.
Because normalcy is subjective to each of us. If an unmade bed is normal in my house, then the unmade bed is what contributes to a sense of normalcy for me.
You sweat constantly, you just don’t notice it. I “don’t sweat” at night, that doesn’t mean there isn’t moisture in the sheets. Your body is a semi-permeable water sac, of course there’s going to be moisture in the sheets after spending 8 hours in them.
I sweat a fair amount at night. At this point in my life, I open the window, have a fan blowing air around the room, and sleep with minimal sheets and no clothes. I still end up sweating at some point in the night.
I make my bed purely because my wife likes it that way. I’m not bothered either way, but I do it because it’s important to her.
She wakes up before I do and goes to bed before I do. I make the bed nice and tidy when I eventually wake up so she has a nice neat bed to climb into at night.
it feels nice to me anyway, a cluttered bed makes me anxious. plus tucking yourself into a made bed is such a nice feeling rather than trying to find your sheets in the mess
The process of making your bed confers several hygiene benefits.
For starters, we release a ton of water when we sleep, both through sweat and exhalation. A made bed dries more efficiently
Making the bed also has the effect of shaking loose skin and hair that came off us throughout the night, and casting it to the floor. This is especially true if you use the objectively correct technique of grabbing the corners and flipping your bedding up into the air so that it settles down into place like a parachute
Takes five seconds, looks nice as you noted, and has many other mental and social benefits we haven’t even touched on. For one of many examples, if I go to a guy’s place, I’m not gonna be inclined to get into his bed if he “won” the bed-making argument with his parents and stuck with that philosophy ever since
Edit: Tyler thinks you’re too stupid to actually read his linked study. The fact that he needs to lie about something so easy to verify tells you everything you need to know about his alternative theories about reality
It’s also good to not make your bed, the warmth keeps the little pesky allergy generating beasts alive and reproductive (they still do, but less or so I have heard).
If you sweat like a pig (I sometimes do), don’t make your bed but hang your comforter(I guess that is the word, duvet ?) on some chair instead, and wash it when needed.
That said, do as you please, the cops can’t stop you!
I think in normal circumstances the rough pass at getting rid of excess skin and hair during the bed making process is a big priority if your goal is to slow microbe growth. And I don’t think your residual body heat dissipates any faster if your bedding is clumped up vs splayed uniformly.
But yeah if your bedding is literally wet to the touch when you wake up then the situation is different, I agree hanging + more frequent washing is justified as you said
Wait what? Making the bed does the opposite. It traps the moisture in the bed, meaning it dries less, causing it to smell more. How the hell would making the bed cause it to dry better, that’s complete nonsense.
Edit: for those that don’t believe me, this has already been studied. Making your bed traps moisture. It’s honestly crazy to think that closing up a damp environment somehow makes it dry faster.
Think of it this way, if you soaked your entire mattress in water and then put it out in the sun, is it going to dry faster if you just leave it there or if you cut it open and expose all the insides?
You’re wondering why a completely flat piece of fabric with maximal surface area exposed to the air dries faster than one that’s bunched up and covering itself multiple times? Are there any other situations you can think of where things dry better bunched up rather than splayed out? Towels, swimsuits, tarps, tents?
Who mentioned smell by the way? Is your bedding noticeably smelly?
Huh? Maybe this is a country difference. If I make the bed, there’s going to be more than 3 layers of fabric on top of the sheets that were actually touching my body. There is zero chance in hell of those sheets drying faster covered up. The sheets being pulled back to expose the area that was actually touching my body is what allows it to dry.
And I didn’t see the part about the towels, usually I don’t cover up other towels with more towels while they’re trying to dry. So yes, if that was how the towels were drying, a pile of them would dry much much faster than laying wet towels on top of each other over and over again.
I just counted, if I made the bed each morning I’d be trapping the bed sheets under at least 8 other layers of fabric. A comforter, a weighted blanket, and sometimes another blanket. The weighted blanket alone has 5 layers to it, the comforter 3.
I don’t know why you’re spamming my inbox with multiple replies to the same comment. I also see you’re posting a random unrelated study about dehumidifiers at other people, while misrepresenting it as a study about bed making vs. not.
You are simply incorrect about the facts, even to the point of advocating for leaving wet towels in a pile. Amazing. Beyond that I’m not particularly interested in spending any more time arguing with you over the most basic hygiene habits that indicate to others whether you are a child or an adult.
I can however empathize with the additional complexity of the task if you sleep under a four inch thick 160 pound sheet of lead along with multiple auxiliary comforters. In that situation you’re supposed to fold the heavy items up towards the foot of your bed. Best of luck to you
Here’s what you said, so you can’t delete your comment later out of shame.
The study is about trapping moisture. It references mites in your bed from making it vs not. It’s a simple thing, closing something up traps moisture.
You are a 100% proven liar. The study has literally nothing to do with making a bed vs not. It is about humidity in the whole home.
Here is an actual quote from the study
Use of mattress and pillow encasements, coupled with frequent laundering of bedding, practically eliminates mite allergen exposure from beds
Crazy what ctrl f can come up with. Hey let’s keep going
Reducing the RH [relative humidity] in the whole house should also kill mites in mattresses and bedding as well and prevent colonization of these breeding sites. Although we did not monitor mite and allergen levels in mattresses and bedding, the lack of mites and allergen in mattresses and bedding in dry climates, such as the Rocky Mountain States, supports this hypothesis.
Great so they literally didn’t monitor mites in bedding whatsoever, and also note that it’s a complete non issue if you employ basic hygiene practices. Do you? You never answered my question btw, you said a made bed must smell “worse”. Does your bed smell at all?
As an aside, are your blankets made of impermeable plastic? I have a theory as to how you have become so confused about the principles of evaporation
Where do you think the person’s body was? The spot where all the moisture would be? Probably the big gaping area where there’s a person shaped layback of the sheets.
The options aren’t “let the moisture out by making the bed” or “let the moisture out by leaving the bed unmade”… the options are “don’t let the moisture out at all by making the bed” or “let most of the moisture out by leaving the bed unmade”.
What in the ever loving fuck are you trying to communicate with that disgusting bed 😂 Needs more cigarette cartons and used tissues
You can leave your sheets folded down while you’re in the shower or eating breakfast and then just pull them up when you’re done. I do this every day. Seriously, this takes less than 10 seconds. I also wash my sheets once per week. Do y’all find people who want to have sex with you in a bed like this?
For me living in a space that’s clean and looks nice does have a pretty big positive impact on my mental health. I feel better walking into my room to the bed being made than I do when it’s messy. Maybe everyone doesn’t get that but I would bet there are a lot of people that think they are in the “there’s no advantage” camp who actually aren’t. I thought I was that way when I was younger but when I actually started keeping up with it there was a noticeable improvement I had to acknowledge.
In addition to letting the sheets and blankets breathe already noted, a made bed lends itself to being used for things like folding, sorting, or hanging up laundry because it is a flat surface where socks can’t get lost in folds and shirts can be laid flat before putting on hangers.
I didn’t see benefits earlier in life but now I do. By made I just mean sheets and blankets laid flat, not tucked in or anything extra. Just a few seconds of getting then spread mostly evenly.
There’s no advantage of spending half an hour in the mirror every morning doing your hair applying stucco and paint on your face, yet most people despite lacking a real practical purpose, prefer not to be seen in public looking like they just escaped the bataan death march.
A made bed airs out faster than one that’s not. The exposed bits of mattress might air out a tad bit quicker but there is no way that compensates for the area that has the bunched up duvet on it.
And you mention effort. I have to shake out the duvet maybe two or three times to have it on my bed relatively straight.
This litterally takes like 5 seconds and the room looks infinitely more cared for.
Nobody is that short on time.
thats completely false theres massive social benefits to having a presentable appearance. have you not heard of pretty privilege? the opposite also exists. looking like shit has a massive social cost. people will treat you worse, fail to give you the benefit of the doubt, refuse to help you, in some cases even refuse to acknowledge your existence. no one is going to see your messy bed and judge you for it, but they will absolutely see and judge your face looking like shit.
