{"id":847327,"date":"2026-08-07T23:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/847327\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:38:11","slug":"how-often-to-wash-pyjamas-and-where-to-store-between-wears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/847327\/","title":{"rendered":"How often to wash pyjamas and where to store between wears"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many Aussies, storing pyjamas behind their pillow is a habit ingrained since childhood. Since they\u2019ve been worn at least once<\/a> it makes sense not to put sleepwear back in the drawer and tuck them away where you\u2019ll use them the following night.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, experts told nine.com.au it\u2019s actually unhygienic and possibly even more so than leaving them on the floor all day. It seems those who leave them on a designated clothes chair<\/a> might be onto something.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Storing pyjamas behind the pillow makes sense to those of us who were taught to do it as children.\u00a0Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n

\u201cThough this is common, it is not the best practice,\u201d Rietie Venter, microbiologist and\u00a0 associate professor at the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science at Adelaide University, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPyjamas could be slightly sweaty from the night\u2019s wear and keeping them under the pillow will keep them moist. It will also trap the heat from your body on the pyjamas for longer, creating ideal conditions for moulds to thrive<\/a> and odours to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan Toft, The Laundry Lady founder and CEO, agreed, \u201cThat\u2019s exactly the environment odour-causing bacteria like warm, dark, no airflow. Instead of drying out and airing between wears, they sit in their own moisture and the smell just compounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t put them behind the pillow at all, just like airing out your bed before making it again<\/a>, airing out sleepwear is beneficial.<\/p>\n

\u201cHang your pyjamas over a chair, a hook, or a towel rail rather than folding them away straight off your body. That lets any moisture evaporate properly before they\u2019re worn again, which makes a real difference to odour,\u201d Toft said.<\/p>\n

Given pyjamas are known for being worn multiple times before washing there can be confusion around when to toss them in the laundry hamper.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a week is the general rule, though every three to four wears is a better way to think about it. Even though pyjamas look clean, they\u2019re soaking up everything your body sheds overnight: sweat, dead skin cells, and natural oils – that builds up on the fabric whether you can see it \u2013 or smell it \u2013 or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, individual bodies, weather and simply personal preference mean washing after one night is fine too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you should consider is factors such as if you shower in the evenings before you go to bed or in the morning, also, how much you sweat,\u201d Venter said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou should also consider that pyjama bottoms are worn directly on your skin and in that way are like underwear; so, you might consider washing them after each wear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deciding factor for pyjama-washing frequency is usually sweat because of the bacteria and odour that it leaves on sleepwear.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweating is the big one. Women going through hormonal changes often sweat more overnight and may need to wash their pyjamas daily rather than weekly. The same goes for anyone running a fever or naturally sleeping hot,\u201d Toft said.<\/p>\n

Pyjamas are easy to just dump on the bed or floor and forget about putting in the wash, but Toft said they\u2019re worth prioritising because \u201cthey\u2019re against your skin for around a third of your day\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen in doubt, the easiest habit to build is simply popping them in with the weekly wash, or twice a week if you\u2019re a hot sleeper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Whether you need to wash pyjamas more often or not, it is useful to have two to three pairs, so there is always a clean one to change into while the other is in the wash. <\/p>\n

And unlike the dilemma of where to put them after wearing them once, they can simply be tucked away in your dresser drawers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many Aussies, storing pyjamas behind their pillow is a habit ingrained since childhood. Since they\u2019ve been worn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":["post-847327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}