Bed Linen and Dust

[Beggar]

My bed linen drives me crazy. It is the biggest source of dust in my condo. Do I have bad quality and if so what should I buy to stop this problem? Everything is cotton. 

[bankruatsteve]

??  Your linen is collecting dust or somehow creating dust?  

 

Cotton is the normal constituent in bed linen.

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, Beggar said:

It is the biggest source of dust in my condo.

I thought the biggest source of dust was dead human skin?

[CGW]

1 hour ago, Beggar said:

what should I buy to stop this problem?

Buy an air filter! 

[Beggar]

33 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

??  Your linen is collecting dust or somehow creating dust?  

 

Cotton is the normal constituent in bed linen.

The linen creates a lot of dust. You can see the fibers even in other rooms. And I clean my bedroom (because of this) every day. I have some furniture with black glass on top. There you see everything. I could buy different furniture... but this will not fix the real problem. 

 

I looked a lot already on Google. I seem to be the only one with this problem. But of course can't be. Perhaps I need a special material. 

[Beggar]

21 minutes ago, CGW said:

Buy an air filter! 

I was thinking about this. But better I fix the source of the problem.

[Beggar]

33 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

I thought the biggest source of dust was dead human skin?

You can see the fibers of the bed linen. 

[bankruatsteve]

4 minutes ago, Beggar said:

The linen creates a lot of dust. You can see the fibers even in other rooms. And I clean my bedroom (because of this) every day.

I suppose you have run them through the wash and problem persists?  Maybe try a different detergent and/or rinse.

[Beggar]

16 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

I suppose you have run them through the wash and problem persists?  Maybe try a different detergent and/or rinse.

They have been washed so many times already. I tried with softener. After I put them on the bed I even used the vacuum cleaner on them. But it doesn't change anything at all. This has been getting on my nerves for years already and I googled a lot. I can't believe that there is no fix. But on the other hand I could not find one. I am not a linen expert. But perhaps there is a better quality. Or perhaps it is like this and I have to live with it. But it is a lot of dust every day. 

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by Beggar

[bankruatsteve]

Dunno.  Try silk.

[sometimewoodworker]

SWMBO said that our new front loading washing machine produces much less dusty items, so that could be your problem and solution.

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, Beggar said:

It is the biggest source of dust in my condo.

I suck the dust in house with my Dyson. ????

[Beggar]

3 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

SWMBO said that our new front loading washing machine produces much less dusty items, so that could be your problem and solution.

I do not want to buy a new washing machine and in the worst case get the same result ????

[sunnyboy2018]

Ignore it. Just brush it off.

[jastheace]

yes I get the same. dust comes of all my washing once dried, more from some things than others.

I give it a good shake outside before bringing it in. seems normal to me.

[Beggar]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I suck the dust in house with my Dyson. ????

I have a vacuum cleaner too. The floor is not so much the problem because there I can use it. But the dust is everywhere. On tables, on shelves, on the couch .... on everything. And for sure in my lung too.

 

On the Internet I found endless information about dust mites and their dust. But not much about the dust of the bed linen and no real fix. I am wondering that not many seem to have the same problem. But perhaps you don't have dark glass surfaces and don't see it so much because of this. 

 

 

[Artisi]

Collect some dust and get it analysed, possibly an outside source - not your linen. 

 

[jastheace]

what you have is lint , common and no issue. tumble drying will remove some by means of the lint filter. but never seen one here. a good shake when dry will help. outside of course !

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by jastheace

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Beggar said:

I have a vacuum cleaner too. The floor is not so much the problem because there I can use it. But the dust is everywhere. On tables, on shelves, on the couch .... on everything. And for sure in my lung too.

 

On the Internet I found endless information about dust mites and their dust. But not much about the dust of the bed linen and no real fix. I am wondering that not many seem to have the same problem. But perhaps you don't have dark glass surfaces and don't see it so much because of this. 

 

Dust is a problem anywhere either move out of village/town or hire someone to clean everyday.

[VocalNeal]

Does the OP sleep on a futon with a kapok filling.

 

 

Just a thought.

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by VocalNeal

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Beggar said:

I do not want to buy a new washing machine and in the worst case get the same result ????

The situation you described sound way more than we have experienced. What kind of washing machine do you use?
 

FWIW The one SWMBO’s been using that was producing more dust items is a top loader.

