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“Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s home to sleep we go” to paraphrase Disney’s Seven Dwarfs as they sang on their way home from work … not “to sleep”, unfortunately. If they had sung about sleeping, we could have a great theme song for our sheet sets. But, no, they went to work, not sleep. We can surmise that, among those magnificent seven, “Sleepy” loved to go to his little bed. Had they sung the appropriate words, he could have been the Comforters Luxury spokesperson.

The thing about sheet sets is that the individual sheets take a bit of a beating from feet, elbows, shoulders and knees to name a few of the offensive weapons we take to bed each night. The care and maintenance of sheets is important from a number of points of view. The main point is cleanliness and that requires washing and that’s tough on sheets as well. I guess that a sheet’s life is not a bed of roses. Sorry.

Washing instructions come with most products today and we should be well advised to follow them. However, if for some reason the instructions have been mislaid or torn off the sheets—isn’t that against some law—let’s review the basic care and washing instructions.

Perhaps the basic suggestion for all aspects of bedding washing is “Be gentle”. Use gentle washing detergents. Follow the instructions about dissolving the powders or liquids totally before you immerse your sheets. Full strength detergents may harm the sheets’ fibers and you will also see your bright pink sheets (kidding … I think) fade to finky pinky. Midnight blue becomes sky blue, etc.

And try to avoid the addition of products promising to whiten and brighten. They also may weaken and discolor the fibers. There are alternative whitening and brightening agents. Something natural like lemon juice.

The protection of your sheets’ fibers is vital to the longevity of the sheet. In past blogs we’ve discussed the various cottons used in the manufacture of sheets: Percale, Sateen, Egyptian, Pima, and of course, bamboo. This latter fiber, bamboo, is possibly the strongest, very durable, and exceptionally soft. All of them are affected by heat. Heat is bad for fibers and weakens them. Cold water washing detergents are advised and available.

And please be careful drying your sheets. Wouldn’t it be great to hang sheets outside and let the soft breezes dry them? My mother used to do that and air drying left a delightful scent. Today? I’m not sure that many people do it that way. But protect your sheets by taking the time to dry them in your dryer on Low for best results.

Despite taking all of the precautions we’ve discussed, sheet sets do wear out, particularly if you use one set week after week. We’ve had sheets last four or five years with careful washing. What we should be doing is rotating two or three sheet sets and get even more years of service. Sheets don’t cost that much and climbing into bed between your carefully laundered sheets is a true pleasure you can look forward to each evening. And sheets can make a décor statement to please your artistic tastes. Have fun with them! Be extravagant with them! Unless you run tours through your bedroom, only you know for sure how wild you are or sedate … whatever. But always take care of them.

Sleep well!

From the depths of the bed, my wife’s voice posed the question of the day, or at least the first question anyone in our bed had posed on this particular day: “Why is it so difficult to get out of a bed in the morning after we’ve just changed the sheets?”  Well, that does, even at 5:00 AM when our alarm goes off, challenge ones mouth to produce an intelligent answer.  Actually, my wife doesn’t find it possible to even speak until 6:30 AM, as a rule.  So a verbalized question so early in the morn was totally unexpected and, considering her effort to be vocal at all, the question required a thoughtful answer.

After all, sheet sets, comforters, and duvets are our business and such insights as to--why first night, clean sheets are better than second night sheets--are required by our customers.  Perhaps there are a number of reasons why the comfort factor is greater with brand clean sheets.  I’ll try to muster a cogent (not a 5:00 AM word, for sure) answer.

One answer is that we are fortunately in a position to try out and sleep on really great sheets, such as sateen cotton, Egyptian cotton, or bamboo cotton.  We, being in the business, have our choice.  All of these latter options are excellent, particularly once you get into the 600 TC and higher thread counts.   So, softness is one key factor, but admittedly using sheets more than once does not eliminate their softness quotient.  Only at a certain point, which my wife makes sure we never reach, do sheets become stiff.  Wash your sheets, please.

Speaking of washing,  and this “Washing Instruction” probably comes from my mother rather than any industry insider information—don’t use harsh detergents on your sheets, use a lower heat which results in a longer life for the sheets and a fresher smell,  and make sure the rinse cycle is doing its job.  A lot of what is nice about first night sheets is the odor—or lack of odor, perhaps—which a good washing provides your bed linens. 

Let’s not forget the comfort factor of clean pillow cases next to your face either.  That clean smell and the coolness of the pillow slips definitely enhance the first night enjoyment of clean bedding.  All in all,  it seems that the clean smell of fresh sheets and pillow slips is a major factor in why the first night sleep is better with clean sheets.

As I tossed about trying to come up with an answer for my wife’s question which was floating in the air above the bed waiting to be tethered to some logical explanation, the fairy tale story, “The Princess and the Pea”, came to mind.  While I can, if need be, go to sleep in 3 seconds on corrugated steel, my wife claims to be kept awake by the slightest irregularity in the bedding.   This may, in fact, be the reason why she sleeps so well on the first night sheet sets. 

