I recently bought new cotton fitted sheets and they were sold for 3 different thicknesses of mattress - they fit perfectly on my deep mattress and weren’t expensive. Oh, that’s in the UK.
I actually do have a set of sheets that are perfect. They were the ones I bought most recently at a sale - where I paid more than I usually do for non-sale sheets. They are flannelette and simply divine.
Part of the problem last night was being tired and cranky and my furry 'helper' wasn't. Well she was, but not being of assistance IYSWIM.
Problem with fitted sheets, IME, is when they shrink in the dryer. Makes them much harder to put on. Hence using a flat sheet, instead, or a larger size. Corners can be adjusted by tying in knots, or gathering with rubber bands--or even pigtail/ponytail hair bands.
Mum didn't like them because she said they wear unevenly as the bottom sheet always gets more wear than the top. I don't know about anywhere else, but I've never seen fitted bottom sheets being sold separately, whereas it's possible to buy a single flat sheet.
Next imponderable bed linen question: why is the short time it takes to cover a duvet/doona such an irritating struggle?
Good ol' Wilko (they sort of replaced good ol' Woolworth's) sell solo fitted sheets - I know, cos that's where I get mine.
But what is this 'short time' of which you speak? Irritating struggle, yes, indeed, but it takes bl**dy hours, or so it seems, to get the duvet cover on.
What's a doona, BTW? (I might wish I hadn't asked, but enquiring minds need to know).
Duvets down here are known as doonas, apparently once a brand name. Much as vacuuming elsewhere is often called hoovering and vacuum flasks for keeping food hot are called thermos flasks. Down here we vacuum and sleep under doonas.
Ah! More countries divided by a common language - here in Ukland, we sleep under our duvets, suck up dust with our hoovers, and write with our biros...
Mum didn't like them because she said they wear unevenly as the bottom sheet always gets more wear than the top. I don't know about anywhere else, but I've never seen fitted bottom sheets being sold separately, whereas it's possible to buy a single flat sheet.
They do sell them in the UK, I was looking at them just this week, in ASDA the supermarket chain.
...Fitted sheet on mattress, duvet laid on top. Job done. Top sheets make it too hot.
No, duvets make it too hot. I much prefer a top sheet in hot weather and blankets in cool. And that way you don't have to struggle with getting the innards into the thing properly.
When I was a child (pre-central heating!) we had a sheet and a quilt with, in between, a lovely fluffy cellular blanket and another blanket if it was really cold.
No, duvets make it too hot. I much prefer a top sheet in hot weather and blankets in cool. And that way you don't have to struggle with getting the innards into the thing properly.
I totally agree! When I've visited the U.K. in the summer a duvet is too warm, but no top covering is not enough. A sheet would be just right, but often not available. And I can't imagine trying to change a duvet on a regular basis.
Yes you are - imho they're a vast improvement on flat ones.
I suspect that the fault lies with mattress manufacturers, who seem to have decided over the last few years that their products have to be at least a foot thick. This may be fine and good if you have long legs, but for the vertically-challenged such as myself, there's no advantage to a bed that you practically need a step-ladder to get into.
As for duvets, doonas or downies*, if you can match the corners of the downie to the corners of the cover, you're away. It's easier if there are two of you, then you can take a corner each and shake until it all falls into place.
When I've visited the U.K. in the summer a duvet is too warm, but no top covering is not enough. A sheet would be just right, but often not available. And I can't imagine trying to change a duvet on a regular basis.
We always use a top sheet. Not only does it mean that you don't have to change the duvet cover so often (hooray!), it's also cosier and prevents duvet creep during the night.
While I prefer downies (for winter anyway), sets of covers for them seem very expensive here, and the advantage of a sheet and blanket/coverlet is that you can throw off all but the sheet in summer (which I do).
The linen bed linen (if you see what I mean) that I inherited from my grandmother is lovely but is really too small. The double flat sheets fit a single bed OK as a top sheet; to fit my bed I've sewn together two singles.
I'd also report I'm another person who likes to use king-size flat sheets and duvets on a double bed to guarantee that nobody wakes in the middle of the night naked and shivering.
@Firenze - how lovely to know that people are still using blankets!
@Piglet I go for the itsy-bitsy togs in summer (John Lewis sell them). What happened if a burglar broke in and I was just under a sheet? You've got to have something that says 'substance', even if it's just a spider web of duvet.