[Thainesss]

3 hours ago, jastheace said:

tumble drying will remove some by means of the lint filter. but never seen one here

 

I use a 12,000 baht tumble dryer from Lazada. Heat is vented outside through a penetration. 

 

To answer OP's question - Its just cheap cotton or cotton that's been used a lot. 

I have "Brushed Microfiber" that are "Hypoallergenic" that use a synthetic fiber - not cotton. 

 

I bought these, shipped directly to my house in Thailand:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQDGAP2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Beggar]

 

First of all thank you all for your help. The photo below shows new dust after about 8 hours. If I don't clean you can write with your fingers on it after two days. Now to your responses.

The dust comes mainly from the bed linen. You can see the white fibers (lint). If the bed linen is old or new does not make any difference. 

The bed linen is 100 % cotton. Silk I don't want to use - too much care when cleaning. Polyester like Micro Fiber that Thainess recommended I also don't want to use. It is bad enough that I get cotton fibers into my lung. Polyester fibers are for sure not more healthy. 

I use a top loader washing machine. Can't switch to a front loader now. 

I was hoping that there exists a special higher quality cotton material to avoid all this dust. I read so much on the Internet about this only to find out that cheap and also very expensive products seem to have the same problem. But I can't believe that I am the only one that is annoyed by all this dust and that there is no fix for this. Will start to clean now - again and again... 

 

[bankruatsteve]

You keep referring to "linen" but saying they are cotton.  I know it's common to refer to all that type of stuff as "linen" but linen is actually a different fabric than cotton made from flax.  Usually a bit more expensive than cotton but maybe worth a try.  

 

Edit: Are you by any chance soaking your bedding in bleach?  Not a good idea.

Edited November 18, 2019 by bankruatsteve

[Beggar]

32 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

You keep referring to "linen" but saying they are cotton.  I know it's common to refer to all that type of stuff as "linen" but linen is actually a different fabric than cotton made from flax.  Usually a bit more expensive than cotton but maybe worth a try.  

 

Edit: Are you by any chance soaking your bedding in bleach?  Not a good idea.

Bleach I use perhaps every 6 months.

 

Linen is complicated when cleaning. Only low temperature, best washed alone, no bleach, no spinning, no dryer and endless ironing.

[Airalee]

I have the same problem and noticed that there is significantly more dust when I hang dry my clothes/towels/sheets vs using a dryer.  

 

I also believe that the quality of the cotton in the fabric contributes to the amount.  Long staple cotton is what you want to look for.  It’s expensive, but the sheets will last longer 

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, Beggar said:

I use a top loader washing machine. Can't switch to a front loader now. 

I suggest that you get a set of bed linen washed in a reasonably new frontloading washing machine, that will give a datum point.
 

Use a dryer for one set for another datum.

 

Check to see if your local laundrette (laundromat for the colonial cousins, coin laundry for the Japanese) has front loaders and try a set there for yet another datum. 
 

I personally prefer a polycotton mix as I don’t want to be bothered doing the ironing for a pure cotton. Also pure cotton is rather difficult to find, certainly available but not as easy to find as polyester cotton. 
 

Also the amount of dust is not normal as far as I know.

Edited November 18, 2019 by sometimewoodworker

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, bankruatsteve said:

You keep referring to "linen" but saying they are cotton.  I know it's common to refer to all that type of stuff as "linen" but linen is actually a different fabric than cotton made from flax.  Usually a bit more expensive than cotton but maybe worth a try.  

Bedlinen is a generic term for the bedding products such as sheets, pillow cases, bolster covers, duvet covers etc. Bedlinen can be made of a variety of different fabrics which include cotton, Polyester cotton, linen, silk, and various other materials it doesn’t imply that it’s made from linen or have any linen in it.

[CGW]

I always sleep with pure cotton sheets, the higher the thread count the more expensive they are, my preference is for about a 320 thread count as the sheets breathe better than higher and more expensive counts.

I have never experienced the problem the OP is having, its either cheap nasty "cotton" that is disintegrating, or you are using soaps and chemicals that are causing the "breakdown" or a combination! how acidic is your water supply?

[bankruatsteve]

44 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Bedlinen is a generic term for the bedding products such as sheets, pillow cases, bolster covers, duvet covers etc. Bedlinen can be made of a variety of different fabrics which include cotton, Polyester cotton, linen, silk, and various other materials it doesn’t imply that it’s made from linen or have any linen in it.

Thank you for pointing out what I clearly stated.