Tool
Wash Plan
Tell it what is actually on the bed and it produces an interval for each layer, the things that will end that layer in a single cycle, and the point at which it is finished rather than dirty. Nothing here is a health recommendation and nothing here overrides a care label.
The care label sewn into the item beats everything on this page. Every schedule below is a general guideline written for a whole category, and the manufacturer wrote theirs for the exact thing you own. Where the two disagree, follow the label.
Pillowcases
about every 7 days
BaselineWeekly
Watch forYellowing along the fold where the head rests, and a fabric that feels slick rather than clean after washing, which usually means detergent is not rinsing out.
Replace whenWhen the fabric has thinned enough to see through at the fold, or when a stain has set through repeated washing.
- Do not bleach a colored or a finished case unless the label allows it. Optical brighteners and resin finishes react badly and the damage is not reversible.
More on this layer: Pillow
Fitted and flat sheets
about every 7 days
BaselineWeekly
Watch forPilling where a forearm rubs, elastic gone slack at one corner, and thinning at the foot of the flat sheet where heels do the work.
Replace whenWhen the fitted sheet will not hold a corner through the night, or when a thin patch has opened into a hole.
- Do not wash rayon or viscose sheets hot. The fiber is at its weakest wet, and heat plus agitation is what puts holes in them before they look worn.
- Do not dry a resin-finished wrinkle-free sheet on high heat repeatedly. The finish is what makes it smooth, and heat degrades it.
More on this layer: Sheets
Comforter or duvet insert
about every 105 days
BaselineEvery 3 to 4 months under a flat sheet or duvet cover; every 4 to 6 weeks if it is the layer against you
Watch forFill drifting to one end, cold spots you can feel through the cover, and quilting stitches that have let go along a line.
Replace whenWhen the fill no longer redistributes after a wash and a shake, or when the shell has worn through at a seam.
- Do not cram a comforter into a machine that cannot turn it. A comforter that does not tumble does not get washed, it gets soaked, and the weight can damage both the item and the machine.
- Do not take a comforter out of the dryer while the middle is still damp. Fill that dries folded in on itself mildews.
More on this layer: Comforter
How the intervals are worked out
days = baseline interval for the item, multiplied by 0.5 if a pet sleeps on the bed, multiplied by 0.75 if you asked for more frequent washing, then rounded and floored at 3 days.
The baselines are general guidelines for a category, written from ordinary laundry practice. They are not manufacturer instructions and they are not a health recommendation. The full calendar, with everything that must never go in a machine, is on Care Calendar.
Why the intervals are ranges and not rules
How often a thing needs washing depends on how much of you reaches it. A pillowcase takes everything. A comforter under a flat sheet takes very little, and the same comforter used without one takes a great deal. That is why the schedule changes by layer rather than by calendar, and why two settings on this tool shorten every interval at once instead of pretending to be precise.
The full calendar, grouped by where each item sits in the stack and with every prohibition in one place, is on Care Calendar. If the question is fit rather than laundry, that is Pocket Check.