Spoiler alert: this has been debunked. But let’s not lose hope.
Bunk beds are great for rooms where you need more functionality. For a multi kid family, bunk beds help to squeeze kids into one space. Loft beds are perfect for adding more room with a desk / play area that is under the bed.
In theory, these beds are an optimal way to make use of a space. But let’s be real here. They are a royal pain in the butt to make and keep clean. Climbing up on the top bunk as a full grown adult to change the sheets is a daunting task. There is no room to maneuver and you are surrounded by all of the things your child brought up there. Stuffies, food wrappers, action figures, etc. The struggle is real!
So what can you do? Honestly, grin and bear it. Let’s see if we can help to make your life easier with a few helpful tips.
1. Have your child help you.
This could be the most helpful tip for you. If your child can get the sheets, blankets and pillow cases on and off for you then, hallelujah. It’s much easier for their little bodies to maneuver around up there. They may still need a little help from you with fitted sheets (more on that later), but making their bed is an important life skill, so start them young.
2. Use a step ladder. It could save your sanity.
Rather than climbing up the ladder to get on the top bunk, see if using a step ladder or step stool around the bed will get you better access to the top. Being able to safely stand, reach and remove items from the bed as easily as possible is the goal here.
3. Location of the bunk bed in the room
Is your bunk bed tucked in a corner of the room? If you are able, move your bunk bed away from the corner of the room. This will help you access all sides of the bed with ease.
4. Consider the make and size
Safety is always #1 when looking at bunk beds. You don’t want your child falling out during the night. When you are shopping for your bunk bed frame, envision yourself making the bed. Will you have to climb up to the top to pull the fitted sheet on, or can you reach between the slats in certain places to pull it tight? Consider whether wooden slats or a metal frame will be best in your situation.
Mattress sizes are also important. While smaller single sizes are easier to make the bed with, you may want to consider double beds for space as your children grow so you’re not upsizing later.
5. Now for the hard part, actually making the bunk bed
Making the bottom bunk isn’t so bad, but the top bunk is no fun. If the mattress is light and you can lift it in and out of the bunk, then by all means do that for switching sheets. Just be careful not to injure yourself.
- Using your step stool or climbing in if you need to, toss everything off of the bed including bedding, stuffies, toys, etc.
- Throw anything washable (including stuffies) into your washing machine with some powdered Tide® then machine dry. If you have bedding settings on your machines use those.
- Using fresh bedding, start with the mattress protector and fitted sheet. You can save yourself a step if you do them together; find the same corner on both, place the sheet over the mattress protector and work from top to bottom. Pull up the corner of the mattress and tuck the mattress protector and sheet around that corner, then the other top corner, and then stretch them to the foot of the bed and repeat.
- Skip the flat sheet if you want, kids just kick them to the bottom anyway.
- Keep the rest of the bedding simple. Fewer pillows or blankets will save you steps on making the rest of the bed.
- Layer on your blankets or duvets, and tuck them in along the foot and sides of the bed. I like to tuck the blanket along the wall side extra tight so that the edge stays tucked longer.
- You, or your child, can organize their favorite stuffies and pillows back in place.
6. Cleaning the bunk
At least twice a year you should give the bunk bed a good wipe down. Ask your child to help you clean up the area (or do it while they’re out of the house if you prefer to work alone) by removing all the toys and garbage that might have been collected. Clean and vacuum under the bunk. If the bunk has a desk space below, clean and organize that as well. Grab a bucket with 1 gallon of HOT water, and 1 tsp of powdered Tide® with a cloth and wipe down the entire frame and ladder.
Check out our bedroom category on our blog for more dirt on bedrooms. Especially helpful for all the bedroom weeks in our cleaning calendar.
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– Denise @GoCleanCo
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gocleanco
Nov 18
I circled rollerblades in the Sears Wish Book every year…and every year my mother would patiently explain that we lived on an acreage with gravel roads and rollerblades do not work on gravel…and every year I would be so disappointed when they didn’t show up under the tree. 🤣🤦🏼♀️ #nostalgia #christmastime
gocleanco
Nov 15
PSA: A lot of people don’t know you can do this when you order a gift off of Amazon. At check out, you can select that the item is a gift and then choose the option to add a gift bag and a custom message and this is how it is delivered! You don’t have to worry about the surprise being ruined if they open the box because it’s already wrapped and they can plunk it under the tree. Perfect if you have family far away that you won’t be seeing this holiday season. Saves ya time and energy in the chaos of the season. 🎁🎄🎅🏻🕰️🕰️🕰️ #christmastime
gocleanco
Nov 13
Nostalgic Christmas!!!! Bring on the tinsel and the garland. I can handle it. 🤭We have some fun things planned to take you back to the days when we made ornaments outta fishhooks, so STAY TUNED ya filthy animals! 🎄🎁 ⛄️ 🎅🏻 🤶🏻❄️ ☕️
gocleanco
Nov 12
Best part of getting my hair done is hanging with sister @hellohairhouse the results aren’t too shabby either
gocleanco
Nov 9
Just out here doing the lords work. meganrreed_
gocleanco
Nov 4
