It’s hard to break old habits, including making the bed first thing in the morning. But when it’s your turn the health of your bedbed and your general sleep state, it may be in your best interest to postpone this early morning task. It’s not just about sometimes putting off a mundane task until after your morning coffee for reasons largely centered around “just because”. It turns out that making your bed right away may not allow your mattress and bedding to get enough air between uses.

Mark Abrials, CMO and co-founder of Avocado Green Brands, a company focused on certified organic mattresses and mattresses, understands the appeal of sticking with tradition when it comes to cleaning duty. “Making your bed is a simple but powerful daily ritual that brings a sense of satisfaction and order,” she says. “As my mother says, ‘How you start your day is how you live your day.’ There’s some truth to this point of view, so we’d never say forget about bed altogether, but instead perhaps postpone it for an hour or two, or at least until you’ve had a cup of coffee.

Why Should You Wait to Make Your Bed?

Moisture can accumulate in our duvet covers and pillows and penetrate your mattress. This is true regardless of the season, but is especially so during the warmer months. This moisture-rich environment is ideal for encouraging dust mites to thrive. Not only are these unwelcome guests often disgusting to think about, they can also produce allergens that can irritate problems like asthma and allergies.

It’s thought that pulling your sheets down and airing them out before making your sheets and bed can help reduce moisture build-up, thus making your cozy sleeping space unattractive to these uninvited pests. During the warmer months, turn on your ceiling fan (if you’re in the South, we know you have one) to increase the drying of your sheets.

How to Prevent Moisture from Reaching Your Mattress?

Even when you air out your bedding every day, you’ll want to make sure you’re protecting your mattress from the inevitable moisture. For this, Abrials recommends a particularly soft and absorbent mattress protector, so it can absorb sweat and prevent you from returning to the chorus of a wrinkled, uncomfortable plastic protector. If you need heavier protection (for example, kids’ beds or beds shared with pets), opt for a fully waterproof cover that will prevent spills and other issues from seeping into the mattress and being difficult to remove.

How can you ventilate your bed?

While airing your sheets daily is the new right way to make a bed (that’s what we’re calling), you’ll still want to give your mattress a more formal airing on a regular basis. Abrials says the best way to do this is with a deep clean.

He recommends removing the mattress first and sprinkling baking soda on the mattress. “Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) actually attracts dirt, moisture, and odors from the fabric surface and underlying materials (wool, cotton, and latex),” she says.

Once the baking soda has been left on the mattress for at least 30 minutes, use a vacuum cleaner to remove the baking soda. You’ll want to make sure your vacuum can pick up these small particles, so check your manufacturer’s instructions before starting this cleaning process to ensure you have the right tools.

To keep your mattress in top condition, complete this process monthly, or more frequently during the warmer months when moisture is increasingly a problem. Pair this task with airing your bed and linens regularly; Even if your sweet dreams are sweaty, you’ll make your bed a healthier place.