Last Updated on August 25th, 2020
By Dr. Jaggi Rao, MD, FRCPC, Double board-certified dermatologist
You might initially be skeptical about how a clean pillowcase can help to improve your skin condition. For instance, you might already be spending hundreds of dollars per year on cosmetic products which swear by their success in clearing up acne. So how could the same effect be achieved by a simple pillow, of all things?
If this describes your thought process on this topic, just think about how much time your face spends touching your pillowcase! If you happen to be a sideways sleeper, your face may be in contact with your pillowcase for the better part of eight hours every night. 🛌🌛 Naturally, anything that comes into contact with your face can affect its complexion, and the pillow is no exception. Indeed, the state of your pillowcase can have a significant effect on your acne.
You may have been led to think that habits like diet and hygiene are key factors that affect your skin. While this is true to a certain extent, you must not forget that your pimples may simply be a product of your genetics. If your parents happen to have frequent breakouts, then you most likely have to deal with zits now and then, too. However, it is also essential to maintain good hygiene, as this might contribute to a lessening of the effects of acne.
Certainly, we trust that you already invest time and effort into thoroughly cleansing your face once or twice a day, as well as exfoliating regularly. You might also be using natural skin-calming aids, such as honey and various kinds of essential oils, in addition to applying rejuvenating masks about once a week. 📅 These are all excellent ways to keep your breakouts in check. But crucially, another thing that can help you control your pimples is ensuring that your pillow meets specific standards.
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To put it simply, your pillow serves as a mirror for your skin. Essentially, everything that can be found on your face can also be found on your pillowcase – sebum, germs, dirt, etc. While it might seem useful for your facial bacteria to rub off onto the pillow, thus detaching itself from your complexion, the problem is that you will likely use the same pillow for at least a few more nights. Unfortunately, this means that this bacteria can irritate your skin over and over again, each time you come into contact with it, night after night. This is particularly detrimental for your skin if you have massive amounts of the P.acnes bacteria, which directly causes pimples. In line with this, it is helpful to remember that there exist a wide variety of strains of this kind of bacteria – such as the sub-types 1a and 1b, which are incredibly harmful to your skin.
When you sleep on the same pillow several nights in a row, you only re-introduce the germs onto your face.
Moreover, even if you have managed to rid yourself of acne, if your partner also happens to suffer from this condition, their bacteria may still be reaching your pillow, as well.
Not only will a dirty pillowcase ensure that you keep having persistent, long-lasting acne, but it will also turn any of your efforts to cleanse your face into a losing battle. 📌 You might be diligently scrubbing your face every evening, successfully removing all dirt, but as soon as your face hits the pillow, all of the harmful substances will find their way right back on to where they started.
If you happen to view your pillow as being consistently clean because you always cleanse your face thoroughly before bed, please know that your pillow is the perfect breeding ground for germs. Indeed, your pillow provides a warm, slightly moist environment, which is an ideal setting for the reproduction of harmful microbes. 🦠🦠🦠 Your face might be clean at bedtime, but throughout the night it releases skin cells, sweat and other bacteria, which find their way onto this breeding ground and thus back onto your face, laying the groundwork for new acne to develop.
Although re-introducing the same oils into your face each night may sound pretty disgusting, there is no actual harm in that. This is because it would be challenging for your sebum to find its way back into your pores. What is more, when sebum comes into contact with acne-causing bacteria, you get a thriving acne-producing environment. Nevertheless, there is another level of danger in regards to oil.
Sebum contains squalene peroxide, which triggers acne like no other substance.
Squalene peroxide levels increase whenever you experience a breakout, due to the pressure of your face’s free radicals. A chain reaction occurs in which the substances that result from your acne directly trigger even more zits. This is part of the reason why it is so difficult to get rid of ongoing acne once you have had it once or twice.
You can already imagine how this information relates to your pillow, right? Indeed, just as the way your face re-contaminates itself with squalene peroxide, your pillowcase can do this tenfold. The bad news is that this substance has the potential to clog your pores to a higher degree than simple sebum, inflaming your complexion more than ever.
How can you deal with this issue? Antioxidants can effectively counteract squalene peroxide, but if your face encounters the same pillow, with equal amounts of the substance on it, there is little use in such treatment. All you have left to do is – that’s right – change your pillow more regularly. Read on, for hints and tips on how to potentially rid yourself of these pillow problems for good.
First of all, you might want to alter your sleeping habits. Sleeping on your side ensures that the contents of your facial complexion will end up rubbing all over your pillow, as well as enabling any residue on your pillowcase to rub back onto your face. Indeed, there are statistics which claim that those who tend to sleep on one side of their body more frequently, tend to have more acne on that cheek. 🧸💤 Try sleeping on your back instead. You might be uncomfortable for a couple of minutes before falling asleep, but this might have fantastic results in terms of your skin’s health.
Secondly, change your pillowcase as often as possible. You don’t necessarily need to buy numerous pillowcases – just drop last night’s pillowcase into the laundry and dryer before work, and enjoy a new, fresh pillowcase in the evening.
If you feel like you might have problems fulfilling either of these requirements, then we have a list of solutions for you!
Since many people suffer from the same issue, companies have invested their efforts in creating innovative kinds of pillowcases, which save you time and effort, as well as improve your skin.
We will provide a few examples of inventions that may help you get rid of any acne that is being caused by your sleeping habits.
