what is the purpose of the top flat sheet?
Submitted by admin on August 20, 2010 – 5:25 am7 Comments
jesses_girl_0908 asked:
I have looked everywhere, I am “debating” with my husband the purpose of the top sheet. I say it is for comfort, warmth, but most important sanity. I would much rather clean my sheets and middle blanket every few days than my down comforter. I told him it was to catch all the dead skin and such, but he says it has no purpose. Can anyone help me with this one? He was in the ARMY, and in other countries they don’t use sheets at all, that’s when I brought up the fact they have more sickness and diseases there.
You’re right, it’s so you can wash the sheet instead of the harder to wash blankets. The sheet picks up dead skin, perspiration, body oils. It’s also for comfort, unless you are okay with a blanket next to your skin. I’m not. If you have a duvet, that you can remove the cover from and wash the cover only, that works too and that’s what’s done in Europe. They don’t use a top sheet, just the duvet with washable cover. I use a duvet with a cover, though, and still use a top sheet. It’s less trouble to wash a sheet than to remove and re-install a duvet cover. But if you have sheets, why are you washing the middle blanket every few days? You shouldn’t really have to unless someone is remarkably dirty when they come to bed. Unless there’s a spill or someting, every couple of weeks is lots and less is okay too.
was in the ARMY? than he is correct, it has no purpose. i never use one, i guess its a woman thing. like the toilet seat having to be down and men having to do house “chores” even when they have maids. no, i am not referring to wives as maid’s. i will not rant. i will not rant.
you are correct blankets are and were hard to get sheets are cheeper and easier to replace.. wash either one enough times and you have to replace them….
flat sheets were made so you didn’t have to get new blankets as often.
use the sheets
It’s to keep the other bedding clean.
Since you are dealing with an army person, you will have to approach this with a certain type of logic. Washing down reduces its insulating value making it less effective as a blanket. Wet washing reduces it more than dry cleaning. This is just like how firing a rifle reduces its accuracy and reliability over time, especially if the rifle is used often in dirty environments. Just as a rifle has a lifespan and requires maintenance, so does a down blanket.
Proper maintenance for a down blanket is, first and formost, to keep it from getting dirty in order to reduce the amount of times it must be cleaned. If he was taking his rifle into a dirty environment, I know he will do something to keep it from getting dirty. I’m not an army guy so I don’t know what that would be, but I’m sure he won’t toss his rifle in sand or mud and think nothing of it. Your down blanket is going into a dirty environment, specifically warming two human bodies. It needs to be protected with a top flat sheet. It is there to absorb the dirt, sweat and oils so that can be washed instead of the down blanket. The top sheet won’t lose insulating value by being washed since it has very little insulating value, and the blanket will retain its insulating value and last longer because it doesn’t need to be washed as often.
And if that doesn’t work… Get tough.
Tell him that if he continues to treat your down blanket improperly, you will take his rifle and shove the barrel into the dirt to use it as a support stick for tomato plants. Hey, he can clean it after you’re done just like he said you can do with your down blanket. Watch him wince in pain at the very thought! Also tell him that they don’t have sewers in other countries either. Hand him a trench shovel, point outside and tell that big tough ARMY man to dig himself a latrine!
After receiving those orders from his personal “commander in cheif”, he might begin to resonsider his opinion.
Finally, you can also come to a compromise by doing what Europeans usually do to protect their down blankets. Toss the top sheet and get a duvet. It’s basically a big pillowcase that the blanket is put into. The down blanket is protected by a sheet that can be washed seperately, but it looks like a single blanket. This adds an additional benefit in that you can entirely change the look of your bedding by having multiple duvets to slip your down blanket into.
What Army was he in. We were issued two bed sheets with them being exchanged for clean ones every week. Of course its so you do not have to keep washing the blankets. Check out the bedspreads in a motel or hotel sometime with a black light it will make your skin crawl.