pillow bacteria and skin cleanliness
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free skin care · Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:09 pm

Uhhh I have a couple of questions about bedtime skincare.. literally. AFTER the nightly cleanse, tone, yada yada yada. I want to know what to do when I actually lay down my head at night.

How often should I change my pillowcase? I think it would be beneficial to change it very often (every other night?) seeing as I want to keep my face germ-free. When I go to bed, I always feel like I did all that skincare for nothing because my face just ends up smushing up against a bacteria infested pillow. And I LOVE to snuggle with my pillow!

I often try to lie on whichever side of my face is having the least problems and let the problem-side breathe. But I move around in my sleep so much that both sides of my face are inevitably going to touch the pillow.

Maybe I should just spray my pillowcase with Lysol before bed! I'm sure that'd really do wonders for my skin!

Also, this is slightly unrelated, but how do you people sleep with a facial mask on? I read in here all the time about people leaving on overnight treatments (with products that aren't even meant to absorb in the skin!). How in the world does it not rub off on your pillow?

They should make some sort of a rubber mask that can be placed over the face and somehow fastened around your head to wear overnight with your treatment! I'm sure it'd look funny, but nobody will be laughing at great skin!

free skin care · Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:59 pm

Hi jamie630, you are very cute! Don't spray your pillowcase with Lysol, that will be not good for your skin!
You should wash not only your pillowcase, but also pillow itself. I use sinthetic pillow, so it is very easy to wash it as often as you wish Very Happy

! If you have a chance, put your pillow outside on the sun, it helps to kill all the bacteria that soap didn't Laughing

!

free skin care · Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:38 am

Hi, Jamie. My sister's herbal physician suggests her to change pillow case weekly.

I have the same worry with you too Very Happy

That's why I change my pillow case every two days. Sometimes, I change it daily. Moreover, it is just a simple tast to wash it Laughing

regards
handsbella

free skin care · Sat Dec 10, 2005 8:40 pm

Hi Jamie,

I wash my pillow cases [along with my bed sheets] every week ... and I use hot water and bleach. Still, I also worry about possible "contamination" ... so I usually dust my face with corn starch just before going to bed, in the hopes that the corn starch will provide a barrier of sorts.

I don't know if this works, of course. However, I also feel that if a dusting of corn starch makes me think it will work ... then I won't worry about it so much ... and that alone might make a difference. Laughing

Logic tells me that the corn starch is probably just a "feel good" placebo, but it does seem to give me peace of mind. Laughing

Mary

free skin care · Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:01 pm

I had no idea people were concerned with this. I learn something new everyday! Very Happy

I change my pillow case every other week (i'm lazy by nature). I do keep two pillow cases on my pillows though. I have one as a cover and one for my melon. This helps to keep the oils from getting onto my pillows (I have ones from Select Comfort and I had to give them my first born....ok, I tried to give them my first born, but they still wouldn't lower the price). Very Happy

I haven't washed mine but I do put them thru the dryer. It helps fluff them up and remove dust and such plus it kills anything that might be on them. I do it every month or so. Hope that helps!

free skin care · Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:20 pm

Wasn't this in the other board as well? confused

Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:46 pm

Hi Ladies..

A pillow case should be changed daily. Acne and the bacteria that causes it are infectious, meaning that if you have a spot that is bad and then you "smush" your face in your pillow it will infect / re-infect areas.

I hope this helps! =)

Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:02 pm

Quote:

Acne and the bacteria that causes it are infectious

If that were true, I could spread acne to other people, or other places on my body....I'm not so sure about that one.

That being said....I too, a trying to be better about changing pillow cases every few days - just for dirt and oil sake.

free skin care · Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:04 pm

I'm with ArtTeacher!

We all know that bacteria and other microscopic yuckies love to inhabit our bedsheets and pillowcases. There have certainly been enough scientific illustrations of this in the media over the years.

We also know that some forms of bacteria on the face doesn't help skin problems ... and can make skin problems worse.

Since I like really good cotton sheets [preferably 400 threads per inch minimum] ... there's no way I'm going to be able to afford 7 sets of pillowcases for our king sized bed. Also I do the laundry ... and I'm just not going to wash my pillow case every day! Laughing

That just isn't going to happen.

I think washing in hot water with bleach once a week is probably a good compromise ... and during the week, protecting any real problem areas is also a good idea.

Keeping things too clean is probably more of a problem than being reasonable about it. Science has shown that "anti-bacterial" dish soaps, hand soaps etc aren't a good thing ... any more than being prescribed too many anti-biotics is a good thing.

Our immune systems have to encounter bacteria from time to time just to be in peak condition. If you remove too much bacteria [the good and the bad] you compromise your immune system and should it need to, it can't fight. It has no amunition.

Our faces react badly to some bacterias, but that's not the only cause of our skin problems ... so I wouldn't get too upset about our pillow cases as long as you launder them sensibly at regular intervals.

Mary

free skin care · Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:13 pm

You're right. Washing everyday would take too much time for me anyway. Here's a tip: flip your pillow! Use the other side of the pillow that you haven't put your face and hair on before. It'd be cleaner.

free skin care · Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:56 pm

I have the same concerns! I sleep with two pillows and rotate them some nights so I use both pillowcases...flipping them over is a good idea too. I wish I was good about changing it more often! Seems like such a small thing to do for good results...

free skin care · Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:24 pm

You guys are too much! Smile

Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:30 pm

too much would be having a different pillow rotation for different phases of our cycles. ooooh, maybe different materials - egyptian cotton for ovulation, flannel for the luteal phase...... Wink

free skin care · Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:52 pm

You're too funny!

ka, picturing the look on her husband's face when she tries to use "luteal phase", "fabric" and "skin care" in the same sentence...bored/confused/thinking about something else entirely

free skin care · Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:49 pm

Washing your hair before bedtime helps too!
I am guessing most acne-prone ppl have oily skin and oily hair too...well me at least...

Mmmm...Come to think of it, I have a very strong feeling my recent and continuous breakout is related to my hubby's habit of not washing his hair before bedtime...and that our pillows smay switch sides from time to time...

must go home & investigate tonite...and maybe put some mark on my pillow Very Happy

Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:35 am

If you are with someone who has experienced bad acne and you share a bed with them, there is almost no way out of a situation whereby you will see a few more pimples etc (especially if you are prone!)

My suggestion to anyone with severe acne would be to change the pillowcase, flip them over etc. to ensure that they are not spreading it. REMEMBER this is for moderate to severe acne. Pull your hair away from your face as well. And of course, the tried and true - don't touch your face especially without washing your hands

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