A comfortable sleeping environment and the correct mattress are essential for a good night’s rest. But the quality of your sleep can also be strongly affected by your bedding.
What Is Bedding?
The blankets, pillows, bed sheets, and other quality bedding that individuals use to cover and safeguard their mattresses are referred to as bedding. Mattress coverings, fitted sheets, flat sheets, pillowcases, comforters, shams, quilts, and bed skirts are among the several types of bedding. Bedding sets, such as comforter sets (which include a comforter, sham, bed skirt, and toss pillows) or sheet sets (which include a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases), are also available for purchase as individual bed covers. Bedding is essential because it keeps you warm, affects how well you sleep, shields your mattress, and helps you maintain excellent cleanliness.
11 Types of Bedding
Many people use different types of bedding for both functional and aesthetic reasons. Typical varieties of quality bedding include:
- Bed skirt: A bed skirt is a piece of cloth that extends to the floor from the bottom of the bed frame and conceals box springs or storage in an elegant way.
- Bedspread: The top layer of the overall bedding arrangement, a stylish bed cover. People who wish to shield their bedding from contaminants like dust or odors might benefit from bedspreads.
- Blanket: Often used as a bed covering, a blanket is a lengthy piece of softly woven cloth. Blankets come in a variety of fabric kinds, such as wool, satin, polyester, microfiber (a polyester and nylon combination), and other synthetic fabrics.
- Comforter: For added warmth, use a comforter—a little thicker, padded blanket—on top of the other bedding. These kinds of bedding come in a variety of options. Although many people like down comforters, there are alternatives available, such as rayon or polyester.
- Coverlet: A coverlet is an attractive woven pattern bed covering. It normally hangs only low enough to cover the bed’s bottom rather than covering the complete surface.
- Duvet: A duvet is a comforter that is heavier. It is a soft fabric bag that is either stuffed with synthetic material or down feathers. The majority of consumers purchase duvet covers for aesthetic or protective reasons.
- Fitted sheets: A fitted sheet, also known as a bottom sheet, is a kind of bedding that encircles the mattress (or mattress covering) tightly. For mattresses with a wider width, deep pocket variants are available.
- Flat sheets: Also referred to as top sheets, flat sheets are fitted sheets with the top end left open. In warmer times, this lightweight sheet can be used as a light blanket.
- Mattress cover: The mattress is shielded from bed bugs, spills, dust mites, mold, and even temperature fluctuations with a mattress cover. For people who suffer from allergies, choosing a hypoallergenic mattress cover is ideal as it may help shield against allergens. Mattress covers aid in keeping perspiration and extra body waste on your mattress.
- Quilts: A quilt is a blanket with quilting that rests more flush on the bed than a comforter and is flatter. Although they are typically not as warm as their fluffier comforter siblings, quilts can be used as blankets.
- Pillows: Sleeping pillows and toss pillows are the two primary categories of pillows. The pillows you use to sleep at night are called sleeping pillows, and they are typically hidden by a colorful pillowcase or covered with a pillowcase for protection. To draw attention to certain areas of space, throw pillows are ornamental pillows that come in a variety of colors and designs.
The Impact of Bedding on Sleep
A restful night’s sleep can be increased with the correct bedding, while improper bedding might have the opposite effect. Following are a few ways that bedding affects sleep:
- It could cause skin irritation. Too-rough or abrasive synthetic bedsheets can aggravate pre-existing skin disorders or irritate your skin, making it difficult for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.
- Heat may be trapped in excess. Some people have a tendency to overheat when they sleep at night, which causes them to perspire excessively and get dehydrated. Overheating throughout the night might cause you to drink extra fluids to cool down or toss and turn in an attempt to find comfort, which can lead to repeated trips to the toilet.
4 Tips For Choosing Your Quality Bedding
Quality Bedding has a major effect on how well you sleep, so when it comes to setting up your bed, try to choose the highest-quality choice within your budget. Purchasing bedding can be influenced by a variety of circumstances, including:
- Comfort: The texture and composition of the fabric used to construct bedding may have a big impact on how cozy it is. The term “thread counts” describes the quantity of woven threads, which can range from 100 to 1,000, in one square inch of cloth. A sheet will usually feel softer the greater the thread count. Because of the looser weave, the numerals in the lower range could feel rougher. High thread count sheets, however, are typically more costly and don’t always indicate superior quality because some manufacturers exaggerate the number in order to charge more for the product. For the greatest outcomes, experts often advise choosing bedding with a thread count between 200 and 400.
- Breathability: Consider your ideal sleeping temperature while buying new bedding. If you tend to overheat at night, consider investing in more breathable clothing. On the other hand, if you tend to become cold easily at night, you may wish to wear at least one synthetic layer that helps retain body heat.
- Hypoallergenic: Bedding with antibacterial qualities may help those who suffer from allergies. You can sleep better at night by selecting materials that are naturally resistant to mold and dust mites.
- Quality: While it could be easy to buy a cheap, eye-catching sheet set, investing in new bedding can improve the quality of your sleep and, over time, improve your health by providing a better environment in which to sleep.