Sunday, September 19, 2010

Not So Safe Keeping

When I bought my shed I did so to have a pack rat and weather proof place to store my things. It is pack rat proof (although not spider proof) and rain proof but one thing that it is not is heat proof. I stored my extra sheets, blankets and towels in there since it didn't seem like the heat would bother them much.

Well, today I decided to find some new sheets for both beds. The sheets in the RV are threadbare and the ones in the mobile home, they get dirty too fast from the dogs and if I have a second set of sheets then I won't have to do laundry as often. I found two sets of sheets and started to put them on my bed when I heard the crackle, crackle, crackle of old elastic. Darn. That is one thing I didn't think about. The heat has sped up the aging process of the elastic in my fitted sheets. I should have known. Rubber bands don't last very long in this hot dry climate. I suppose I can do what the Europeans do and just use flat sheets tucked in.

That reminds me of a story from when I was studying in Austria in college. They gave us all 1 flat sheet and 1 sheet that was 2 sheets sewn together but open on one end. Many of us had no idea how to put these on our beds. One girl managed to get most of her mattress in to the folded sheet before someone told us that the flat sheet was to cover the mattress, tucked in, and the other sheet was actually a duvet cover for our down comforters. Ah...that made more sense...kind of. Those of us who were raised with fitted sheets below and a flat sheet above still thought is was awkward but we got used to it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

if you find flat sheets please tell where? I prefer flat sheets to the elastic which doesn't fit properly, but they are too small now.

KoBold said...

Wah, those Europeans are crazy.
:-)

Daizy said...

Anonymous, I tried searching the internet today for oversized flat sheets with no luck. Of course the easiest thing to do is buy the next size bigger but you are out of luck if you have a king size. I suppose Cal. King would help because it is a little longer. I have a queen so I can just buy king size. Martha Stewart likes to use a flat sheet on the bottom so I thought maybe her site would help but I didn't find anything there either.

Daizy said...

KoBold, not good, not bad, just different. Haha. Actually, hotels and hospitals still use flat sheets. I got lots of practice on my 'hospital corners' when I worked in a nursing home.

Anonymous said...

but all the sheets are the same length and that is where you run into the problem. Width is okay - length you can't actually tuck in.

Daizy said...

Anonymous, there are some small differences in sheet sizes by brand. I found a Califonia King flat sheet on Overstock.com that is 112"x106". If a king mattress is 76"x80" then there should be enough to tuck if you turn it? Mattresses are getting so big nowadays with their pillowtops and mattress pads, you might need those elastic clips that hold each corner.