Even if you don't have a TV in your bedroom, chances are you have Netflix on your laptop. And now that the weather's getting colder, there's probably a good chance that you might curl up under the covers with a flick and a snack of some sort.
But just how unsanitary is eating in your bed? We wanted to know, and we wanted you to know, too. Kadi Dulude, the owner of top New York City cleaning service Wizard Of Homes, told HuffPost Home that "at least half" of the places she cleans show signs of people eating in their beds.
"Most people know to take their dishes to the sink, but in the extreme cases, it's like their bed is their dining room and if they don't clean up, there are a lot of bugs," says Dulude.
So what will happen when you leave traces of snacking between the sheets? Paul Bello, exterminator and owner of PJB Pest Management Consulting, told HuffPost Home that bugs will appear when there are crumbs left around. The most common creepy crawlers to show up? Ants and cockroaches.
"The people who are sloppy and don't clean up after themselves are the ones who run the risk," says Bello. "Cockroaches need only a little bit of food to survive."
As you might expect, certain foods attract different types of bugs. According to Lou Sorkin, a forensic entomologist (a person who studies insects) and a senior scientific assistant at the American Museum of Natural History, sweet foods such as soda, fruit juices, cupcakes and cookies with icing could attract ants and certain flies, including house flies, blue bottle flies and green bottle flies. Leftover foods, such as milk from a bowl of cereal, pizza sitting in the box or hamburgers and chicken left out in the takeout container, can attract ants, flies and even cockroaches.
Normally, Dulude advises that people wash their sheets every week, but for those who constantly eat in bed, she says every three days would be ideal. When it's all said and done, we suggest heeding Dulude's sage advice when it comes to bedroom practices.
"I would suggest not eating in bed at all," she said. "Just don't put the TV in the bedroom. Keep the bedroom as a sacred place where you go to rest."
All images courtesy of Getty
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