This is how often you should really be changing your sheets… and it might surprise you

According to an article in The Sun last year, we’re all guilty of forgetting to change our bedsheets as regularly as we plan to.

But according to an expert, it's actually a pretty bad idea to leave them for more than a few days.

Your cosy bed could actually be a breeding ground for bacteria

New York University microbiologist Philip Tierno spoke about the dangers of not having regularly washed sheets.

Tierno stated that one week is the maximum time that sheets should be left before they get chucked in the washing machine.

After a week, your bed becomes a breeding ground for germs and can become a 'botanical park' for bacteria and fungus.

Whilst plenty of us wouldn't consider washing sheets after a few days, apparently, it's for the best as it's enough to trigger allergic responses from those sleeping on them.

We should all start chucking a load in weekly

Tierno believes that the bacteria accumulated in your bed in a week is "significant", and can cause allergic responses even if you don't suffer from actual allergies.

He said: "If you touched dog poop in the street, you'd want to wash your hands.

"Consider that similar to your bedding, if you saw what was there — but of course you don't see it — after a while, you have to say to yourself, 'Do I want to sleep in that?'"

22 percent of people only change their sheets every four to five weeks

A survey by online bed retailer Time 4 Sleep has revealed that only 28 percent of us Brits are clean queens that change sheets weekly.

The largest percentages of people change their sheets every fortnight, with a respectable 40 percent doing so.

But 24 percent admitted to only washing theirs every three to four weeks.

And that leaves a mystery 8 percent, which wasn't mentioned, but we hope that we've never been in one of those people's beds!