I'd also report I'm another person who likes to use king-size flat sheets and duvets on a double bed to guarantee that nobody wakes in the middle of the night naked and shivering.
Of course they could wear pyjamas/a night-dress. They might still be shivering, of course, but potentially not as much!
We purchased a silk-filled duvet when in Beijing four years ago. Lightweight and warm, but it only stretches to the edges of our queen-sized mattress, so in the coldest weather, we have a lightweight microfibre fleece blanket which overlays it and drapes down the mattress sides. Thus usually it is fitted bottom sheet, flat top sheet, duvet, blanket, with layers removed as the temperature rises, down to just top sheet in midsummer.
I'd also report I'm another person who likes to use king-size flat sheets and duvets on a double bed to guarantee that nobody wakes in the middle of the night naked and shivering.
Of course they could wear pyjamas/a night-dress. They might still be shivering, of course, but potentially not as much!
Having endured being encased in a full-body plaster cast for over 3 months I can't abide wearing anything in bed. Of course, I have a very swish pair for when I visit friends, and a more run-of-the-mill in case I'm rushed into hospital but otherwise, no.
...Fitted sheet on mattress, duvet laid on top. Job done. Top sheets make it too hot.
No, duvets make it too hot. I much prefer a top sheet in hot weather and blankets in cool. And that way you don't have to struggle with getting the innards into the thing properly.
Summer thickness duvet in Winter, nothing in Summer.
I'd also report I'm another person who likes to use king-size flat sheets and duvets on a double bed to guarantee that nobody wakes in the middle of the night naked and shivering.
Of course they could wear pyjamas/a night-dress. They might still be shivering, of course, but potentially not as much!
Having endured being encased in a full-body plaster cast for over 3 months I can't abide wearing anything in bed. Of course, I have a very swish pair for when I visit friends, and a more run-of-the-mill in case I'm rushed into hospital but otherwise, no.
My Old Mum always insisted on my wearing a Clean Vest, And Pants, At All Times, just in case I got Run Over By A Bus.
At the start of July, the North East Man was feeling stiff after a long-haul flight. He went for a swim to loosen off and when he went to put his trousers on afterwards, his back spasmed. As he was breathing, conscious and had trained first aiders to hand, he was low priority for a medical call-out. He spent 4 hours lying on the floor of the changing room wearing only his underpants. Underpants which had been deemed not good enough to take on holiday; all the underpants which had travelled back long haul with him were still in the wash.
It turns out that Old Mums are right when they tell you to wear good underwear at all times.
All that bed talk reminds me of a cartoon in a recent 'Private Eye': princess lying on top of seven mattresses well after pea day, complaining 'I can still feel it', and the very manly prince fuming: 'Bloody memory foam!'
TICTH trying to eat out despite being single. This normally goes one of two ways:
1. Table Service
The wait staff try to hide your miserable solitary state from the rest of the customers by seating you in a dingy corner somewhere. For example, today I was invited to sit at a shelf in an attic room (perhaps a converted store); I declined on account of there being Actual Tables available in the main seating area. From my table I saw them try the same trick on another customer, who was Not Having It either.
2. Self Service
By the time I have reached the front of the queue and obtained my tray of fancy comestibles, one member of a couple ten minutes behind me has bagged the last table while the other queues. Thus leaving me to beg a corner of another table occupied by the least unfriendly looking folk in the establishment. In winter I sometimes claim a seat in advance of queueing*, by throwing my coat over it... but in summer, I do not have surplus garments for this purpose.
*I know this is poor behaviour but in my defence, I am always willing to share the table with other folks.
It begins when one walks in.
Host/ess: "How many?"
Me: "One."
(Please -- just stop it there. Don't question me further. You've asked, I've answered. But no...)
Host/ess: "JUST one?"
(No, there's actually a bus load of us. I said "one" to fool you.)
Host/ess: "Would you like to sit at the bar?"
Me: "No, a table please."
So I get the table next to the restrooms. If there isn't an available table by the restrooms, it will be the one next to the swinging doors to the kitchen.
I'll be heading down to the hotel dining room shortly. We'll see how it goes...
Comments
Part of the problem last night was being tired and cranky and my furry 'helper' wasn't. Well she was, but not being of assistance IYSWIM.
