Not long ago I discovered that something I took for a fact is not always true. How do you make a bed? Fitted sheet on the bottom, then a top sheet, then a comforter/duvet on top, and an extra blanket in between the sheet and the comforter if it's cold. Right? This just in: not everyone makes their bed this way. Australians typically use the fitted sheet on the bottom and then a duvet on top- that's right! No sheet! They routinely wash the duvet cover, so it's not as gross as I originally thought, but still, how do they regulate temperature when the only choice is duvet or no duvet? The sheet has its place- namely, when it's too hot to sleep with a duvet on top of you but you don't want to be completely uncovered.
I once said to my Irish flatmate something along the lines of "isn't it weird that Australians only put duvets on their beds and not a sheet?" and she responded that that's how they do it in Ireland, and "sheets are for hotels and Americans." I still think it's weird. Who sleeps without a sheet?
9 comments:
Weird! Rodd doesn't think it's odd to use a top sheet. Everybody he knows uses a top sheet. Maybe it's because Victoria is colder, so they use duvets and we don't? We've always had one.
Well from the French beds I've stayed in, no top sheets. Straight duvet. I'm with you Reenio. It's weird.
That is truly strange. It would also be really annoying to have to wash the duvet all the time. So do they not sell sheet "sets" over there? If they do, what is everyone doing with the flat sheet?
Yep, I've been living top sheetless and blanketless for a decade now in the UK. I found it weird at first and hunted down some top sheets, but after a while just gave up. We have a blanket, but also never use that. So it's just been a duvet for a while. As for temperature regulation, there's the whole "tog" thing (check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tog_(unit)). Do they have tog numbers on the duvets in Oz? So you use a light tog in the summer and a heavier tog in the spring and autumn and then a heavier tog still in the winter. You can buy duvet pairs so you get a 4 tog and a 9 tog and then combine them in the winter for a 13 tog. If it ever gets too hot in the summer (which is rare indeed in the UK), then you take the duvet out and just use the duvet cover by itself. The key difference is that unlike American comforters that are generally integrated (i.e. stand alone), duvets are always supposed to be used with a separate cover which is washable. Simple!
I do usually use a sheet, but for quite a while in my teens and twenties used only a comforter and/or quilt. This didn't have anything to do with anything, except for my being too lazy to wash extra things or put them on the bed. I just wanted to crawl into bed, adjust one big thing for comfort, and sleep. Once I stopped getting high so much, I went back to using a sheet and blankets :-)
i don't use a top sheet. washing the duvet cover is no biggy ...
i'm still watching the wire- that reminds me of senator clay davis: "oh sheeeeeeiiiiiiit!"
I prefer to use the fitted sheet as the top sheet - it's wraps you like a snuggly cocoon. The buddy part of my moniker doesn't appreciate it, however. No room for two in the fitted snuggle textile haven.
Im originally ftom NZ & used to using top sheets but after 5 1/2 yrs in Australia I dont use top sheets anymore. washing my duvet cover weekly is no different to washing a flat & top sheet together weekly ive found it actually cuts down on washing. plus find having a top sheet a pain in the butt now...lol
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