# Why do people make their beds? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173 "2005-01-17T09:39:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/1 "2005-01-17T09:39:52Z")
I never made my bed as a college student. It wasn’t out of laziness; I just considered it a waste of time. But my wife makes the bed every morning. As I suspect most people do (??). Anyway, is there a practical reason for making the bed? Or is it simply done for aesthetic reasons? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/2 "2005-01-17T09:46:00Z")
Simple, the bed is large and can be easily tidied. Nothing else can be done so quickly and make such a difference to a room’s appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/3 "2005-01-17T09:54:00Z")
I do it because it’s nice to get into a wrinkle free bed at night. Sure after I’m asleep I wrinkle it all up again, but until then, it so smooth. I hate the bottom sheet with wrinkles. Can’t stand (or lie) it. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/4 "2005-01-17T09:56:25Z")
I have to go with the aesthetic reason. It’s always nice to walk into a bedroom, see a nicely made up bed and then climb in and muss it all up. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/5 "2005-01-17T10:05:55Z")
I remember when I was in the Army that the top blankets were sometimes called the “dust cover” which suggested to me that making the bed had something to do with keeping the linens a bit cleaner. I tend to think that a nice tightly made bed with fitted sheets or hospital corners would do just a wee bit better job of keeping bugs out of it. I agree with other posters that in modern times that the practice is kept alive more for aesthetic reasons than hygeinic ones. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/6 "2005-01-17T11:22:07Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > As I suspect most people do (??). Not me. I will make my bed for only two reasons. First, if I have just finished a large-scale cleaning of my bedroom, and want to be able to say, “There, now the room in completely cleaned.” Second, if I expect that I’ll have company over. As neither of these occur on a daily basis, the majority of the time my bed is unmade. ---
**Author:** ![kiffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/7 "2005-01-17T11:30:00Z")
1. sweep away crumbs so I won’t have to do it when I collapse into the bed at night. 2. keep the dogs from sleeping on the bed during the day; making it necessary to sweep away their hair etc when I collapse into the bed at night. 3. pulling back coverlet off bed removes all the junk that gets put on the bed during the day so I won’t have to sweep away stuff when I collapse into the bed at night. … I guess there is a fourth: it looks nicer to have a straightened up bed rather than pillows, blankets, etc shroun all about [two people sleep in my bed so there’s usually an IPOD, magazines, books, itty bitty light amongs all this clutter. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/8 "2005-01-17T11:54:10Z")
i made my bed because i got sick of sleeping on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/9 "2005-01-17T11:58:25Z")
I blame my Dad. I remeber asking him this same question once. His response was “It’s a metaphorical thing son. You make your bed because you got to sleep in it. blah blah blah…” He even did periodic inspections to make sure I didn’t do a half-assed job. And god help me if I did… He wouldn’t give me an ass-whupp’n but he would go through that whole long speech as descibed above. Some times I just wish he’d give me the ass-whupp’n instead. :rolleyes: But for some reason it stuck. I still do it today. Don’t ask me why… ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/10 "2005-01-17T12:22:23Z")
I make my bed when I change my sheets (on Saturday mornings) and when company is coming over. The rest of the time, it’s unmade. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/11 "2005-01-17T14:12:27Z")
Don’t underestimate the importance of “aesthetic reasons”. “Just for aesthetic reasons” implies that aesthetic reasons have little value. Aesthetics are powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/12 "2005-01-17T14:16:36Z")
I also only make my bed if I just washed the sheets, if company is coming over, or I’m cleaning the bed room. My mom used to tell me that a nicely made bed was good Feng Shui. Eh, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/13 "2005-01-17T14:28:42Z")
> [@kiffa](#): > > 1. sweep away crumbs so I won’t have to do it when I collapse into the bed at night. > 2. keep the dogs from sleeping on the bed during the day; making it necessary to sweep away their hair etc when I collapse into the bed at night. > 3. pulling back coverlet off bed removes all the junk that gets put on the bed during the day so I won’t have to sweep away stuff when I collapse into the bed at night. > … > > I guess there is a fourth: it looks nicer to have a straightened up bed rather than pillows, blankets, etc shroun all about [two people sleep in my bed so there’s usually an IPOD, magazines, books, itty bitty light amongs all this clutter. Those are all great reasons, but there is one reason we make our bed. We have a heating pad that was made for our queen-sized bed. We turn it on at about 9 PM so that when we go to bed at 11, our bed is nice and warm. If we didn’t make our bed, all the heat that we generate from that heating pad would be lost and the bed would be colder. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/14 "2005-01-17T14:53:50Z")
