Preface: While I discuss some shopping activities here, I am making absolutely zero mention of the specific brands or any related details of what I purchased. I’m not trying to shill, nor to sell anything. This is merely a recap of my recent activities and what led to them.
I had a recent (within the past week or so, interesting experience with my bed. [No, not that kind of experience – get your minds out of the gutter!]
The Backstory
To first set the stage, I’ve had the same bed (frame) for just over a decade. I purchased it as part of the “separation” phase of my divorce when I was suddenly confronted with planning to move into in apartment and realized I’d need a bunch of new furniture. Sure, some of it was coming with me, but not my bedroom furniture. [Unfortunately, this also included a bed, bedside tables and dresser which were important to me. But that’s another story and one I’m unlikely to ever tell, honestly.]
I had stuff for my living room, but not my bedroom, nor the bedroom for my sons. I also wound up buying some new furniture for my home office, but that’s not nearly relevant to this story.
So, I found and purchased a new bed (frame), bedside table and dresser. I also, of course, got a new mattress, new pillows and new bedding. The new bed was queen-sized and I got two standard pillows. I also got the relevant additional bits needed – including two mattress covers, pillow covers, what wound up being a king-sized comforter (it was on deep-dish discount sale and I hadn’t checked the size beyond “not twin”) and a couple of sheet sets. The comforter is thick and heavy and has an interesting two-sided nature to it – with a smooth side and a “fuzzy” side for different seasons. [I’ve also got a spare blanket and a bunch of hand-made crocheted and knitted afghans / blankets from my grandmother and mother.]
Side note: I’ve known for most of my life that, for pillows, I am a … messy sleeper. And I don’t mean that stuff moves around a lot. Rather, I do tend to … umm … drool a lot. So I knew the pillow protectors were absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized until much, much later, the ones I’d gotten back then weren’t exactly waterproof. Ehhh…
As the years have progressed, I’ve tossed at least one of the sets of sheets and purchased a couple more. I’ve also made a few discoveries about the comforter, not least of which being that it is a serious pain in the ass to wash and dry at home. Oh, it runs fine in my (front-facing) washer, but drying it well is close to impossible. The domestic / retail dryer I have usually leaves it “eating itself” so there is a large core of still-damp comforter. Aside from taking it to a regular laundromat (with the industrial-sized washers and dryers), getting it fully dry can be an extensive process.
Just as an aside, please note that I have faithfully rotated my mattress twice a year every year since I purchased it – “Remember to change your clock this weekend … and rotate your mattresses!”
More Recent Times
Since my return from my hospitalization about seven and a half years ago, I’ll admit i’ve not slept all that well – from waking up way too often (my kidneys have decided, for some unknown reason, their most productive hours simply must be overnight) to just overall general discomfort . Regardless of the reasons, it’s been far too long since I simply slept deeply and well.
While I do still rotate my mattress as before (now, with the help of my sons), for injury-related reasons, I just about exclusively sleep on one side of the bed. In the past, I was comfortable on either side of a bed (yeah, I’m sure that once again puts me in the category of “weird”, but I haven’t ever had a strong side “preference”), now, I’m only on one side. [This also happens to be the side of the bed closest to the bathroom, but that is far from the only reason.]
Additionally, some of the pillowcases and even the pillow protectors have become … shall I say … “discolored”? Yeah, I’ll go with that term; see the “Side note” above for reasons.
The Final Straw
[For the record, and in case you were unaware, a “sheet set” consists of a fitted sheet – for the mattress, two pillowcases and a top (flat) sheet – for under the blanket, etc. This information is necessary / relevant for all of what follows.]
As this heading should indicate, I did, indeed, have the proverbial final straw land upon the proverbial camel’s back. This occurred because I discovered all of my sheets were in the clean laundry (aside from the ones I’d just stripped from the bed). Even those were showing clear signs of wear and tear. Since it has now become warmer weather, I was going to change what I usually have on the bed from solely the comforter (no top sheet; don’t look at me like that! I sleep entirely by myself and don’t worry about someone else looking at the comforter and going “ewww…”) to a top sheet and a lighter blanket.
Much to my surprise, though, after searching through the laundry and my closet, I was completely unable to find a complete set of sheets. The ones I’d just stripped off didn’t count since they needed to be washed and it turned out I couldn’t find the matching top sheet for them either. Additionally, couldn’t even find another pair of pillow protectors.
I was left with a very simple and clear stark reality – I needed to buy some new sheets.
Discovering The Rabbit Hole
Not really wanting to venture out to pursue this, I decided I would simply search online for new sheets. Thus, the quest began with searching for queen-sized sheet sets.
