I slash bills by only washing my sheets once a month

A woman has revealed how she’s tackling her soaring electricity bill – which went up to more than £150 a month during the cost of living crisis – with a hack which has left her mother ‘mortified’.

Klaudia Wójcik, 27, told The Sun that she’s now waiting four weeks between cleaning her sheets instead of her usual fortnight, and does them on a cool 30-degree wash.

The artist and veterinary nurse, who lives in Worthing, West Sussex, with her fiancé Ben also has a strict ‘pyjamas only’ rule when lounging on the bed to minimise contamination.

The couple’s three-legged dog ‘Unsteady Eddie’ is also no longer allowed to roam around the blankets thanks to his ‘mucky paws’.

But Klaudia’s money-saving hacks don’t stop there.

To get that ‘freshly-washed linen’ scent, she hangs the sheets outside on dry days, claiming the trick keeps them ‘fresher for longer’.

A bed throw also keeps a lot of the day’s dirt and dust away from the duvet and pillows.

Klaudia revealed that she initially felt uncomfortable with letting her sheets go unwashed for longer than two weeks, but was forced to evaluate her finances amid skyrocketing bills.

The couple was also spending ‘a fortune’ taking care of their 300 exotic plants – so corners needed to be cut elsewhere.

Klaudia claims she doesn’t care if anyone wants to pass judgement at her laundry habits, as the hack is saving her money.

She insisted she won’t budge on the new technique – especially because she takes additional steps to keep the linens as fresh and tidy as possible. 

‘At first it felt so gross,’ she admitted. ‘I became obsessed with sniffing the sheets each night to make sure I could still smell the washing powder, and I got so paranoid about sweating in the night – what if it made the bed stink?’ 

Klaudia says her mother was horrified to learn of her new strategy, and called her disgusting – insisting that a cool wash wouldn’t be thorough enough. 

The artist and veterinary nurse, who lives in Worthing, West Sussex, with her fiancé Ben also has a strict ‘pyjamas only’ rule when lounging on the bed

The couple’s three-legged dog ‘Unsteady Eddie’ is also no longer allowed to roam around the blankets thanks to his ‘mucky paws’

‘But they weren’t filthy or stained – they just needed a freshen up,’ she told The Sun. ‘As long as they smelt nice, I wasn’t worried.’ 

It comes as thousands of shopping basket essentials have risen sharply in price, with some products doubling in just one year, it has been revealed.

The figures come from an analysis of more than 25,000 products and make clear that budget items, which many have turned to during the cost of living crisis, are rising fastest.

New research from Which? shows the annual inflation rate for popular food and drink in February was 16.5 per cent across eight big supermarkets.

On average, budget range prices are up by a higher 22.9 per cent with own-brand up 19.7 per cent, premium supermarket lines by 13.8 per cent and big brands by 13.3 per cent.

Speaking to the outlet, Klaudia revealed that she initially felt uncomfortable with letting her sheets go unwashed for longer than two weeks

The increases are adding hundreds of pounds to annual food bills and are way ahead of rises in salaries, pensions and benefits. 

Earlier this month, Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann warned ‘greedflation’ might take its toll on ordinary people if companies use the cost of living to justify large price hikes.

Sue Davies, Head of Food Policy at Which?, said: ‘Worryingly our tracker shows that some everyday essentials have more than doubled in price over the last year – with cheaper own-brand items particularly hard-hit. 

‘Supermarkets need to step up and ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need.

‘Retailers must also provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.’