63 replies to this topic

[Kelly A]

So how do you feel about fitted sheets? On the one hand, making the bed is a bit easier, and the bottom sheet stays in place. On the other hand, they don't fold well and are useless when the elastic fails.

Discuss.

[In the Corner]

Kelly A said:

On the other hand, they don't fold well and are useless when the elastic fails.

Discuss.

What are you people doing to your sheets to cause the elastic to fail?  Mine lasts for years.  Are you putting them in the dryer on high heat?  If so, quit that right now.  Line dry them.

[slinky1]

In the Corner said:

What are you people doing to your sheets to cause the elastic to fail?  Mine lasts for years.  Are you putting them in the dryer on high heat?  If so, quit that right now.  Line dry them.

Line dry them?  What is that please explain.  A diagram would be helpful.

[OldManRay]

Never had an elastic fail, and I don't fold anything well, so I don't care if they get scrunched in the drawer.  Fitted bottom sheets are a great invention.  All I need now is a fitted top sheet and the bed will never have to be remade before washing day.

[Ophelia]

Kelly A said:

So how do you feel about fitted sheets? On the one hand, making the bed is a bit easier, and the bottom sheet stays in place. On the other hand, they don't fold well and are useless when the elastic fails.

Discuss.

I read the book 30 Things to Know Before Turning 30, and one of the things in there was how to fold a fitted sheet. I have no problem folding my fitted sheets.

Yes, bow to me, all you who are fitted-sheet-folding impaired... ;)

If the elastic fails, I wonder if you need to buy deeper sheets. Mattresses are different thicknesses, and maybe you need sheets to fit a thicker mattress.

[bizaleth]

OldManRay said:

Never had an elastic fail, and I don't fold anything well, so I don't care if they get scrunched in the drawer.  Fitted bottom sheets are a great invention.  All I need now is a fitted top sheet and the bed will never have to be remade before washing day.

What he said.

[Kelly A]

Perhaps "a bit stretched out after 20 years" would be a more "PC" term for "it".

[wagtail]

preverts.

[Leilani]

Said it already - but I only have one fitted sheet per bed, so they get washed and dried and returned to the bed on the same day - eliminating the need to fold.

I once had the elastic fail - but only after about 5 years of use, and really the sheet was pretty threadbare in the middle.  Only a few weeks ago I threw another sheet away, as my other half had worn a hole in it with his feet - that sheet was only 3 years old (luckily I found a spare sheet stashed at the back of the towel cupboard)!!

With my folks coming to visit I've bought a new set of sheets, which is going to leave me with the folding issue (or I might just throw the temporary one away as it's off white with a few weird stains on it.

[Tronyé]

kelly a said:

so how do you feel about fitted sheets? On the one hand, making the bed is a bit easier, and the bottom sheet stays in place. On the other hand, they don't fold well and are useless when the elastic fails.

Discuss.

stfu.

[Kelly A]

Derek said:

stfu.

Sheets That Fit Us! Yes!

Sometimes I think my mattress isn't tall enough for a lot of them..

[Hezalin]

I learned how to properly fold fitted sheets form the tv Clean Sweep. It was a godsend. I've never had the elastic fail on any of my sheets though.

[Internet Legend]

The reason the elastic fails on ours is that I don't throw anything away until it's completely, irrevocably, inarguably worn out. And even then I usually keep it "just in case". The elastic fails on fitted sheets after about ten years or so. And yes, if you keep them out of the dryer (or just on low heat), the elastic will be fine.

All the new sheets seem to be made for the thicker mattresses, so new fitted sheets don't fit any of our beds. I'm thinking of using sheet garters for them, but then I might as well just get flat sheets. Except that sheet sets (which are cheaper than buying sheets separately) here always include a fitted sheet.

And here is how to fold a fitted sheet. It's the only useful thing Martha Stewart ever taught me (buckwheat pillows? Who in their right mind needs to know how to make buckwheat pillows?).

You're welcome.

Edited by Internet Legend, 13 January 2009 - 09:23 PM.

[Mary]

I love fitted sheets.  They're much easier to wrangle than trying to use a flat sheet as a bottom sheet, and they really aren't too hard to fold--just tuck the corners into each other, flatten things out into a square-ish shape, and keep folding & flattening until it's the size you want it to be.  

Then again, I worked at a motel for five years and had to learn to do it on autopilot, really, so I might be kind of warped.

[wagtail]

thick mattresses, thin mattresses - none of it matters with ye olde flat sheet.  I only make my bed once a week when I do the laundry, you just gotta know how to make the bed properly and it wont come untucked..  

Plus, if you want to be really old-fashioned, it's more environmentally friendly.  See...I learned this from my great aunt.....you remove the bottom sheet and launder it, since this is the sheet that sees the most action. Then you replace it with the top sheet, and use a fresh sheet for the top sheet.  This way you only need to wash one sheet a week, your sheets last longer and you use less water.  You cant do that if you have fitted sheets.

[Leilani]

wagtail said:

thick mattresses, thin mattresses - none of it matters with ye olde flat sheet.  I only make my bed once a week when I do the laundry, you just gotta know how to make the bed properly and it wont come untucked..  

Plus, if you want to be really old-fashioned, it's more environmentally friendly.  See...I learned this from my great aunt.....you remove the bottom sheet and launder it, since this is the sheet that sees the most action. Then you replace it with the top sheet, and use a fresh sheet for the top sheet.  This way you only need to wash one sheet a week, your sheets last longer and you use less water.  You cant do that if you have fitted sheets.

But it's so satisfying having clean sheets and it's always great lying on (not under) a freshly laundered sheet.

[wagtail]

Leilani said:

But it's so satisfying having clean sheets and it's always great lying on (not under) a freshly laundered sheet.

I used to think that, i changed because my clothesline didn't have room for two sheets, and it really just seems the same to me as it did when I washed both sheets weekly. really the top sheet is fine.  I wouldn't do this if i was the sort of person that was haphazard in the laundry duties though.  Doing the laundry is the one household chore that I am kinda anal about, in every other regard, I'm a complete slob.

[trix]

wagtail said:

Plus, if you want to be really old-fashioned, it's more environmentally friendly.  See...I learned this from my great aunt.....you remove the bottom sheet and launder it, since this is the sheet that sees the most action. Then you replace it with the top sheet, and use a fresh sheet for the top sheet.  This way you only need to wash one sheet a week, your sheets last longer and you use less water.  You cant do that if you have fitted sheets.

I am embarrassed by how environmentally friendly my sheet washing regime is, despite my use of fitted sheets.

[wagtail]

trix said:

I am embarrassed by how environmentally friendly my sheet washing regime is, despite my use of fitted sheets.

do you wash them in a local river, beating them on a rock, Trix?  :p

[Leilani]

She just dabs them with a damp sponge and baking soda on the grubby patches!