The exposed bits are where you were sleeping, and it absolutely compensates for where the bunched up cloth is. And even if that bunched up cloth was a problem you can flatten that out to expose just the inside anyway, like the outside of a hard taco shell.
That’s exactly why you should not blindly follow things though. There is literally no advantage to a nicely made bed except that it looks nice. If that is not worth the effort of making the bed, then why would you do it?
There is an advantage to your psychology, which can influence other areas of your life for the better. A bleed over effect if you will.
it has an advantage for your mental health, because it helps your mood to know you have finished a task, have a routine, and cleaning.
This isn’t true for everyone… Did you know that?
For some of us, it’s punishment. Punishment to keep things nice only for others.
subjectivity is implied, yes.
Having to make my bed has a negative effect on my mental health. But yes, that’s why I said to evaluate it individually.
Just a pendant here. First comment does not say that.
Just a pedant here but it should be inferred from the first line.
It says that, and more.
Making my bed does nothing for me.
Doing unnecessary stuff irks me in ways I can’t describe.
That’s because your aren’t stupid.
It’s okay. There are dozens of us.
Because we are smart and value time.
I can’t stand actual pointless crap that wastes our lives.
But if it makes you happy, go for it I say.
i mean…if it makes someone happy then it wasn’t a waste! ;)
It might for you. It does nothing for me.
It doesn’t help my mental health to do a pointless task.
I can see this, for certain folks. To me, I’d be mad that I’m wasting time on something totally pointless when I could be doing anything else far higher up on my importance meter.
Contrary to what JP says mental health isn’t tied to a clean bedroom, or in this case a made bed.
This really depends on the person. For some, there’s benefit to the ritual and then again for the “tidy” bed occupying their space. For others, it doesn’t matter.
My personal opinion is if you tend to not be in your bedroom except to sleep then it doesn’t matter, but if you spend much time in there then making the bed is beneficial.
Its the routine not the time bedroom that natters
nah, fuck him. but a routine definitely is.
Routine and clean bed aren’t the same thing
no, but making the bed may be one of those mundane things that bring you into a routine!
I agree, but my point was that’s not what jp says.
ah i see now. had to look at your replies to other people to get the context :)
If those are the advantages then the same advantages could be accomplished by daily filling a cup with water, pouring out the water, drying the glass and putting it back in the cupboard. I’d argue the cup with water is far less effort and yields the same results.
i don’t know how you can make that comparison when one of those things contributes to a sense of normalcy and the other plainly doesn’t.
Because normalcy is subjective to each of us. If an unmade bed is normal in my house, then the unmade bed is what contributes to a sense of normalcy for me.
i was speaking more in relation to other people. also i don’t know anyone for whom filling and emptying glasses of water is normal.
Making your bed just means it will smell faster, you’re trapping moisture in the sheets.
When you make the bed you’re pinning all the duvet down?
Part of the reason I make my bed is to air it, with the duvet folded down, so it doesn’t smell
Very hard to find a good picture of this, but this is generally what people in the USA think of when someone says “make your bed”.
Ah ok, yeah none of that shit
Jeez, how much do you people sweat at night? I’m in a temperate climate and I only sweat at night when something’s wrong with me.
You sweat constantly, you just don’t notice it. I “don’t sweat” at night, that doesn’t mean there isn’t moisture in the sheets. Your body is a semi-permeable water sac, of course there’s going to be moisture in the sheets after spending 8 hours in them.
I sweat a fair amount at night. At this point in my life, I open the window, have a fan blowing air around the room, and sleep with minimal sheets and no clothes. I still end up sweating at some point in the night.
Mine is likely perimenopause related though.
Only if you do it right after getting up
And when are you supposed to do it otherwise? After you’ve gotten home from work?
Whenever you want? I do it when I get home from work or around lunchtime on my days off.
I make my bed purely because my wife likes it that way. I’m not bothered either way, but I do it because it’s important to her.
She wakes up before I do and goes to bed before I do. I make the bed nice and tidy when I eventually wake up so she has a nice neat bed to climb into at night.
