If you've ever tanned before bed and woken up to brown streaks on your pillowcase or a duvet cover that looks tie-dyed, you'll know exactly why I'm writing this. It's one of the most common problems for anyone who's ever tried fake tan at home, and it puts a lot of beginners off doing it themselves. Which is a shame, because the fix is genuinely so simple once you know it.
Why Fake Tan Transfers Onto Bedding Overnight
The reason fake tan transfers isn't really about the tan itself - it's the guide colour. That's the tinted part of the formula that helps you see where you've applied it, so you don't miss any patches.
The ingredient that actually gives you your colour, called DHA, is completely clear and develops on your skin over the next few hours. The guide colour, on the other hand, just sits on the surface while that happens. So if it rubs against your bedding, your duvet, or your pillow, some of it is likely to transfer.
And let's be real - nobody sleeps perfectly still. You roll over, your legs rub together, your arms move around, so a bit of transfer is pretty much inevitable if there's nothing between your skin and your sheets.
How to Stop Fake Tan Getting on Your Sheets
You don't need a whole routine to sort this out. A lot of the advice out there tells you to sleep on your back all night, hunt out an old set of dark sheets, or drape a towel over your pillow just in case. Honestly, none of that is necessary. Here's what actually works:
- Apply your tan as usual. Nothing changes about how you tan itself.
- Give it a few minutes to dry down before you get into bed. It doesn't need to be fully developed at this point, it just needs to be dry to the touch rather than tacky or wet. A few minutes brushing your teeth is usually enough.
- Get into a self-tanning bag. The In You Glow Tanning Bag even has separate compartments for your arms and legs, keeping your tan off your sheets, duvet and skin while it develops. And because it’s designed with comfort in mind, it’s so easy to sleep in too!
- Let the built-in pillow protector take care of your pillowcase. It's covered too, not just the parts of the bed under your body.
- Sleep however you normally would. No need to stay on your back or hold still.
That's genuinely it. No dark sheets to dig out, no sleeping on your back all night trying not to move, no towel over your pillow just in case. The bag does the job on its own, so you wake up to a flawless tan and completely untouched sheets and pillowcase.
No more tan-stained sheets. 💛 Go get yours! >
What to Do in the Morning
This is the part people love most. Once your tan has developed and you're ready to get up, you simply climb out of the bag. There's no stripping the whole bed, no checking every corner of the duvet cover for marks, no emergency wash of your favourite sheets. You just pop the tanning bag itself in the wash, ready to grab again next time you tan.
It genuinely turns tanning night from a "strip the bed and hope for the best" event into something as low-effort as doing a normal load of washing. Your actual bedding never gets touched, so there's nothing to change, air out, or scrub a stain out of.
FAQ: Fake Tan and Bed Sheets
How long should I let my tan dry before getting into the tanning bag? Just a few minutes - enough that it's no longer wet to the touch. It doesn't need to be fully developed, just dry enough not to transfer.
Do I still need dark sheets or a towel over my pillow? No. The tanning bag's built-in pillow protector and full arm and leg coverage mean you can skip all of that and just get in as normal.
Will it still protect my sheets if I move around in my sleep? Yes, that's the whole point of it. Because your arms, legs, and head are all covered inside the bag, it doesn't matter how you sleep or how much you move.
How do I clean the tanning bag afterwards? Simply pop it in the wash the next morning, the same way you'd wash any other bit of laundry. It'll be ready to go again well before your next tan.
And that's it. Let your tan dry for a few minutes, pop yourself into the bag, sleep normally, then wash the bag in the morning and get on with your day. Your sheets never have to know any of it happened.
Ready to protect your sheets for good? Grab the In You Glow Tanning Bag here.
Happy tanning, angels! ☀️🧡