**Philster’s** right. Making my bed was an important step for me in starting to get my extremely messy house under control. All I do is stack the pillows and spread out the comforter so that it’s nice and square and smooth. It only takes a few seconds, and it instantly looks orderly and . . . well, _peaceful_. The bedroom used to look like a disaster area. The thought of cleaning up all that clutter was just too overwhelming. I’d see nothing but chaos everywhere I looked, and feel like a failure. Having that be my experience the first thing every morning and the last thing every night was taking its toll on me, even though I wasn’t consciously aware of it. But when I started to make the bed every morning, every time I walked into the room, my eye would immediately be drawn to the bed. At first, that was the _only_ thing in the bedroom that was at all tidy, an island of calm in a sea of chaos. But instead of looking around at the chaos and thinking, “God, I’m such a LOSER! I can’t keep _anything_ nice!” my eye was immediately drawn to the bed, and I’d think, “I’ve made the bed every morning this week! Good job!” It only took a few seconds each morning to take to a messy-looking bed and make it look neat and orderly. I would then enjoy that the calm I’d created every time I walked into the room. This inspired me to tackle the next small thing, like clearing off one of the dressers, or picking up a load of dirty clothes. Little by little, our bedroom became clean and tidy. I really believe I never could have cleaned it up, and kept it clean, if I hadn’t started by making the bed every day. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/15 "2005-01-17T14:56:20Z")
The only reason I’m ever in my bedroom for more than a few seconds is to sleep. Sadly, only other living creature that ever enters my bedroom is the cat, and she’s pretty indifferent to the state of tidiness of the coverlet. So the bed never gets made. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/16 "2005-01-17T15:03:25Z")
The only time I’ll make my bed is when the sheets have just come out of the dryer. As long as they’re not wet or dirty, and keep me warm, I simply do not care. I wouldn’t say this makes me lazy or anything like that. The rest of my room is actually in pretty good shape. But hey, if it makes you happy, and it makes you feel like you’re making a difference, go for it. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/17 "2005-01-17T15:48:25Z")
In an attempt to lower my gas bill I keep the thermostat turned down, and turn it even lower at bedtime. In order to be comfortable, I began sleeping in a sleeping bag (rated at minus something Fahrenheit). When I have sleep-over company I join two bags together. There is something erotic about that…never had a complaint. Anyway, I never “make the bed” as there is really no bed to make, just shake the bag straight. In the summer I sleep in a slovenly unmade sheet covered bed. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/18 "2005-01-17T17:44:01Z")
I only make my bed to keep the cats from sleeping on the sheets and leaving behind pet hair and the occasional flea. I suspect that has a lot to do with the traditional reasons for making beds (i.e. pest and dirt control). 'Course, what I do, isn’t really making either, I just pull the quilt and/or comfortoer up so the sheets aren’t showing. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/19 "2005-01-17T17:50:31Z")
At home, I make it to keep the dog hair off of my sheets. At school, I make it because I often lie on my bed to do homework, read, etc, and it’s more comfortable when the sheets and blankets are smooth. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173/20 "2005-01-17T17:54:33Z")
I don’t generally make the bed first thing in the morning, but: If I’m going to be in the bedroom (not sleeping or reading prior to sleep) for any amount of time, I make the bed. First of all, it looks nicer and makes me a lot happier about the state of my life (little things–the tidier my surroundings, the better I feel). Second, if I’m in the bedroom that long and it’s not night, it generally means I’m a) dressed for the day and b) going to be sitting on the bed, and I _cannot_ bring myself to sit on sheets while I’m wearing pants and socks. Even if I just want to nap, I have to either undress or nap on top of the duvet with a throw blanket on top of me. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s got something to do with feeling like worn clothes aren’t clean; maybe it’s to do with the way sheets vs. comforters feel against cloth. But either way, it’s just not comfortable. So. There you have my take on the matter. I don’t really expect anybody to share the second concern. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-make-their-beds/285173.md?page=2)