Keep being an awesome husband brother
Is a husband-brother something they have in the South?
it feels nice to me anyway, a cluttered bed makes me anxious. plus tucking yourself into a made bed is such a nice feeling rather than trying to find your sheets in the mess
Lmao, some bitter sadsack downvoted the fact that you like a made bed.
crazy world we live in
Easily solved by not using top sheets.
You monster
Look at this guy with his fancy bottom sheets.
You mean like these?
Or REAL fancy like so:
In fact not doing it allows the mattress to dry better, after all it absorbs sweat during the night.
This is my thought. I don’t have time to go beat the mattress on the balcony, but I can leave the sheets down and the fan on.
The process of making your bed confers several hygiene benefits.
For starters, we release a ton of water when we sleep, both through sweat and exhalation. A made bed dries more efficiently
Making the bed also has the effect of shaking loose skin and hair that came off us throughout the night, and casting it to the floor. This is especially true if you use the objectively correct technique of grabbing the corners and flipping your bedding up into the air so that it settles down into place like a parachute
Takes five seconds, looks nice as you noted, and has many other mental and social benefits we haven’t even touched on. For one of many examples, if I go to a guy’s place, I’m not gonna be inclined to get into his bed if he “won” the bed-making argument with his parents and stuck with that philosophy ever since
Edit: Tyler thinks you’re too stupid to actually read his linked study. The fact that he needs to lie about something so easy to verify tells you everything you need to know about his alternative theories about reality
It’s also good to not make your bed, the warmth keeps the little pesky allergy generating beasts alive and reproductive (they still do, but less or so I have heard).
If you sweat like a pig (I sometimes do), don’t make your bed but hang your comforter(I guess that is the word, duvet ?) on some chair instead, and wash it when needed.
That said, do as you please, the cops can’t stop you!
I think in normal circumstances the rough pass at getting rid of excess skin and hair during the bed making process is a big priority if your goal is to slow microbe growth. And I don’t think your residual body heat dissipates any faster if your bedding is clumped up vs splayed uniformly.
But yeah if your bedding is literally wet to the touch when you wake up then the situation is different, I agree hanging + more frequent washing is justified as you said
I was talking about mites, but maybe it’s just a translation issue.
And shaking it all is probably best, except if you’re allergic 😁!
Wait what? Making the bed does the opposite. It traps the moisture in the bed, meaning it dries less, causing it to smell more. How the hell would making the bed cause it to dry better, that’s complete nonsense.
Edit: for those that don’t believe me, this has already been studied. Making your bed traps moisture. It’s honestly crazy to think that closing up a damp environment somehow makes it dry faster.
Think of it this way, if you soaked your entire mattress in water and then put it out in the sun, is it going to dry faster if you just leave it there or if you cut it open and expose all the insides?
You’re wondering why a completely flat piece of fabric with maximal surface area exposed to the air dries faster than one that’s bunched up and covering itself multiple times? Are there any other situations you can think of where things dry better bunched up rather than splayed out? Towels, swimsuits, tarps, tents?
Who mentioned smell by the way? Is your bedding noticeably smelly?
Huh? Maybe this is a country difference. If I make the bed, there’s going to be more than 3 layers of fabric on top of the sheets that were actually touching my body. There is zero chance in hell of those sheets drying faster covered up. The sheets being pulled back to expose the area that was actually touching my body is what allows it to dry.
And I didn’t see the part about the towels, usually I don’t cover up other towels with more towels while they’re trying to dry. So yes, if that was how the towels were drying, a pile of them would dry much much faster than laying wet towels on top of each other over and over again.
I just counted, if I made the bed each morning I’d be trapping the bed sheets under at least 8 other layers of fabric. A comforter, a weighted blanket, and sometimes another blanket. The weighted blanket alone has 5 layers to it, the comforter 3.
I don’t know why you’re spamming my inbox with multiple replies to the same comment. I also see you’re posting a random unrelated study about dehumidifiers at other people, while misrepresenting it as a study about bed making vs. not.
You are simply incorrect about the facts, even to the point of advocating for leaving wet towels in a pile. Amazing. Beyond that I’m not particularly interested in spending any more time arguing with you over the most basic hygiene habits that indicate to others whether you are a child or an adult.
