Bedsheets. For all you sindonologists

[launderess]

High Thread Count Percales

Don't like em! Haven't a bit of use for them!

Had a few sets given as gifts, and after a few weeks of usage they were banished to the bottom shelves of the linen press.

Like you said, they feel like canvas and are so "bulky" that even in the Miele one cannot get more than two or three king sheets, plus a few pillow cases in because they do not compact down. Indeed think the things actually repel water! *LOL*

Will say historically it has taken several launderings to "break in" new sheets. Nothing like the above, but my Wamsutta percales are soft and hems straight after about six months worth of laundering.

As for "wearing like iron", vintage linens had to, it was what the housewife, housekeeper or whom ever was purchasing linens expected.

Just reading the care booklets and advertising from old Pequot or Wamsutta told the tale. Linens had to withstand not only harsh use (think homes with all those children), but weekly laundering with very hot water, LCB and hot irons or mangles. Or, even worse commercial laundries (up until the 1960's or so, it was very common for homes to still sent out laundry).

Proof of how hard wearing these lines were lies in the fact so much shows up at estate sales and the like. Women normally got quite allot of linens in those days when they married, and often purchased more at "White Sales" or for whatever reasons, but the sets already opened and being used just refused to die! Thus the surplus to requirement stock sat stored and unused.

 

[dirtybuck]

My Sheets and A Question About Laundering

I've got sheets in my linen closet that are 200 ct (Walmart brand) and 250 ct. (JCP). I would eventually like to branch out to some 300 ct. sheets. Ironing? PBBBT to that! I also like to mix and match the colors of the sheets on my bed to make things a bit different.

OK, now, I wash my face and I wash my hair (although since I've been shaving my head, there really isn't any hair to wash at this time), and I wind up with discoloration on the pillowcases from the oils on my face. What can be used on the pillowcases to get rid of the oils?

I generally wash my sheets ever week and a half in somewhat warm water in a top loader (if I can help it) at the laundromat, using (for now) All powder with a bit of Arm and Hammer Oxy Clean liquid (for a power boost).

Drying is done on the permanent press cycle.

 

[jeffg]

Bill, if your sheets are light colored you can probably get away with washing them in hot water. Body oil stains are not easily shifted in lukewarm water unless you're using bleach or other additives. Also, showering at night instead of in the morning will help avoid the problem.

 

[brettsomers]

Sheets at laundromat

In my experience, washateria machines are a little tricky due to the short cycle times. Yes, hot water for body oil stains. Also, be sure the machine is not loaded too heavily. Consider a strong detergent like Tide or Foca if using a toploader.

 

[petek]

I don't care for the high thread count sheets either. To me they feel like your sleeping on a sheet of paper, they're not soft. My personal favorite are the jersey knit sheets which are like T-shirt material, soft and stretchy but they don't last too long. In fact none of the sheets today seem to last very long. I've got some sheets I bought back in the 70's that are still in good condition.

 

[sudsmaster]

Oh, snoot

One weaves all one's linens out of organic flax one grows in window boxes in one's tiny one room apartment on the lower west side.

One hand washes them in big pots of tepid water on one's tiny gas range, and then hangs them on the railings of the subway car one takes to and from one's job shilling counterfeit cosmetics to unsuspecting tourists in the Big Apple.

They feel much better than burlap, and they seem to repel bed bugs, almost completely.

LOL.

 

[dirtybuck]

JeffG.

As the weather has now heated up, I try on most days to take a shower in the morning and evening. I HATE going to bed sweaty!

 

[mixfinder]

Check Rated Consume'r's Report Best Buy

In 1958 Consumer Reports recommends Harmony House (Sears) Muslin 148 thread count fitted $2.08 and flat $2.08 Among the 190 thread count Percale, Bates Whispercale won the high ranking award with a whopping cost of $3.40 for flat and $2.54 for fitted. CR recommends holding a sheet up to the light and looking for uneven yarn, knots and similar defects which indicates a weak spot.

 

[dirtybuck]

MUSLIN!

Oh man...a whole 130-150 thread count! A dishtowel or dishcloth would be better on your bed.

BTW...I went to JCP's for the heck of it today. They were having a sale on 200 thread count (19.99 per set) and 300 thread count (29.95 per set). However, in searching the rest of the Home Store, I couldn't find a 250 thread count set anywhere. Did they discontinue them?

 

[circlew]

The JCP Home Expressions line is only available in the catalog and online.

 

[launderess]

Muslin

Actually properly laundered, starched and ironed muslin sheets can feel far better than linens of a higher thread count. It would also depend upon what sort of cotton threads, the weaving process and if the fibers were "combed" or not.

Heavy muslin is a bear to dry and iron, even with a mangle, hence the reason many housewives simply left their sheets "line dried", then one agrees, it would be like sleeping on a huck dish towel.

 

[tomturbomatic]

What does the Shroud of Turin have to do with bed sheets except for stain removal maybe?

For oil on pillow cases, try Spray & Wash gel. Rub it in before you take the clothes to the laundry so that it has some time to work before the linens hit the wash water.

I loved Martex sheets and towels. I have some sheets from the middle 70s that are still fine except that my memory foam mattress is a little fatter than the mattresses for which the older sheets were designed. I managed to score a brand new set of Martex classic king sheets and cases on the bay. They are 275 thread count 60-40 pima cotton/poly blend and fit up to a 14 inch high mattress. They are a delight.

I prefer to wash sheets in a top loader so that they do not ball up. My Kenmore combo was good about keeping them open to the wash stream.

