Pillows start to turn yellow due to a variety of factors, most of which involve the accumulation of moisture. Sweat, drool, wet hair, and even skincare products can contribute to yellow stains on a pillow. And these stains are more than just unsightly.
Some sleepers drool in their sleep, and when that happens, your pillow may end up damp or wet from the salvia—which can cause sheets to turn yellow when coupled with other factors.
Skin and Hair Oil
These glands work by producing a substance called sebum, which is critical to dermatological health. However, overactive sebaceous glands can lead to oily skin or hair. This excess oil can then absorb into your pillow and make it turn yellow.
The most common causes are due to either a problem with swallowing your saliva or making too much. Diseases can range from seasonal allergies and reflux to Parkinson's disease and abnormalities of the mouth. Some medicines can also cause it.
Those yellow stains on your pillow are actually sweat stains. You might not feel it, but we get very hot under the covers and release a lot of sweat throughout the night, which seeps through our pillowcase into the pillow. For the same reason, you may notice similar stains forming on the best duvets as well.
Your sweat consists of water, ammonia, urea, salts, and sugar, and on its own, is colourless and odourless. However, when your sweat reacts with chemicals such as active ingredients in your antiperspirant, laundry detergent, or bacteria, it can turn yellow and cause stubborn yellow stains.
It is this chemical reaction between the urea and the aluminium, along with the breakdown of fats and proteins in sweat by bacteria and fungi normally present on your skin, that contributes to the formation of yellow sweat-stains.
Does spit color matter? If your saliva appears white and thick, the culprit could be oral candidiasis, also known as thrush. This yeast infection appears as white patches on the tongue and mouth, and is most commonly seen in adults who have diabetes since the sugars in the saliva may lead to yeast growth.
Drooling in your sleep is either due to making too much saliva, breathing with your mouth open and having saliva escape, or having difficulty swallowing. It can occur for a variety of reasons, including sleep position, pregnancy, as a side effect of medications, as well as certain conditions.
Deep sleep: During the stages of deep sleep, your face and mouth muscles will start to relax, which can lead to more drooling. Gastric or acid reflux: Gastric reflux occurs when your stomach acid travels upward into your throat, causing restrictions in your throat that may lead to excess drooling.
Sweat And Body Oil
Everyone sweats and releases natural body oils as they sleep. Sweat stains won't show up immediately, but, over time, your sweat and oils will accumulate and form unsightly stains. Accumulated sweat also forms the perfect environment for bacteria to grow, causing strange odors on top of the staining.
Bodily Fluids
Besides sweat, your body produces other fluids as you sleep at night. These fluids can accumulate over time and cause your sheets to yellow. While there isn't much you can do about that, you can take steps to wash your sheets regularly and reduce the accumulation of fluids.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) recommends that you replace your pillow every two years or sooner. This is because pillows can get pretty gross. Pillows can contain allergens like dust mites, pet dander, and even mold once they reach the end of their lifespan.
Plenty of people drool in their sleep, especially those who are side sleepers or stomach sleepers. This doesn't tend to be a major contributor to yellow stains, but drool can still cause discoloration and unpleasant smells.
REM Sleep and Its Side Effects
This means that an individual who gets more rapid-eye-movement sleep is prone to being more relaxed and rested upon waking. So, because of your high comfort level, you'll likely open your mouth and drool, a positive side effect of excellent sleep.
It's also common for people to drool during sleep. Sometimes, drooling is a symptom of medical or neurological conditions, such as cerebral palsy and Parkinson's disease.
Even though dry mouth (xerostomia) is a common symptom of anxiety (acute stress), hypersalivation is a common symptom of hyperstimulation (chronic stress). As the degree of hypersalivation increases, so often does hypersalivation, sialorrhea (excessive drooling), squirting, and spitting.
And if the mucus sits around (as when you're sleeping), it becomes more concentrated and so may appear darker yellow or green. This is the natural order of things, whether the offending agent is a virus (which is the most common cause of sinus infection) or a bacterium.
Saliva should be clear and thin. If yours is white and thicker than normal, you could have a yeast infection called thrush or candidiasis.
Thick saliva can result from dehydration or breathing through the mouth. However, it can also indicate a more serious condition, such as Sjögren disease or cystic fibrosis. Finally, several medications and certain cancer treatments can cause thick saliva.
Signs and symptoms of chromhidrosis
To prevent overheating, the body promotes heat loss through evaporation. As you produce sweat, the body cools down. Normally, sweat is a clear, salty fluid, but for people with chromhidrosis, sweat may appear a vivid color such as: Yellow.
Summary. Chromhidrosis is a rare chronic condition that causes sweat to turn black, blue, green, yellow, or brown. The coloration may be barely noticeable and restricted to a few locations or more widespread. Chromhidrosis is harmless, but it can cause embarrassment or distress that may lead to depression or anxiety.
While avoidable with a simple mattress protector, yellow stains are extremely common on unprotected beds. In most cases, they result from sweat, urine, and mattress aging.