Upon finding one I liked and reading all of the details, I was suddenly struck by something which seemed quite odd to me. The pillowcases for the sheet set was described as “queen-size pillowcases”. Wait-just-a-doggone-minute! I knew that there are king-sized pillows (for, you guessed it, king-size beds), but for the entirety of my life, on a queen bed, I’ve always gotten … standard pillows.
“You’re telling me there are three sizes of pillows???”
This became a “my whole life has been a lie” moment, as I suddenly came to the realization I had the wrong damn sized pillows. [This also made me realize why some of the pillowcases I have always seemed to be … extra long … for the pillows I have – they were the wrong size pillows!]
Falling Into The Rabbit Hole
Given my pillows have also become old and, well … rather gross … there was only one thing to do!
Yep, you guessed it! Need to buy new pillows also! And this time, I would make sure I was getting the correct ones for my bed!
The next stage was searching for pillows. While I’ve typically used “down”(-ish) pillows, those were no longer the only ones available. Sure there were the chunks of memory foam of various varieties. (I haven’t been too much of a fan of memory foam, although it’s possible it might actually be better for me in my current physical state – not something I’m about to test.)
But there was also a third, and somewhat intriguing, category – “shredded memory foam”. These are pillows which are stuffed with, well … shredded memory foam. They’re tiny blocks of foam pushed together. They’re not nearly as stiff and … “unyielding” as typical memory foam is, apparently. [My older son had purchased a full-on memory foam pillow which he subsequently “abandoned” in his room here. I’ve tried it and it’s … acceptable, but not spectacular.]
Looking at reviews, pillows of this material seemed to be generally well-received. So – I was naturally curious. [Yes, yes – we all know what happened to the cat…]
I selected a couple of possibilities to consider further and also found a set of appropriately-sized pillow-protectors (ensuring they said they were water-proof this time).
The Rabbit Went Deeper!
I wasn’t quite ready to leave it at new sheets and pillows. After all, I still had the “pain” of my comforter. And, while the hand-made afghans and blankets are very dear to me, none of them are truly the correct size for my bed – they’re all for twin, double, or king beds. Also, they are all quite bulky and can have exactly the same issue in the dryer as my comforter does.
One of the things I’ve known about forever is the concept of “duvet covers”. The idea is that you take a regular comforter (or “duvet”) and stuff it inside what can best be described as a cloth sheath. This allows you to not only change the way it looks, but also the cover is significantly easier to wash and dry.
They do tend to have one potential annoyance, though. If you don’t get a duvet + cover which allow you to at least “tie” the corners down (inside), the inside bits slip around like crazy leaving parts of the cover with nothing in them.
So, if I wanted to do this the “right way”, I would need to ensure I found not just a duvet cover but also a duvet (the insert piece) such that both could be happily tied together and thus, continue providing the comfort (and coverage) expectex.
I found a duvet which had eight loops (four at the corners and four at the edges – for additional security) and the “first” cover. I say “first” because it’s possible to replace the cover without, as I said just above, needing to get a new insert.
The insert I finally decided upon was filled with goose down, which was fine for a spring / summer / fall-ish comforter – not too heavy nor too warm, but should be (as Goldilocks is quoted as saying) “Just right!” I might need to augment it with an additional layer or get a heavier-duty insert when winter rolls around again.
My overall goals at this point (having expanded far beyond the original one of “get new sheets”) now were to get a collection (sheet set, pillow, pillow protectors, duvet / comforter insert, duvet cover) which I liked (duh!), but also were of decent-enough quality and definitely needed to be affordable.
Having made my selections, I placed the collective order and awaited shipment and arrival.
The Results
I’ll fast-forward (mostly?) past the surprise at the new pillows and comforter expanding to several times their shipping volume as they sucked in air and decompressed. With my Gen-X Reborn son’s help, I wrangled the new comforter into the sole duvet cover I had purchased as well as getting it all set up.
And then, two nights ago, I went to sleep using my new bedding.
Yeah, I had the usual waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night events due to my bladder’s insistence, but beyond that … I slept! I even slept much longer than I typically do these days. And when I finally woke up, I realized I didn’t feel somewhat still exhausted as I too-often have these days.
I would call it a “pleasant surprise”, but that is far too mild a term for just the overall … shock … of actually feeling well-rested. I was utterly astonished / flabbergasted / bedazzled / pick-your-own-turn-of-phrase. I honestly do not recall the last time I felt like I’d had a good night’s sleep.
Sure, I’m sure the novelty of everything assisted, but I’ve gotten new sheets before. And I’ve certainly gotten a new comforter before. The last time I got new pillows were (as I said at the start) over a decade ago.
I don’t know what magic they filled those pillows with, but I, for one, am enormously pleased with my purchase and the results!