I can however empathize with the additional complexity of the task if you sleep under a four inch thick 160 pound sheet of lead along with multiple auxiliary comforters. In that situation you’re supposed to fold the heavy items up towards the foot of your bed. Best of luck to you
The study is about trapping moisture. It references mites in your bed from making it vs not. It’s a simple thing, closing something up traps moisture.
Stating “you’re incorrect about the facts” when you are the one that doesn’t understand basic physics is the amazing thing.
Here’s what you said, so you can’t delete your comment later out of shame.
You are a 100% proven liar. The study has literally nothing to do with making a bed vs not. It is about humidity in the whole home.
Here is an actual quote from the study
Crazy what ctrl f can come up with. Hey let’s keep going
Great so they literally didn’t monitor mites in bedding whatsoever, and also note that it’s a complete non issue if you employ basic hygiene practices. Do you? You never answered my question btw, you said a made bed must smell “worse”. Does your bed smell at all?
As an aside, are your blankets made of impermeable plastic? I have a theory as to how you have become so confused about the principles of evaporation
How exactly are there fewer layers to trap moisture when your sheets and blankets are bunched and piled up?
Where do you think the person’s body was? The spot where all the moisture would be? Probably the big gaping area where there’s a person shaped layback of the sheets.
The options aren’t “let the moisture out by making the bed” or “let the moisture out by leaving the bed unmade”… the options are “don’t let the moisture out at all by making the bed” or “let most of the moisture out by leaving the bed unmade”.
What in the ever loving fuck are you trying to communicate with that disgusting bed 😂 Needs more cigarette cartons and used tissues
You can leave your sheets folded down while you’re in the shower or eating breakfast and then just pull them up when you’re done. I do this every day. Seriously, this takes less than 10 seconds. I also wash my sheets once per week. Do y’all find people who want to have sex with you in a bed like this?
Amazing
I make mine to keep cat hair and the occasional litter rock off of the bottom sheet.
For me living in a space that’s clean and looks nice does have a pretty big positive impact on my mental health. I feel better walking into my room to the bed being made than I do when it’s messy. Maybe everyone doesn’t get that but I would bet there are a lot of people that think they are in the “there’s no advantage” camp who actually aren’t. I thought I was that way when I was younger but when I actually started keeping up with it there was a noticeable improvement I had to acknowledge.
In addition to letting the sheets and blankets breathe already noted, a made bed lends itself to being used for things like folding, sorting, or hanging up laundry because it is a flat surface where socks can’t get lost in folds and shirts can be laid flat before putting on hangers.
I didn’t see benefits earlier in life but now I do. By made I just mean sheets and blankets laid flat, not tucked in or anything extra. Just a few seconds of getting then spread mostly evenly.
Cleaner to lay on top of the cover if you are lounging on the bed during the day
A nicely made bed also feels nicer and is easier to keep clean.
Distinct layers of sheets with uniform spacing between them holds and vents heat more uniformly.
If you’ve only got one blanket probably makes no difference though.
There’s no advantage of spending half an hour in the mirror every morning doing your hair applying stucco and paint on your face, yet most people despite lacking a real practical purpose, prefer not to be seen in public looking like they just escaped the bataan death march.
A made bed airs out faster than one that’s not. The exposed bits of mattress might air out a tad bit quicker but there is no way that compensates for the area that has the bunched up duvet on it. And you mention effort. I have to shake out the duvet maybe two or three times to have it on my bed relatively straight.
This litterally takes like 5 seconds and the room looks infinitely more cared for. Nobody is that short on time.
thats completely false theres massive social benefits to having a presentable appearance. have you not heard of pretty privilege? the opposite also exists. looking like shit has a massive social cost. people will treat you worse, fail to give you the benefit of the doubt, refuse to help you, in some cases even refuse to acknowledge your existence. no one is going to see your messy bed and judge you for it, but they will absolutely see and judge your face looking like shit.
A made bed absolutely does not air out quicker. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(01)77320-4/pdf
The exposed bits are where you were sleeping, and it absolutely compensates for where the bunched up cloth is. And even if that bunched up cloth was a problem you can flatten that out to expose just the inside anyway, like the outside of a hard taco shell.