What's happened to warm bedding?

dandy-candy

I second old fashioned blankets! I find 100% wool Witney blankets in charity shops for £2 a double bed size. They are heavy but you get used to it, and they are super warm. Also what are you wearing in bed. Primark do proper pajamas in cotton or fleece, and I also wear big fluffy knee high socks when its really cold. My DD sleeps in her dressing gown because her bedroom has 3 outside walls!

lostinrates

rosieben wrote: »

you'll find loads of good ideas for winter-proofing the house on the Preparing for winter thread

Thank you. I was going to add this in there, and I'm fine with it being merged there but I know I'd lose it if I started it there.:o

lostinrates

Beki wrote: »

could you have a root round the charity shops for proper oldfashioned type blankets?

We love blankets. I also use a top sheet and I sandwich them, because I find blankets all on the top really heavy and seem to squash the air out of the duvets a bit!

I love scratchy blankets:o

I'd draught-proof the windows and hang heavy curtains as a priority

lol, the windows are the least of the problems, we have a crack in the wall my hand literally fits in, though not in the bedroom thank goodness.

We have loft insulation being laid in Oct/Nov. (can't do it earlier as we have bats living in the loft who are protected:D).

Cutains...well.. we have some, but the cutain rails aren't up to the proper heavy interlined curtains we have and can't afford new curatin poles for all the rooms in one hit...sigh! Windows in the bedroom are probably the bed, not draughty but they do swell a bit. The worst window (the fan light) is being refurbished soon, and I was going to prioritise a curtain poles and curtains for there, but now I think it would be better to concentrate on rooms we spend more time in.:o

I personally do not like to keep the heating on at night unless it is minus 5 and then it will only be on the frost setting

I'm quite hardcore about not using heating normally. But not having a choice makes it seem far more scary as the winter approaches and the summer has been so cold! We had quite a while at minus teens here last winter.

Also what are you wearing in bed. Primark do proper pajamas in cotton or fleece, and I also wear big fluffy knee high socks when its really cold.

thermal underwear usually. And yes socks. I have to go out v.early in the mornings and at about 1o;30/11 at night to check on animals. What I do in the extreme weather (the sort that brings the country to a standstill and I don't have to see people who can smell me!) is put clean thermals oin in the evening, then a nighty, sleep in the thermals, stick out door cloths on over the top of the thermals in the morning, then keep the underlayer on all day, changing into clean stuff at night.

when freezing I put fleece layer on bottom sheet and under top sheet, so in a fleece sandwich layer.

artichoke

hi

we also only have a woodburner downstairs and no heating in the bedrooms and our bedroom is in the attic ....what we do is have a blanket on the mattress and then a mattress protector that is quite fleecy (DS sometimes wets the bed when he comes up for a cuddle) and a flannelette sheet - and then a Super King Duvet which is about 14 tog i think - and then a patchwork, quilted eiderdown type thing that goes over the top..... we are toasty in bed but have to run upstairs quickly..

I have always lived in old houses with woodburners rather than central heating and i find it really stuffy when i stay in a hotel or a friends with central heating in the bedrooms...

We live in the Peaks so it gets really cold - we had minus 18 last year quite a few times...and we both have thermal leggings and tops that we wear if needed in bed - plus the kids have thermal leggins and tops that they wear as PJ's when it is really cold.

Aghgh - i am ready for winter yet - i need to chop a load more wood - but don't want to start thinking about it until after our holiday next week. Not sure when i will turn the oven back on but that is the start of thinking about winter for me...

art

rosieben

lostinrates wrote: »

... lol, the windows are the least of the problems, we have a crack in the wall my hand literally fits in, though not in the bedroom thank goodness. ...

I'd be filling those with some bubble wrap or something and covering them with wallpaper or duck tape. When I lived in an old cottage I had big gaps up along the corners of the chimney breast in my bedroom (fire wasn't used); I taped them all over with duck tape and painted them when I painted the walls, it didn't show at all but probably would show in the middle of a wall; it certainly stopped the draughts.

lostinrates

artichoke wrote: »

hi

Not sure when i will turn the oven back on but that is the start of thinking about winter for me...

art

Yep, after the early heatwave its been a bit grim recently and maybe it will be a long wet autumn. After too relatively dry years maybe that's fair enough. IU just hate mud, so I hope not!


I HATE this woodburner. I'm used to open fires, and have had a woodburner before, but this one is a: a bit dodgily fitted and b: just plain cranky and c: up at one end of a sprawling house....not in a kitchen where at least you can be getting on with work if you are warm enough.

I can't keep it going very well overnight, despite closing all the vents, and its in an inglenook...where most of the heat stays. sigh. I want to love it but I don't. Its actu7ally going to be moved when we repair that chimney breast, it might go in the outside workshop such is my distain for it!

lostinrates

rosieben wrote: »

I'd be filling those with some bubble wrap or something and covering them with wallpaper or duck tape. When I lived in an old cottage I had big gaps up along the corners of the chimney breast in my bedroom (fire wasn't used); I taped them all over with duck tape and painted them when I painted the walls, it didn't show at all but probably would show in the middle of a wall; it certainly stopped the draughts.

That is an excellent idea! We were hoping to have the worst wall repaired over this summer, but planning has suffered endless delays and now, though its likely it will go through (we have not had a lsingle complaint and a lot of local support for our plans for the place, which are basically restoring) its just dragged on and on and on. Now, any work we start would be silly as we understand that its just not right to use lime mortar if there is any risk of frost. So another winter with the cracks. I shall get bubble wrapping and duct taping them next week, its a SUPERB idea.

rachbc

Last ear I saw fleece sheets in tk maxx - i am generally a fan of wool/ cotton over synthetics but they could add some warmth - maybe cheap duvet, elec blanket then fleece sheet under, you then fleece sheet, 2 duvets then cellular blanket/ another fleece so its not too heavy. What about night cap - for your head - not the boozy kind!

I have just turned my heating one as its freezing here and ll the car seats are piled in front of the fireplace!! Time to go buy some slippers!!

abwsco

Have you thought about a wool duvet at all? We got one in May last year as we needed a new duvet and I found out that wool regulates your body temperature. DH gets really hot in bed (can be like having a radiator in bed with you) and I'm heading towards the age for night sweats.

We have a memory foam mattress topper, normal cotton sheets and just the wool duvet with a cotton duvet cover on although when it was really, really cold we did have a bedspread across the bottom half of the bed. Had no heating on in the bedroom and apart from when it was exceedingly cold and windy also had our bedroom window open.

This combo kept us warm in bed in winter and we've also been cool in the summer.

We bought our duvet from Dawsons who seem to have them permanently on offer and they also do extra discounts regularly.

HTH:)

CH27

I use hot water bottles to warm beds.