After a good washing and a thorough drying, newly laundered sheets tend to lie flatter.  Their threads have been relaxed, un-bent, and straightened out.  In subsequent nights—sensitive readers cover your eyes for a moment—wrinkles are pressed into the sheets, odors do accumulate (c’mon it’s natural) and furthermore, moisture dampens the sheets’ spirits.   Okay, uncover your eyes.  All of this is natural wear and tear on a sheet set and ultimately the reason why we wash our sheets or change them for a clean set.  No bumps, no wrinkles, no odors, just cool, smooth sheets.

As a business person, there is always the nagging suspicion that what you do, what you’ve dedicated your life’s work to, is not always the beneficial activity which leads to Sainthood.   Not that Sainthood is my personal objective.  As they say, “God knows” that I’m not on anybody’s “go to” Saint candidate list should the need to fill a vacancy arise suddenly.

However, with some research, it is apparent that working in the quality bedding business, offering a line of comforters, duvets,  sheet sets (sateen, bamboo),  and particularly Eco-Wool bedding ( for the Green interests) does actually contribute in many significant ways to the beneficial daily activity we hope our customers enjoy – seven to nine hours of good sleep.

One of our company mottos is “We put you to sleep”.  Well, self-deprecation, modesty, etc. is good for a chuckle … we hope, but to find out that putting people to sleep actually does provide a variety of health benefits is very satisfying.

Do you remember how, back in your student days, you could rely on your brain to have learned lessons and produce results for you when you awakened from a good night’s sleep?   I used to set a problem and tell myself – order my brain – to have an answer, a solution, a result for me when I woke up. Your brain’s memory capacity is enhanced by sleep.  You do actually learn while you sleep.

Research has shown that a good night’s sleep is good for your heart.  You cannot beat that as a major benefit!  We used italics and bold type for emphasis here.  The lack of sleep is a real negative in maintaining heart health.  During sleep, the body heals itself producing proteins for repair jobs from skin damage to stress related issues.  We all know that a good night’s sleep or a daytime catnap tends to reduce our stress, making us feel more alert and with the sleep comes sharper thinking as we deal with work problems or good old life problems.

Medical professionals have suggested that during your sleep your body produces cancer fighting melatonin.  Scientists do attribute tumor growth suppression to melatonin.  To get the highest levels of melatonin at work inside you, be sure to keep your bedroom as dark as possible.  Light reduces the levels of melatonin, i.e. sunlight and artificial light at night.  Go figure, but as with so many aspects of health, if you can do it, why not do it?

Lack of sleep is suspected of contributing to weight gain.  Hormone generation during sleep is part of the repair job the body does while you are asleep under your Eco-Wool comforter or down duvet snuggled up between your strong, soft Bamboo sheet set.  So much for the commercial:  the Devil made me do it—God knows.   Back to the hormones: two hormones, leptin and ghrelin, are credited with contributing to appetite regulation.  Again, it’s one of those possible benefits all of which add up to contributing to better health.

To paraphrase Mel Brook’s famous line, “It’s good to be asleep!”   Sleep is the respite from the rigors of living.  I can say with some great measure of satisfaction that Comforters Luxury does contribute to the ongoing health of our customers.   And I do want to give credit to our medical advisory staff, Drs. Google, Yahoo, and Bing, for their input on the subject.  Where would we be without them?

Sleep well and stay healthy!

There was nothing quite like being a bachelor in New York City.  Period.  And, to continue, there was nothing like coming home to our fifth floor walk-up brownstone apartment from a very late date or a night out with the boys—hoping for a very late date—and falling immediately into your very own pre-rumpled sack.  Like wine, the bedding seemed to get friendlier and better as the days went by.  Sheets thrown back and awaiting your collapse into their creased embrace; pillow, dented as you left it in the morning with a convenient hole to plunk your head into for the remaining few hours of the night.

 The first notion that life was going to change significantly crept into my awareness when I was laid up with the flu for a week.  My newest female friend insisted on coming to my apartment to assist in my recuperation.  Her first encounter with the “Rancid Pit of the Eastside”, as she called my digs, may be expressed in one word, “GAAACK!”  At that time I was living with a couple of roommates and we collectively financed a once a week cleaning lady named Louise.  She was stern faced, rawboned, and rangy.  She could have played forward for the New York Knicks.  Together she and my current wife attacked me, my bedroom, and all of its contents.  As an inventory control measure I was in the habit of keeping my clothes tastefully arranged around my room on whatever resting place was suitable. I explained that the selection process was easier.  Now, there was a doomed practice!

 Shortly after the “Rancid Pit” visitation by Louise and the woman who became known as Wife, she and I made it all legal and, contrary to a trend sweeping the nation way back then, we actually got married before living together.  At that point, the Sunday ritual of laundering and changing sheets and remaking the bed was implanted in my life.  We bought a bedspread which was so heavy that spreading it on our Cal-King bed endangered my back every day – yes, part of the submission process was actually making the bed every day.  Who knew?