It is the designers of mattress pads that truly hate us. All of mine get torn when I struggle to get them to fit.
For example, here:
bed linen
And here:
more bed linen
Next imponderable bed linen question: why is the short time it takes to cover a duvet/doona such an irritating struggle?
Crazy flailing, in the face of hostility from the duvet. Not a recipe for peace of mind.
Someone will say I just need to learn to fold them properly but it's way down on the priority list when I can just use fitted ones.
Fitted sheet on mattress, duvet laid on top. Job done. Top sheets make it too hot.
Good ol' Wilko (they sort of replaced good ol' Woolworth's) sell solo fitted sheets - I know, cos that's where I get mine.
But what is this 'short time' of which you speak? Irritating struggle, yes, indeed, but it takes bl**dy hours, or so it seems, to get the duvet cover on.
What's a doona, BTW? (I might wish I hadn't asked, but enquiring minds need to know).
Thanks, @Lothlorien, for the clarification.
They do sell them in the UK, I was looking at them just this week, in ASDA the supermarket chain.
I suspect that the fault lies with mattress manufacturers, who seem to have decided over the last few years that their products have to be at least a foot thick. This may be fine and good if you have long legs, but for the vertically-challenged such as myself, there's no advantage to a bed that you practically need a step-ladder to get into.
As for duvets, doonas or downies*, if you can match the corners of the downie to the corners of the cover, you're away. It's easier if there are two of you, then you can take a corner each and shake until it all falls into place.
* delete as appropriate
Plain sheet (firmly tucked in at the bottom).
Blanket one.
Blanket two.
Blanket three.
Coverlet (linen and fleece combo).
Permutations of the above will cover any seasonal variations.
While I prefer downies (for winter anyway), sets of covers for them seem very expensive here, and the advantage of a sheet and blanket/coverlet is that you can throw off all but the sheet in summer (which I do).
I'd also report I'm another person who likes to use king-size flat sheets and duvets on a double bed to guarantee that nobody wakes in the middle of the night naked and shivering.
@Piglet I go for the itsy-bitsy togs in summer (John Lewis sell them). What happened if a burglar broke in and I was just under a sheet?
Having endured being encased in a full-body plaster cast for over 3 months I can't abide wearing anything in bed. Of course, I have a very swish pair for when I visit friends, and a more run-of-the-mill in case I'm rushed into hospital but otherwise, no.
Summer thickness duvet in Winter, nothing in Summer.
My Old Mum always insisted on my wearing a Clean Vest, And Pants, At All Times, just in case I got Run Over By A Bus.
As if that would be the chief of my worries....
Are you apt to be run over by a bus while you're in bed?
It turns out that Old Mums are right when they tell you to wear good underwear at all times.
And, of course, no wrestling with the damned duvet stuffing to make it work, which I could never get right anyway.
Especially when said bedrooms are on boats.
But My Old Mum gave me that advice many, many, aeons ago, when I lived a semi-detached life in a villa.
1. Table Service
The wait staff try to hide your miserable solitary state from the rest of the customers by seating you in a dingy corner somewhere. For example, today I was invited to sit at a shelf in an attic room (perhaps a converted store); I declined on account of there being Actual Tables available in the main seating area. From my table I saw them try the same trick on another customer, who was Not Having It either.
2. Self Service
By the time I have reached the front of the queue and obtained my tray of fancy comestibles, one member of a couple ten minutes behind me has bagged the last table while the other queues. Thus leaving me to beg a corner of another table occupied by the least unfriendly looking folk in the establishment. In winter I sometimes claim a seat in advance of queueing*, by throwing my coat over it... but in summer, I do not have surplus garments for this purpose.
*I know this is poor behaviour but in my defence, I am always willing to share the table with other folks.
Host/ess: "How many?"
Me: "One."
(Please -- just stop it there. Don't question me further. You've asked, I've answered. But no...)
Host/ess: "JUST one?"
(No, there's actually a bus load of us. I said "one" to fool you.)
Host/ess: "Would you like to sit at the bar?"
Me: "No, a table please."
So I get the table next to the restrooms. If there isn't an available table by the restrooms, it will be the one next to the swinging doors to the kitchen.
I'll be heading down to the hotel dining room shortly. We'll see how it goes...