Dust mites
In which the Wartime Housewife compares historical hygiene and the importance of airing bed linen.
Isn’t it interesting how concepts of hygiene change over the years? Adverts tell us that there are more germs on our chopping boards than on our lavatory seats, that we will catch something nasty if we so much as touch the soap dispenser and hint that our spouses may abandon us if our houses smell of anything but ‘Evening Musk of Calibar’. And yet we survive.
However, we fail to do simple things that could very well curb some of the allergies and respiratory problems which plague the modern family. Things that our grandparents did as a matter of course.
A potentially lethal mug of cocoa
After two years, one third of the weight of a pillow consists of dust mites, dust mite faeces, dead skin, bacteria and saliva. A duvet will be similar but with the addition of other body fluids. Oh, and Ovaltine and cocoa in my case.
Dust mites are terribly fashionable these days and our beds are full of them. The Victorians were most fastidious about bedrooms and bed linen, and at Spring Cleaning time, they would literally take beds to pieces and wash down ever single bit, then put them back together. Bed linen was washed at high temperatures, aired and pressed with a hot iron. Mattresses and pillows were regularly aired and exposed to sunlight. Windows would be opened at night to let the fresh air in.
Dust mites hate heat and light, therefore washing at 60o or over and then airing in the sun will soon put a stop to them as the sunlight causes them to dry out and die. Unfortunately, the prevalence of the dust mite has increased with our obsession with washing things at low temperatures. Perhaps using less detergent but higher temperatures would be better for the environment? Discuss.
Dust - for those of us who have never noticed it...
All pillows and duvets can be machine washed – even duck and goose down ones. Pillows will fit into the domestic washing machine and most launderettes have big machines that will accommodate a duvet and have a large tumble dryer to finish them off. I’m sorry to say that some people buy new duvets instead of washing them, their argument being that it is cheaper to buy a new one than to wash it. This is missing the point and is wrong-headed; just think what will happen to that duvet when you’ve taken it to the tip.
Incidentally, it is thought that goose and duck down is less susceptible to microbial growth due to the density of the fibres. Despite being asthmatic, I am not affected by feathers but for the people who are, washing and airing your synthetic pillows should have a high priority.
A bed bug
4 bed bugs infested with poorly manicured human fingers
Bed bugs had been practically eradicated by the 1940s but have increased in incidence since 1995. We’re not quite sure why this has happened, but it may have links to increased foreign travel or a greater focus on controlling other pests. Spiders, cockroaches, ants and millipedes all predate on them, but I wouldn’t recommend using your bedroom as the pest control equivalent of companion planting. Reputable insecticides and heat treatments are the answer. It’s also a good idea to give any second hand furniture, that may be susceptible, a good hovering before first use. Tight weave mattress protectors are also a good idea, both for suppressing bugs and for keeping mattresses free of ‘fluids’ (and I include Ovaltine and cocoa in that as well).
Let the sun and air do the work and they cost nothing. Sheets and pillow cases always feel and smell fresher and nicer when they’ve been hung outside in the fresh air to dry. What a joy it is to have a bath, then get into a clean nightie and snuggle up between freshly washed sheets.
Wait for a hot, sunny day and peg out your pillows. I feel a new slogan coming on.
Wartime Housewife 
Bedlinen needs to be washed at high temperature,and I always buy either cotton or linen so this is possible.Tea towels also need to be boilwashed to kill the bacteria,and anyway I like my whites to be WHITE ! Nothing looks worse than white clothes or sheets etc that are grey.You can’t beat feather pillows either,the hollofibre pillows and duvets clump up and become uncomfortable and they seem to generate heat which in summer,or if you share the bed with a warm person is too much.
Welcome Rosemary and thanks for your comments. What do you do with synthetic fibres that you might get in knickers or bras? That’s definitely MY grey area! (do you see what I did there….). Out of interest, what’s your view on all the different washing powders? I have a cotton nightdress from the 1930s which is made of pure cotton. I washed it last night in bleach solution, then with mild washing powder (for the smell) and then hung it on the line to dry. It is absolutely sparkling white this morning (and barely needs ironing as it has been so windy) but I wouldn’t have been able to do that with a nylon nightie.
I haven’t had the opportunity to do any research on this but I wonder what happened before polyster fillings for pillows; was a proprtion of the population still suffering from allergies to feathers? Or did the allergies arrive on the back of different lifestyles and washing habits?
I hope you keep reading.
I use Persil bio powder for all whites including those that are washed at 60,Persil is my lifetime favourite.I wash all my non-cotton white underwear including nylon slips(not bras though) at 60.For coloureds I use either Ariel or Bold gel .Using any ownbrand powder, liquid or dishwasher tablets I have found gives a poor result,also eco-brands which is such a shame.I have mild asthma but don’t find that feather pillows etc affect me.There is nothing to beat a good blow on the washing line outdoors and the sun helps keep things white.
You’ve certainly made me itch now!
Ovaltine and cocoa by all means, for they are entirely civilised brews; but please, please, please, not Camp Coffee. Anything (and I mean anything) but Camp Coffee.
OK, not Camp… slightly theatrical perhaps?
I am funning with you Mr Watson! You have clearly never had the untrammelled joy of an iced coffee, made with Camp and with a blob of fresh cream on the top? Sucked through a straw on a hot day? My dear you haven’t lived!
Indeed not. On any day – hot or cold – my preference is still a large mug of builder’s tea.
There are, it must be admitted, a variety of reasons for my loathing of Camp Coffee: personally historical as well as an gustatory. Perhaps it’s because it recalls with painful clarity, my early courting of the War Department (that is, the first Mrs Watson). Strange though, that I can contemplate without revulsion – perhaps even still with enthusiasm – a large bowl of pasta, topped only with grated cheese and black pepper; which was frequently the solid accompaniment of the aforementioned liquid abomination.
Isn’t it strange the things that can prompt sudden vivid recall? I have, on a couple of occasions, had ‘flashbacks’ so strong as to be quite disorienting for a while. I find that music or smells, combined with place, are the strongest initiator, and very strange it can be too.
Smells are so powerful. Wooden floor polish always gets me and cardigans that smell of lipstick. And Pontefract Cakes. I often think that I could pick out any member of my family or my friends just by the way they smell. It could be a new game show!
And as for music, it arouses actual physical sensations of time and place, to say nothing of the pure emotion of beautiful music. The amount of times I’ve been stared at in the car as I have sat, tears streaming down my face, because I’m listening to Mozart’s ‘Dove sono’ or ‘Voi che sapete’ or something similar. I’m always faintly suspicious of people who profess no liking for music….
I’ve just put two freshly washed and aired pillows on my bed and I have to say they smell and feel heavenly.
Can I also just add, that hasving re-read this post, it might appear that the bed bugs in the photo are mine.
They are absolutely not.
I use handcream for one thing.
I’ve always aired my pillows on sunny days but now, thanks to this post, I leave my bed unmade for part of the day. I talked about this on my blog today and put a link to your excellent post. Many thanks!
Welcome Vicki Lane. At school we always used to have to run our beds down and leave them airing while we washed and dressed. Seemed silly at the time but makes sense now and is a great excuse for not making the bed!