You Won't Believe the Amount of Dirt, Bacteria and Feces that Accumulates in your Bed Each Night

Experts have revealed gruesome details about the collection of dirt, bacteria, excrement, and other nastiness that builds up in your bed in just one night, suggesting that the majority of people aren't doing enough to ensure that their sheets are clean and hygienic.

According to Dr Philip Tierno Jr., the director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, after just one night of use, your bed sheets can accumulate a horrifying array of dead skin, bacteria, fungus, mites, and even feces.

Research suggests that each and every time you use your bed, you are depositing more dead skin, in

addition to any dirt, sweat or grease that may have also built up on your skin throughout the day.

And then there are the cosmetic products that you use on your body, each of which deposits its own trace amount of product on the bed every time you get into it.

To make matters worse, each of those elements can carry additional bacteria and dirt; according to Dr Tierno, sweat is often found to contain trace amounts of excrement, and even E. coli.

The increasing level of dirt and grime is also likely to attract any number of bugs, such as dust mites, which in turn deposit their own dirt and excrement into your bed

A 2014 survey suggested that 35 per cent of all adults regularly go an entire fortnight without washing their sheets - while one in ten people admitted that they used the same sheets for an entire month before putting them in for a wash. Only one third of the participants claimed to wash their sheets on a weekly basis.

Despite society's seemingly determined insistence to avoid the mundane chore of sheet washing however, Dr Tierno insists that a once-weekly wash is essential in order to avoid picking up any nasty infections.

How often do you wash your sheets, guys?