 Years later we discovered faux silk comforters. light weight (great for the back), warm, and above all colorful.  The design opportunities are super.  Since a bed is the largest single piece of furniture in a home and it is central to the “tour of the house” room, it should be a visual pride and joy.  Stripes, geometric shapes, patchwork, corduroy, colors galore are all available.

 I was allowed, by Herself, to have an opinion in the selection process and I found a really great comforter full of color, and stripes, and about as masculine as I could get away with. It sets the tone for the entire room.  Six and one half seconds to float the comforter across the bed adjusting it in flight to land perfectly.  Then chuck the two big sham covered pillows and walk.  Done!

 Two things I’ve learned from all of this.  I love sleeping in clean sheets.  A colorful comforter makes you want to go to bed. 

Our first experience sleeping under a duvet was on a freezing cold night in Munich, Germany.  We had checked in late and were provided with two end to end twin beds nestled under the sloping roof of the better than 100 year old hotel.  Icicles hung like huge teeth from the eaves outside our window overlooking the courtyard below.  Frost etched the window pane.

Having flown throughout the previous night from New York, we drove to Munich from Frankfort braving the icy roads and staying out of the way of the German drivers for whom the ice, snow, and wind posed no deterrents to their accustomed autobahn speed.  A warm, filling dinner in the hotel restaurant and we were ready for some sleep.  End to end beds were really better than nothing.

Each bed was covered by a billowing, white cover which turned out to be called a “duvet”.  That was it.  We looked at each other: this is it?  We looked all over the room for blankets.  We looked at each other again.  Under the “duvet” we found the bottom sheet. Just the Duvet and bottom sheet, no top sheet, no blanket.

Shivering we decided that we had better go to bed and warm ourselves with our rapidly depleting supply of natural warmth.  To our surprise and definite pleasure, we soon found ourselves getting warm … warmer … and soon very warm.  Those duvets were super.

“Duvet”, implies either goose or duck down or feathers, as it is used in French.  Essentially, a duvet is a loosely packed comforter. There are a wide range of fillings to choose from.  Both cotton and wool are used extensively and both provide the luxurious warmth one would expect.  The main difference between the down, cotton, and wool options are the weights one desires.  We know of marital disputes around the weight and therefore the warmth factor.  Some duvets are available with difference weights on two sides of the duvet.  There are those who will claim that silk duvets, constructed of layers of silk, are the superior duvet and silk is indeed a great option.  However, traditionalists, people, particularly those who have come from Europe, who have slept under duvets since birth swear by the down filled duvet.  It is soft and only requires shaking out every few days to regain its plump.

Most duvet users slip the duvet into a duvet cover.  A duvet cover is essentially a large pillowcase.  The bottom end of the cover is fastened by cloth ties, or a zipper, or a row of button.  The cover serves several utilitarian and aesthetic functions.  First of all, it protects the duvet from becoming soiled.  Depending on the duvet cover’s fabric, it only requires washing at appropriate times.  The duvet cover also relieves the lumpy look the au natural duvet tends to have.  The cover provides a smooth attractive look to the bed.

The first duvet we slept under was white, as most duvets are.  Some, particularly the organic duvets which may also feature wool or cotton stuffing instead of goose down, are a natural white; not overly bleached. Sort of off-white.  Wool and cotton filling are both very acceptable fillings and the wool is hypoallergenic for those who are affected by allergens.

Duvet covers come in many styles and make the duvet serve in place of comforters or bedspreads over the bed.  Some are extremely ornate.  They may be selected to coordinate with the rest of the bedroom’s décor or to “illuminate” the bedroom as we like to say.  Always read the cleaning and washing instructions before you buy.  The cost of dry cleaning versus machine washing at home may be a decision point for you.

Our research indicates that the duvet has become an increasingly popular piece of bedding in the United States.  It is in our home.  The duvet was brought to the United States by immigrant families.  In the early years many immigrants found it necessary to request duvets and covers from their former homelands, because they were unavailable in America.  Fortunately, there are many sources of duvets and duvet covers today, and the variety of filling materials and weights provide a broad array of products from which to choose the ideal duvet.

One last thought. Duvet Post-Washing, Re-Insertion Instructions:  After washing the duvet cover, position yourself near your bed with your back to it. Calves touching the mattress.  Place the duvet cover over your head and let it gather on your shoulders.  Then, feeling around blindly, grasp the top two corners of the duvet. Now lift your hands with the duvet corners up close to your shoulders and shrug the duvet cover off your shoulders so that the cover falls down around your fists...and you.  Raise your arms and shimmy the duvet upwards into the cover until your fists are in the corners of the duvet cover.  Release grip on corners.   Fall backwards onto the bed and slither out the bottom … alright … it works for me to my wife’s amusement.  This method, admittedly, may not work for you.  Perhaps we should say, “Don’t try this method at home! Leave it to the professionals.”

Sleep well!