Okay my DM’s are full of people asking for this to live on the feed. Brew a cup of coffee. I use a @nespresso pod but any regular cup java will do. Add in one scoop of your fav protein powder (or do half if you find this too sweet). This-is-a-wing-it-to-how-you-like-it-recipe as most cups of coffee are. I used vanilla protein powder here with a sprinkle of cinnamon, tastes a Christmasy! My go to is usually chocolate protein because it tastes like a mocha. Froth it with frother and drink it hot or over ice. This gets me 26 grams of protein right in the morning which helps cause I’m not a breakfast person. I’m trying y’all. 💪🏻 🍑
gocleanco
Nov 1
You asked and I delivered! You have been requesting I test the viral Tineco floor washers forever so here they are! Full break down of the S5 and S3 model in my stories plus they are both on sale at Canadian Tire and Amazon! @tinecoglobal #sponsored #floorcare #evolutionofclean
gocleanco
Oct 28
Best one yet. 🤣😂🤣🤣 I told you guys he looks like @mrclean
gocleanco
Oct 25
I have shared my new BLANCO sink and faucet but let’s talk about accessories, did you know BLANCO also has under sink organization systems? I completed my BLANCO UNIT with the BOTTON II, it tidies up the mess under your kitchen sink and it pulls out like a drawer; you can store your cleaning supplies in it and also has a handy dandy little handle so you can take your supplies with you around the house. I have a post up on their blog that goes into depth about BLANCO maintenance and care, and more tips in my stories so make sure you check them out. You folks had lots of questions about BLANCO last round and I am happy to help. Plus BLANCO customer service can answer any maintenance questions you might have. #sponsored @blancoamerica1
gocleanco
Oct 22
You can’t win them all. 🐷🩰
gocleanco
Oct 20
Ghosts have chores too! #happyhalloween
gocleanco
Oct 13
It’s a blessing and a curse, really. #housework
gocleanco
Oct 11
Me for the last 24 hours straight 🥴😵💫 What didn’t you snag that you had on your heart set on for Prime Big Deals Days? Drop ONE THING you didn’t nab in the comments below and maybe we will do some surprise Amazon deliveries! 🥰 The only thing I have had time to buy for myself is a Home Alone Pillow with Kevin’s face on it and some Tide Rescue 😂 Swipe to see ➡️➡️➡️
gocleanco
Oct 9
It is the final week of the Fall Cleaning Challenge which means we are cleaning the Common Area’s in our homes (that’s hallways, closets, mudrooms, porches and laundry rooms) we are ALSO taking our buckets, Aquablades, power washers and shop vacuums outside to clean up our outdoor spaces before the ❄️ hits. This is a big week. What’s the biggest disaster area that you need to tackle this week? I’ll go first. It’s my scary linen closet which currently it has a sign on on it that says CAUTION ⚠️ 😂 I also got a new leaf blower that I am very excited to blast some dirt and 🍂 with. Pace yourselves, WE GOT THIS! 👊🏻 #cleaningtips
gocleanco
Oct 8
If you are sick of doing dishes, we got this off Amazon for Stella’s apartment cause she didn’t have a dishwasher and she would not stop complaining about it. The little window is so cute, you can watch everything that happening in it, it’s almost as dramatic as and episode of Love is Blind. 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ from Stella! #amazonfinds
gocleanco
Oct 7
Hiiiii 👋🏼 Sarah here. I’m the one behind the cleaning hacks, motivation, business tips, home design, decor and sometimes fashion advice and sassy commentary. Oh and I wrote some books in the early days too 🤓 How long have long have you been following along for the ride? Thanks for sticking with me 💕💕💕
gocleanco
Oct 6
Takes me just as long to pick a blanket as it does a pillowcase. 🫠🤣 Everything is linked up in my Amazon Store front! Link is in my bio. Reminder it’s Prime Deals Days next week so expecting lots of stuff to be on sale next week! My rug is from @ruggable and is 9x12 and called the Kamran Hazel. #falldecor
gocleanco
Oct 4
Entering spooky season but it’s just a regular Wednesday for us. Today I learned not everyone pronounces it 👻—GUR 🤣🤣🤣 #happyhalloween
gocleanco
Sep 24
Heya. 👋🏼 Sarah here. We are wrapping up Week One (Kitchen Week—the most overwhelming) of the Fall Cleaning challenge. How is it going? What have you got done? My job during these Challenges is to motivate and help educate you on the most efficient and effective ways to clean so you feel confident about moving onto the next week with us! The Cleaning Challenges get easier each time we do them as it’s a scheduled, routine deep clean that helps you stay on top of things before they get out of hand. If you deep cleaned in the Spring Challenge with us, I know (based on the hundreds of DM’s🤣) that this week felt easier because you lined the tops of your cupboards with parchment paper in the Spring! I find it hard to put into writing how cleaning can make you feel SO GOOD, satisfied and proud of your home. I can’t explain the feeling feeling until you roll up your sleeves and get to work and feel it yourself. Once one room is done, please stop and stand back and survey your work. Take a minute to feel the accomplishment in your bones. This is hard but rewarding work and you CAN do it—I will cheer you on the entire way. Keep sending me your before and afters! They make me so happy and proud of each you, I feel like I am helping clean millions of homes around the world and that’s honestly pretty cool. 😎
gocleanco
Sep 22
It’s Kitchen week of the Fall Cleaning Challenge and I can finally share my new kitchen sink from BLANCO that everyone has been asking about. I am very excited to be working with @blancoamerica1 they are THE kitchen experts and a global brand with over 95 years of experience. Head to my stories to see how I care for this beauty on the daily and how easy it is to treat stains. BLANCO is more than just sinks; they also have faucets and organizational systems (like the BOTTON) that work together as an integrated UNIT. #ad