Advice on warmer bed sheets.

Korkyb

I'm with the electric blanket gang. (although its only on for 30 mins before getting into bed then switched off).


I'm a nurse & work far too many twilight & night shifts so have my blanket hooked up to a smart plug.

This means as I get in the car to head home after a shift I can fire the leccie blanket up through an app on my phone.

Nothing better than getting into a warm bed at 2 am after a crappy long shift.  

-taff

My electric blanket is one of the best purchases I've ever made. It wasn't cheap when I bought it, but they seem to be stable in price for the bells and whistles, dual control, head and foot separate. If you switch to flanelette/brushed cotton duvet and bottom sheet, that will also make the experience better even without an electric blanket, and add in a mattress topper for extra warmth.

Your bed is not going to warm up just because it's in a warm room by folding the covers back.

Emmia

theoretica said:

I love my hot water bottle.

It won't just be the sheets, what sort of mattress do you have?  Especially if you have a sprung one rather than foam you might find an insulating layer between mattress and sheet worthwhile.

I found a thin quilted mattress protector (not a thick memory foam type) under the sheet made a huge difference to the heat retention (or rather reducing heat loss) of my sprung mattress. They're also easy to wash.

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-natural-cotton-quilted-mattress-protector/p1743106?s_share=jlappdroid

Sandtree

jeff_chandler said:

It isn't a pleasant experience getting into a cold bed, I do have Osteoarthritis (hip and knee) and this cold isn't doing me any good. 

Just remember the difference between sensation and reality... a brushed cotton sheet, or linen, will feel warmer than a high threadcount cotton sheet but it isnt magically creating its own heat. 

If you think the cold isnt doing you any good then you need to get something to physically warm the bed before you get in it... an electric blanket is the most obvious option and gives the best coverage.

Personally a big fan of linen bed linen as its not cold in winter and yet is cooling in summer, plus I get hot in the night and linen is better at wicking moisture away. The only challenge is finding it and that isnt helped by the fact we talk of "bed linen" no matter the material. 

NibblyPig

Electric blanket is what you need, for sure. It's an absolute game changer. You can get them in asda etc for around £20.
You put it underneath your bedsheet and it plugs in and has some different settings. If you buy a timer plug and put it on the highest setting (mine goes from 1-3) you can set it to come on before you get into bed, and your bed will be LOVELY and toasty. Then you can either turn it off or you can put it on setting 1.

Some people might think well if your bed is cold, just add more duvets. The problem is firstly when the temperature is super cold if your house is poorly insulated like mine was then you need a LOT, like I had 2 feather duvets and another blanket on top on the coldest days. The biggest problem however is that with lots of duvets bundled up you sweat a lot, there is nowhere for it to go so you wake up in a puddle because there's no airflow you've trapped it under the duvet.

This is all fixed by an electric blanket, on the lowest setting you can barely feel it's on but it takes the edge off. They use almost no power at all and are washable, I've had mine for literally 5 years using it every winter and it still works great.

There's absolutely no going back for me now, and I absolutely love getting into a toasty warm bed. Just don't fall asleep with setting 2 or 3 because you will wake up 4 hours later soaked in sweat!

neilmcl

I agree I don't particularly enjoy the sensation of getting into a cold bed but then I won't sleep well if the bed is too warm either, in fact I find myself waking up and moving to a cooler part of the bed. TBH, it only takes about 30 secs for the bed to warm up once in it under a decent 13.5 tog duvet, which is the most I can bear this time of year, come the spring I'll be swapping it for my summer duvet.

neilmcl

Emmia said:

theoretica said:

I love my hot water bottle.

It won't just be the sheets, what sort of mattress do you have?  Especially if you have a sprung one rather than foam you might find an insulating layer between mattress and sheet worthwhile.

I found a thin quilted mattress protector (not a thick memory foam type) under the sheet made a huge difference to the heat retention (or rather reducing heat loss) of my sprung mattress. They're also easy to wash.

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-natural-cotton-quilted-mattress-protector/p1743106?s_share=jlappdroid

To be fair this isn't really about heat retention/heat loss but about the initial sensation of getting into the bed at night, at that point there isn't any heat to lose, there's no heat retained from the previous nights sleep.

clive0510

shinytop said:

Can you still get brushed nylon sheets?  The sparks will keep you warm!

Seriously, an electric blanket with a switch on an app on my phone is sheet luxury for me.  You can have it on very low so that it just takes the chill off and doesn't feel hot.

AH Nylon sheets. when we were kids, if we stayed over at our nans house, the bedding was all ways nylon. not nice if the room was warm, I seem to remember.

oh_really

None of you folks take cold showers or run on frosty mornings? 
Electric blankets, jees.

Emmia

neilmcl said:

Emmia said:

theoretica said:

I love my hot water bottle.

It won't just be the sheets, what sort of mattress do you have?  Especially if you have a sprung one rather than foam you might find an insulating layer between mattress and sheet worthwhile.

I found a thin quilted mattress protector (not a thick memory foam type) under the sheet made a huge difference to the heat retention (or rather reducing heat loss) of my sprung mattress. They're also easy to wash.

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-natural-cotton-quilted-mattress-protector/p1743106?s_share=jlappdroid

To be fair this isn't really about heat retention/heat loss but about the initial sensation of getting into the bed at night, at that point there isn't any heat to lose, there's no heat retained from the previous nights sleep.

This is more about staying warm once you're in bed - a mattress protector stops the mattress sucking heat out of you, which mine definitely did.

Electric blankets are too much for me, and whilst I don't like cold showers, I do prefer to run when it's cold and dry... and I like an unheated swimming pool.