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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!