Linen and making beds

When making a bed it is important that linen is not shaken. This will cause bacteria and skin cells to be shaken into the air which is a potential infection control risk.  Linen is folded in a specific way to make bed-making time efficient and less of an infection control risk for health care facilities.

At commercial laundries, linen is folded length wise and the middle fold of the sheet lines up with the centre of the bed. It is important to ensure that linen does not touch the floor.  There is a large amount of bacteria on the floor and it also could become a trip or slip hazard for the staff and people accessing the services.

When removing linen from a bed it is preferable to fold the linen, as this prevents skin cells and bacteria being dispersed into the air. If there is visible contamination, the personal care worker should wear gloves and fold the linen over the contaminated area to contain it from the environment.

If making an occupied bed, linen is rolled up under the person.  The new linen is also rolled up and the person turned over onto the clean linen. The care worker can then remove the other side of the linen and complete the bed making process.

Follow these steps when making a bed.