Of all the chores I complete around my apartment, by far my biggest priority is making sure I swap out my bed sheets once a week. There are plenty of reasons as to why, including all of the studies that track how much sweat, bacteria, and other gunk can accumulate or grow as we snooze. Plus, is there anything better than slipping between freshly-laundered sheets for a good night’s sleep ?

Unless you live in a home with a laundry room or otherwise easy access to a washer/dryer, the easiest way to make sure your bedding change happens is by having two or more sets of bedding to cycle through. For me, that means having an extra duvet cover, fitted sheet, and pillowcases on hand for the Saturday swap-out (yup, I’m team #notopsheet , because I run hot when I sleep). All of that fabric can be bulky, however, and living in a small apartment means I have to maximize what little closet space I have. For that reason, I rely on space bags to store my sheets—and doing so helps save me both time and space.

The hack is simple: I invested in a pack of large, reusable space bags on Amazon. The bigger you opt for, the better—that means you can lay out more items in a flat-lay style. Each bag gets one duvet cover, one fitted sheet, and the exact number of pillowcases I need to change every pillow on my bed. Then, I seal the bag, use my vacuum’s hose to suck the air out, and stack the now-compact bags on top of each other at the bottom of my closet. Each time I change my sheets, I simply grab a bag, and begin the task of making my bed from scratch.

Pulling out my vacuum every time I have a freshly-laundered set of sheets to store can feel like a chore in and of itself, but taking this extra step saves me time in the long run. Not only does the heavy plastic protect my sheets from dust and potential bugs (hey, it’s a New York City apartment!), the bags also make it easy to keep my sheets organized. No longer do I hunt among my sheets for the linen fitted sheet or flannel pillowcases . Now, they’re already waiting for me with their fabric counterparts.

If you’re worried about bringing more plastic into your home, or you simply want to use what you already have, you don’t have to spring for the space bags. IKEA showed off a similar hack by stuffing pillowcase covers with backup bedding for a hide-in-plain-sight option. You can also store sheets inside their matching pillowcases, or repurpose any extra canvas tote bags you have lying around for the purpose. The point is to take an extra organizing step now, so that future you will thank you—as you go about your chores, and as you fall asleep.