No More Fitted Sheets For Me

Have you ever wondered why most hotels don’t use fitted sheets?  It’s all about the bottom line…and the bottom sheet. 

A sleeper’s body makes more sustained contact with the bottom sheet on a bed than it does with the top sheet.  The top sheet rests more lightly against the sleeper and is, therefore, subject to less friction.  When you use the same sheet for the bottom sheet each time a bed is made, the bottom sheet wears out more quickly than the top sheet.  It’s why, when you go to the thrift shop, you see flat sheets but you rarely see fitted sheets.  The fitted sheets have worn out.

Fitted sheets also need to be folded in a different manner from flat sheets.  In hotels, where time and space are both equivalent to money, allotting extra time to fold fitted sheets and extra shelf space for their storage does not make good fiscal sense.  Using flat sheets not only saves on laundry time and storage space but also ensures that the sheets’ usage is more likely to be rotated between top sheet and bottom as the beds are made.

I used to buy fitted sheets because I bought sheet sets; convenient packages containing a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, and matching pillowcases.  There are lots of lovely sheet sets out there and I enjoyed all the different patterns and colours. 

I don’t buy those sheet sets any more.  This year we made a pledge to buy all of our clothing (except undergarments) second hand, and to buy as many of our household goods as possible that way too.  That means we’re buying those flat sheets you see at the thrift stores. 

In truth, now that I’m back in the habit of using them, I’m coming to prefer flat sheets over fitted.  Fitted sheets always seem to have pockets that are either too shallow or too deep for our mattresses and some are ever-so slightly too short for our mattress.  If you've ever tried to stretch a barely-fitting fitted sheet over a mattress when you're in a hurry on a work day, you'll now how frustrating that can be!  Flat sheets may seem like more work but they can actually speed up the process of making a bed because they're more easily adjusted to the particular size and shape of our mattresses.  They certainly save me time when folding laundry:  No fussing around with those elasticized corners.

Prior to the introduction of fitted sheets, frugal housewives were in the practice of extending the lives of their flat sheets by “turning” them.  They would cut worn sheets down the center, turn the worn edges to the outside, and sew the less worn edges together at the center.  

Modern Princess-and-the-Pea sensibilities make most of us reluctant to sleep on a sheet with a center seam these days but frugal practice is not just about saving money; it’s about reducing waste too.  If we are not going to turn our worn sheets, we can (and should) repurpose them in a myriad of other ways.  Worn sheets can be made into aprons, pillowcases, children’s clothing, curtain linings, quilt pieces, gift bags, lingerie bags, produce bags, and jelly cloths.  They can be used as a foundation for needlework.  They can be made into cleaning rags or cut into strips that can be crocheted into pot holders, hot pads, or rag rugs. 

I’ll be working on some projects made with sheets in the coming weeks and, hopefully, sharing them in my here.  In the meantime, if you go shopping for sheets, consider buying flat instead of fitted.  You’ll be surprised, over time, at the money it saves you.
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This post is linked to Gallery of Favorites hosted by Premeditated Leftovers and The 21st Century Housewife, and to The Weekend Wrap Up Party hosted by Tatertots and Jello, to the Pity Party at 30 Days, to Sunday Roundup with Kayla, Rose and Heather, and to Link it up Wednesday hosted by {Junk in the Trunk}, to Making Mondays Marvelous with C.R.A.F.T., and to Tip Me Tuesday hosted by Tip Junkie.