As mentioned, most of us do have a problem with avoiding turning to one side as we sleep. After all, the fetal position is the most natural and comfortable position for the human body. A product that can help you avoid rubbing your cheeks into your pillow all night long is the YourFacePillow. It is specifically designed to envelop your head and upper body, to prevent you from turning in your sleep. The pillow’s sides are soft and comfortable and allow slight movement, which does not lead your face to touch the pillow. 💡 This pillow is specially designed for this reason, so you don’t need to worry about breathing correctly while you nap. Its material is simple foam, so it doesn’t contain any chemicals, heavy metals, or phthalates.
The Save My Face La Petite White Satin Pillow is a unique invention which ensures that your face remains free from contact throughout the night. While it does allow you to turn sideways, it creates a sort of half-moon around your cheek. This way, you can nap in whatever position is comfortable for you, without worrying about what germs you will be picking up on the way. However, this only works if you turn slightly to the side, as if you were to put more pressure onto the side of your body, then your face might still end up touching the sheets.
Have you ever wished for a pillow that will cleanse your face for you every night? The Nufabrx Pillowcase: Clearer Skin While You Sleep is precisely that! It not only gets rid of any bacteria on its surface, but it is also infused with a concoction of various essential oils. Naturally, it contains the most caring ingredient for the skin – tea tree oil. 🌿 In addition, it is infused with lemon balm oil and lavender and wintergreen essential oils. Interestingly, it is also made entirely of bamboo – a detail that we adore as this is a breathable, natural option, in addition to helping acne and other skin conditions to improve.
Does it work? After just one night, the properties of the Nufabrx pillowcase can potentially diminish your acne-causing bacteria by more than 90 percent. Now that’s one statistic in which we are willing to invest!
The SleepClean Acne Fighting Pillowcase essentially cleans itself! The ionic silver that is interwoven into the pillowcase material ensures that any germs will be killed before they come into contact with your face.
Ionic silver is related to colloidal silver and is so efficient that it destroys the cell membranes of harmful bacteria.
The result is a pillow that will kill existing germs, and even stop them from multiplying before any damage can be done to your skin.
The heavy metal is woven into the pillowcase’s cotton surface. You still have to wash it about once a week, but customers report great success from using the SleepClean pillowcase. The downside is that it only lasts about a year, after which you have to invest in a new one. 👌 Still, the chances are that your acne will be well in hand by then and thus worth the investment!
If none of these products seem appealing to you, or if you simply find it unnecessary to invest in a fancy pillow just because you have some acne, then we have some more solutions for you.
✔️ First and foremost, you should be doing everything you can to avoid sleeping on your side – especially if you are finding yourself in the middle of an acne breakout. If things are getting terrible, you might want to try going to bed with large headphones or earmuffs on your head to prevent you from turning. The last case scenario may be to wrap something like a towel around your forehead to prevent motion. Make sure that whatever you are placing around your head doesn’t touch your face.
✔️ Secondly – and we cannot stress this enough – wash your pillowcase as often as possible. This is the best method to get rid of any bacteria that might be plaguing the fabric on which you sleep. You definitely don’t need to throw it in the laundry every single day, but doing so every three days or so might help to alleviate your skin problems.
Don’t have the time or money to do laundry that often? There is a trick for you, too! Just flip your pillow over after a couple of days, and make it last longer. If you happen to use more than one pillow in bed, you can even switch them around once or twice, before it is time to wash them. Last but not least, if you want to make your pillowcase last even longer, you can flip the case inside-out; if the material is sturdy enough, bacteria will not be able to sneak through it.
Another way to make your pillow last longer is to place clean towels or t-shirts on it, to avoid contact with its surface. 👕🎽 You will still need to wash these materials frequently, but they will win you a few more days without having to do laundry.
If for some reason, you are not able to do laundry at all, you might want to focus on actually killing the bacteria on your pillow. This can be done by placing the pillowcase in the fridge, or another kind of cold environment as the harmful bacteria will not be able to thrive in such conditions!
One factor which you may have ignored thus far, but which may be affecting your skin, is the actual products you use when doing laundry. Your skin’s secret enemy may actually be your fabric softener. The chemicals used to make these softeners are specifically enabling when it comes to skin problems.
For example, the pleasant smell of fabric softeners is the result of a vast combination of various chemicals that you certainly don’t want near your face. Limonene is one such common component that actually has the potential to become formaldehyde when mixed with ozone. That sounds creepy as it is, but the chemical can increase irritation of your skin. Other compounds that are found in fabric softeners happen to be methylene chloride, which dries up your skin, 1,4-dioxane, and acetaldehyde.
Preservatives like phthalates are also used in softeners, yet they can also inflame your skin and get rid of antioxidants.
If this wasn’t enough, phthalates are generally bad for your system– they represent xenoestrogens, which can severely affect the hormonal balance of your body.
In general, fabric softeners are unnecessary and are full of toxic, cancer- and infertility-causing chemicals. You can also be sure that not all ingredients are enumerated on the packaging of these products. In general, try to wash your laundry with products that are as natural as possible, and with as few ingredients as possible.
Whichever advice you decide to follow, don’t forget to apply it to your towels as well. Your facial towel has as much contact with your face as your pillow does, so it makes sense to wash it as frequently as your pillowcase. Lastly, although you should apply some of these strategies to your pillowcases, make sure that you don’t slack in the healthy lifestyle department, either! Sleep right, but also eat right, 🥬🍣🏋🏽♀️🚴🏽♂️ and don’t forget to exercise!
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