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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.