 

[hunter]

language drift

According to my wife, who is a person who finds antique textiles interesting, 'muslin' has changed its meaning a few times over the decades.

It used to be a fine clothing - and now isn't.

Perhaps this is some of that?

 

[launderess]

Muslin

Normally is cotton goods with a thread count <140 or so, and while we today do associate it with bed linen, there was a time when lighter weights were made, though for the most part this has long since stopped.

These sheer and light weight "muslin" were used for such things as ladies blouses, infant layette items, gowns,dresses, veils,curtains, and so forth.

Though popular, these gauze type fabrics (muslin is still used in making certain bandages for use in hospitals), were and are highly flammable when made of cotton. In the days when open fires and coal or wood fired ranges provided heat,perhaps even just a spark caused terrible harm and even death to scores of women and children, the main ones dressed in fashions made out of such muslin.

 

[lordkenmore]

Another issue with comfort of sheets with low thread counts, etc, may be how the user of the sheets use them. I haven't seen any statistics, but my impression is that back in 1958, people tended to wear more to bed than they do today. Someone who wears a full set of pajamas or a big night shirt is--it seems to me--less likely to notice to notice sheet comfort than someone who wears absolutely nothing.

Indeed, I first learned of the jersey T shirt style sheet through a newspaper article, and one of quoted speculations of why the material had become so hot was because people are now sleeping with less on.

 

[launderess]

Actually

Wearing "night clothes" to bed is rather a recent thing on the scale of human history. For much of recorded time, and probably right up though the 1700's many persons slept nude.

This is one of the reasons royalty and or anyone else with lots of money wanted the most luxurious bed linen possible. Silk, cotton, fine linen, furs, etc all came into play.

Consider also those sheets would have gotten lots of wear because persons routinely also slept many to a bed. Entire familes, including servants often slept in the same bed, kings and other royal or well off men, or anyone else who could get away with it, had a woman/girl or two. In the days before central heating, this was the best way to keep warm at night! *LOL*

On the other end of the spectrum, persons often slept in whatever undergarments (usually a shift, chemise or "under shirt"), they wore during the day. In the morning they simply put on what they were going to wear over the thing and got on. This would lead to persons having shirts and shifts made just for going to bed, and the craze for nightware begins.

 

[toggleswitch]

What does the Shroud of Turin have to do with bed sheets except for stain removal maybe?

'Sindonoligist' may have come to mean those who study one particular sheet --in the ENGLISH language-- but in its proper use in Greek from whence it comes, a "sindoni" (pronounced sedoni) is nothing more than a bedsheet. And as we all know 'logos' is an authoritiy or the 'last work' on a subject. Hence, the broader meaning of that word being 'an authority on bed-sheets'.

In terms of body-oils any spittle/saliva and earwax on pillowcases: I simply always buy an exta set of pillowcases with each set of sheets, and replace them midweek, as I do my pajamas. Sheets are washed on Saturday as are the 2nd weekly set of pajamas and pillowcases.

In the winter one can resort to washing the sheets every two weeks [assuming one does not sleep naked] especially if one wears sock to bed does not create a "Dutch oven" (fart in bed). Of couse, there is no harm in opening a room window an inch or two on Saturday for half an hour with the sheets pulled down to air them out, should one decide not to change them for a fresh pair.

 

[toggleswitch]

Servants?

I don't think my slaves will ever see my bed, actually.

 

[mistereric]

Wait, what? Ironing sheets? No, for real?

I have a set of 400TC Wamsutta full size that I love but are only large enough for the guest bedroom. When Fortunoff went out, I picked up 2 sets of their own brand 400TC sheets and they are finally wearing enough to be soft. I also have a set of Martha Stewart sheets I bought on clearance at a dying KMart, and they are thinnner than the Fortunoff ones but are much more comfy.

I have flannel sheets that I can't stand. They seem like a great idea, feel nice and fuzzy, and yet I can't get to sleep on them. Weird!

 

[launderess]

Frequency of Laundering Bed Linen

Actually if one wished to prevent the dreaded "yellowing" of sheets and pillow slips (normally found in the center of the bottom sheet and pillow cases, where the head and body usually rest), it is best to change and launder linens often. This could mean daily or bi-daily depending upon one's sleeping habits (sweating, lathering on lotions and creams before bed, etc).

Contrary to popular thought, this yellowing is not a stain per se, but a chemical reaction between the textile fibers and one's "sweat". The longer this is allowed to go on before laundering, the harder if not impossible it is to rid bed linens of this dreaded yellowing. Boiling, chlorine and or oxygen bleaching, sunlight and so forth may reduce the yellowing, but are harsh on fabrics. Bluing and OBA's will to some extent counter the yellowness as well.

Old rumor has it that when first lady, Jacquline Bouvier Kennedy followed the age old housekeeping ritual of "higher class" persons and had the bed linens changed twice daily. Once in the morning, then again in late afternoon. This practice was to ensure sleeping only on fresh bed linen, even if one took a nap in the afternoon.

Such frequent changing of linen obviously generated lots of laundry work, hence only certain classes of persons could be bothered with such nonesense. Bad enough perhaps for one bedroom, but can you imagine two, three, four or more? It also meant the household had to have a rather generous supply of bed linen to last until all that washing returned from the laundry.

Of course Mrs. Kennedy wasn't doing the washing herself, nor wash she paying the wages of those who did. That bill was picked up by the American taxpayers of the time.