One time, I got so violently ill that I projectile vomited through my hand—the hand I’d clapped over my mouth as I rushed to get out of bed and to the bathroom—all over my pillowcase.
It was, to put it mildly, not a great night.
But a thing that made it a whole lot better was that, once I returned from hurling my guts out into the toilet (I eventually made it to the bathroom), I had a stack of clean pillowcases. Even in my post-puking stupor, I could still manage to grab a fresh case, strip the soiled linens off my pillow, slip on a fresh pillowcase, and rest my weary, barfy head.
So why am I telling you this horrible and embarrassing story now? Well, for two reasons! The first is that a lot of people are feeling nervous about germs and such because of coronavirus and I, your resident cleaning expert, think it’s my duty to share what I know about cleaning as it relates to staying healthy. The second reason is that it’s March, and in March we traditionally spend a lot of time talking about bed-related matters because March is when I do my annual bed-making challenge, LAMOB.
“LA-wha, Jolie?” LAMOB! It’s a whole thing!! It’s silly but fun and I’ve written about it before on a good website so I won’t go into the whole song and dance here but the gist is this: Make your bed. Every day for a month! Or don’t, or you already make your bed every day, or you sleep on a pile of reeds and rushes, etc. This is an entirely voluntary program.
(LAMOB stands for Let’s All Make Our Beds, if you were wondering.)
Okay but back to the, lol, case for extra pillowcases.
During and after an illness—a cold, stomach flu, the pandemic of the week, whatever—one of the best and first things you should do is change and wash your bedsheets. Think about it! If you’ve been sniffling and sneezing and, if you’re me, I guess, barfing on your pillowcases, it stands to reason that your germs are all up on that thing! So unless you want a feedback loop of germs to keep you sick forever, or if you especially enjoy sleeping on dried barf (hey, there’s a fetish for everything!), be diligent about changing your sheets after—or better yet, during!!—an illness.
There are other reasons to have an extra stash of pillowcases and here they are:
- If you don’t have time to change the full set of sheets, putting on fresh pillowcases can give you that “clean sheet feeling” without a ton of work.
- Pillowcases are easy to store and don’t take up a lot of storage space.
- Similarly, washing an extra pillowcase or two won’t add much to your laundry pile/load of wash.
- Pillowcases are fairly inexpensive!
- There are all kinds of pillowcases you can get for all different reasons! Cast off the sheet set chains!! GET WILD WITH YOUR PILLOWCASES!!!
Would you like some suggestions? Well sure, here we are, among friends, so why not?!?
Silk pillowcases are great for maintaining healthy skin and hair. They’re also pretty luxurious!
How about an animal print?!? We stan an animal print moment. Also, this look sends quite a message!
Or you could go the monogrammed pillowcase route for that “I’m a fancy bitch” mood.
Maybe this is all too outré for your tastes. No problem! Here are some basic white pillowcases for a very good price. Bonus! Microfiber sheeting feels great and washes and dries beautifully.
You could, of course, inject a bit of whimsy into your extra pillowcase collection. Maybe you, like me, have a bit of a thing for the Grinch?
Seasonal pillowcases are a lot of fun and there’s certainly no shortage of options. Halloween, anyone?
St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner!
Maybe a little patriotism for the 4th of July?!?
If the seasonal look isn’t really your style, you could express yourself on your pillowcases with a motif that speaks to your personal interests. Laser cat, anyone?
Bacon bacon bacon bacon BACON!
Awww.
Double awww (awww).
GAH NO NOT THIS ONE!!