sheets | Bedding Plus

How would you like to sleep in a soft, cozy bed and wake up with the bottom sheet still smooth and taut? If you get some extra deep fitted flannel sheets, you can!

Our Love / Hate Relationship with Fitted Sheets

Fitted sheets – people either love them or loathe them! One of the main reasons that women don’t buy them is because they always look such a mess in the linen closet. It doesn’t seem to matter how carefully you try to fold them – they always look as if they’ve just been shoved in there any old how…frustrating!

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

These instructions are for someone who is right-handed. If you are left-handed, just reverse them.

This is easiest to do, standing up.

1. Hold the sheet at the shorter edge.
2. Turn the sheet inside out and put one hand into each short edge corner.
3. Bring your right hand over to your left and envelop the left corner with the right one.
4. Keep holding these two corners while you continue.
5. Reach down and pick up the corner that will be hanging in front of you.
6. Bring it up and envelop it over the two corners already in your left hand.
7. Reach down and pick up the last corner and envelop it over the other three, with its’ right side showing.
8. Now lay the folded sheet on a flat surface (table or floor) and begin to straighten it.
9. Fold the two rounded edges in to the middle so that the elasticized edges are hidden.
10. Now fold the sheet into a rectangle.
11. Continue folding until the sheet is the size that you want it to be.

Who Invented Fitted Sheets?

Have you ever wondered how fitted sheets came about? In the late 1980’s, a Canadian lady called Gisele Jubinville was watching a news item on the TV about fitted sheets that just wouldn’t stay put on the mattress. Realizing that many women shared her frustration at having to continuously tuck sheets in (even supposedly ‘fitted’ sheets), Gisele set about designing a better version.

After sewing hundreds of versions, she finally came up with the fitted sheet that we know today. Even though it was such a good design, she had a problem getting it patented. She borrowed $16,000 and was still turned down three times. Eventually, she took a miniature mattress to the patent office and demonstrated ‘her’ sheet. The examiner agreed that it was a great design and she was given the patent in 1990.

Gisele tried making and selling her own sheets but couldn’t compete with giant manufacturers so in 1993, she sold her patent for one million dollars, to sheet manufacturers, Springs Industries Inc…not a lot really, when you think how many fitted sheets are made today!

Why We Need Extra Deep Fitted Sheets

Over the years, mattresses have got deeper and deeper. The design featuring pillow-topping has become extremely popular and is wonderfully comfortable but adds to the depth. Regular fitted sheets can’t cope and so a new industry has sprung up to make extra deep ones. If you’ve been fighting with your bedding, get some sheets that can take your mattress and end that frustration!

Make sure that you measure the depth of your mattress before you buy, as there are several different depths available.

Choose Flannel for Extra Warmth

Just imagine snuggling into a bed with smooth, flannel sheets, flannel pillow cases and a flannel comforter – could you be any more cozy? Extra deep sheets are now available in every fabric and flannel is one of the best.

Advantages of flannel bedding

– Washes extremely well
– Gets softer with every wash
– Is very durable
– Warm in winter and cool in summer

You’d think that buying cotton or 100% cotton flannel sheets would mean you’re putting a ‘natural’ product on your bed…well, yes and no!

Let’s start by looking at the way the cotton itself is grown.

How most cotton is grown

– Synthetic chemical fertilizers are used to encourage the plants to grow.
– Chemical pesticides are used to keep cotton-eating bugs at bay.
– Chemical growth regulators are used to get a crop of the same size for easy harvesting and
– Chemical defoliants are used for the same reason.

To produce one pound of cotton, it takes a third of a pound of chemicals.
While we’re really depressing you, let’s look at a few more facts about the production of cotton.

– 4% of all the arable soil in the entire world is used to grow cotton. That’s a huge area!
– Every year, 24% of all insecticides and 11% of all pesticides used in the entire world are used on just cotton crops!
– 3,000,000 people suffer with poisoning from pesticides every year. 20,000 of them die.
– Over 45% of all the cotton grown in the United States is genetically engineered.
– During the production of a regular cotton garment, over 8,000 synthetic chemicals are routinely used.
This may sound a lot of chemicals but chemical intrusion doesn’t end with the growing phase. Just a few of the treatments that fabric may receive are:
– Moth resistance
– Fire retardant
– ‘Easy care’
– Anti-pilling
– Etc

Dyes used on the cotton often contain heavy metals and other harmful chemicals.

As if that wasn’t bad enough…

Recent scientific studies have found that the cotton used in bedding may have a heavy dose of pesticides in the form of built-up residues from the cultivation stage. On continuous use, these residues may be absorbed into human skin and adversely affect health.

Babies may be more at risk from health problems due to their higher metabolism and lower body weight – so choosing organic baby bedding may help to lower that risk.

What makes flannel sheets ‘organic’?

Flannels that can call themselves organic are usually made from cotton which has been grown without the use of any chemical fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators or defoliants – synthetic or otherwise.
The resulting fabric isn’t treated in any way which is why it can be a little ‘stiff’ before it’s washed and dried.

It’s also not dyed. This gives rise to the characteristic ‘cream’ color’. This has traditionally put some people off organic bedding – but a very high price is paid for the pure white bedding that we’re used to!

How can I be sure the sheets really are organic?

Various certification bodies exist and they set down precise standards for productions, storage, processing, handling and marketing. If a product meets all of the criteria, it will be awarded a label from that body to say that the product is truly organic.

Just bear in mind that the label will only certify that the product has been made in an ecologically sound manner and is not a claim regarding its’ quality.

Another way to check is to see if the company who made the sheets is recognized by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM).