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Disabilities: Changing bed sheets over multiple days
I recently had an idea I wish I'd thought of a few years ago, but if you have severe difficulty* changing bed sheets, you can actually break the job up over a few days. This is what I've started doing, divided up to have roughly equal energy demands:
Day 1: Change duvet cover
Day 2: Change pillow cases and bed sheet
Day 3: Rest, if needed
Day 4: Wash removed bedding in washing machine
- if you have orthostatic intolerance, ME/CFS or long covid you might relate to this. It also helps mentally breaking down the tasks like this during periods of intense brain fog.
Solid advice! And it actually mirrors my own oft repeated advice and lived experience as well. I've reposted this old comment of mine a few times here on Tildes, but I think it applies here as well:
I really enjoyed that movie when it came out. And yes, that's a good approach has the benefit of helping to get started when there's resistance. I think humour can also a really important tool in tough times.
What About Bob? actually still holds up surprisingly well, IMO. I rewatch it every few years. And if you haven't seen it since it came out I would recommend giving it a rewatch too. It's great! :)
We all had to prepare a monologue for the drama society one time, so I chose the scene where he first goes to Dr. Marvin's office. I removed Dr. Marvin's lines and instead tweaked Bob's lines to make it clear what he was just asked. It went down really well!
Nice! I never thought about it before, but there are several great scenes in the movie that would translate incredibly well to the stage. Actually, the whole movie could with a bit of tweaking, TBH. :P
Do you use a top sheet? I am guessing you are from Europe, or somewhere else that does not use a top sheet, based on your steps. In the US, we typically use a top and bottom sheet, so the only parts that need to be changed regularly is two sheets and pillow cases. The duvet cover can then be changed much less often. It might be worth trying out that setup, because changing a duvet cover is an absolute pain.
I've gotta be honest with you, I don't even fully grasp what a duvet cover even is. I keep hearing people online talk about duvet covers, and it seems like the term has become really popular in the last 5 years, which is probably the first time I've heard it in my life. I've googled this periodically and just ended up more confused.
Growing up, we had just... Blankets. Sometimes we called them comforters if they were extra thick, and sometimes we called them quilts if they were.. quilted. You'd either just have the blanket, or a top sheet, and then a blanket on top of that.
What's a duvet though? Is that a fancier word for a blanket/comforter? If so, what is a duvet cover? A blanket that covers your blanket? Why would you need this?
I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything like that in my life, but people talk about them online as if it's very common. Is it because I'm American and it's a non American thing?
A duvet is a comforter. A duvet cover goes over the comforter, like a pillowcase for a pillow. It’s like underwear for your duvet. Washing and drying a whole ass duvet can be quite an ordeal, and if it’s stuffed in some way it may permanently damage the stuffing.
The cover gets the brunt of your body oil and dead skin and misc dirt and so forth. Washing the cover is easy, since it’s a fairly thin piece of cloth. As long as you don’t spill wine on it or something usually just washing the cover will suffice for standard maintenance.
Thanks for this. So, I just searched Amazon for a duvet cover and I get a listing called "Bedsure White Duvet Cover Queen Size - 3 Pieces Prewashed Cotton-Like Extra Soft Bedding Set, Includes 1 Duvet Cover 90x90 Inches with Zipper Closure & 2 Pillow Shams, Comforter Not Included".
Hilarious that they say "Comforter Not Included". Why call it a duvet when referencing the cover and a comforter when it's by itself?
Why not a "Comforter Cover" or "Comforter Protector" or "Comforter Sleeve"?
I think the term Duvet is British. I've never heard it outside of there. And in Ireland, we didn't have them growing up. I only switched to them due to allergies. I'm guessing they're called comforters in the US. Here's a Wikipedia page that describes it well and actually shows what it looks like under the heading "Description" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duvet
In the US we don't use covers on comforters but can buy duvets and duvet covers if people prefer. Or I mostly use a thick blanket instead.
I think the language may be a regional thing. I grew up in the Midwest using comforters, now I’m on the west coast and everyone calls them duvets, both the kind made for covers and the kind that aren’t.
Oh well, TIL! Interesting!
So it's like a shell that the duvet sits in? Or it just sits on top of the duvet?
I think that's the function I always used the top sheet for. I don't wash the comforter usually (maybe like once a year, but I have to take it to a dry cleaner that has giant professional washing machines). Am I right to assume that using a top sheet + a duvet cover would be redundant?
I believe the covers were probably created for down (the warm inner feathers of usually geese) comforters. They’re not straightforward to clean, you end up losing feathers and the stuffing moves if the inner construction of the duvet doesn’t hold them in place well enough.
Down comforters/duvets are pretty amazing. They weigh next to nothing and are so very warm without making you feel overheated if the weather changes.
A shell. Some people use both, but I’d imagine that would be in colder areas.
I'm in the opposite boat. I always marvel at American beds with its many useless layers, because I grew up with beds like this:
ooo is a duvet. A duvet is, if you imagine taking two American sheets and making an enclosed pocket, stuffing it full of goose down or cotton, then permanently closing it. It's a fluffy comforter that let's some air exchange like a crochet blanket, but not itchy and fully of holes your toes can get stuck in.
The solid lines are another pocket of flat sheets that form a large zippered pouch. You unzip, insert duvet, and zip. So now you just have one big fluffy comforter.
No sheets. Just human.
Then fitted bedsheets (===) over a mattress (###)
So much easier to climb into a bed this way, with only one possible thing to lift and slid into.
I'm in the same boat as you and have always concluded that duvet covers are comforters.
The duvet is a comforter.
A duvet cover is something most of us don't use in the US. It is like a pillowcase but it frequently has buttons or snaps and the comforter goes inside the cover.
IMO a comforter and a duvet are different, in that a duvet requires a cover, whereas a comforter has the cover sewn into it.
A duvet without a cover would be like a pillow without a pillowcase. Sure, you could sleep on it, but’s it’s got a plain design and isn’t built for it.
Whereas a comforter usually has some sort of design to it, and is meant to be standalone. And usually has a “thicker” material.
The top sheet varies a lot in the US, it comes with the sets but many of my millennial peers and I, at least, mostly avoid it. I break it out only when it's particularly warm or my skin says everything else feels bad. (My fuzzy blanket works sensory-wise for me similarly to a weighted blanket)
Interesting, I didn't know that habit hopped the pond. I don't know if it's a CAN/US difference (I'm Canadian), or just that variation you mentioned, but I feel weird not using a topsheet with my duvet, in part because it's way easier to strip and wash, cheaper to replace, and gives me an extra layer to adjust my temperature overnight (sheet only, half sheet/half duvet, all).
It feels like a habit I got into in high school and carried over into college and adulthood. I'm not sure that it came from anywhere, just I think a change in norms as we get less formal in general maybe?
That's a great suggestion, thank you! You're right, I'm in Europe and don't usually use a top sheet these days (although we grew up with them here in Ireland). I'll need a way to "clip" the top sheet to the duvet, which shouldn't be too difficult. I have a weighted blanket too and the whole stack does slide around fairly regularly, like a hastily assembled hamburger :) I'll definitely do that, thank you so much!
Weighted blankets are so good but fall off the bed at the slightest bit of gravity and it's upsetting.
I do find them tedious that way, despite the benefits. I can't sleep without them. It would be ideal to attach them lightly to the bed frame in a way that only allows them limited movement.
Yeah I'm not sure how to accomplish it without trapping me. So I pivoted and have a heavy but more tactile fuzzy blanket
I kinda do dishes this way.
Ive got a dishwasher, so loading the dishwasher with whats on the sink is a task.
Then hand washing anything that cant be heated in the dishwasher
And then any large pots and pans is its own task, maybe one at a time.
I am humbled to read the comments.
It reminds me of James Clear’s Atomic Habits.
How often do people change their sheets? I always heard you do it once a month maybe, I don't see any need to do it every few days, that's wild
If you have allergies, once per week. For everyone else, once every two weeks. At least, that's what I hear most often: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/house-and-home/household-advice/a28407426/how-often-wash-sheets-care/
I'm currently washing them once per month in practise, but I'm aiming to do it once every two weeks minimum. Growing up, we didn't changed them even nearly that often.
I have always heard once a week is ideal. I aim for 2-4 weeks.
Whenever I start feeling a bit gross from sleeping on old sheets, which is generally about once a week or a bit less.