7 Beds and Bedding Tips & Hints
We spend about a third of our lives in bed, so it’s worth investing in a good-quality mattress and keeping blankets, pillows and other bedding clean and aired. A good night’s sleep gives the body an opportunity to rejuvenate. It gives muscles and soft tissue time to recover and repair, and the mind a chance to process memories. Poor bedding can disturb sleep, adversely affecting health, mood and quality of life. Discover 7 bedding hacks for amazing sleep.
1. Air and shake out your bedding regularly.
This distributes the filling evenly and combats dust mites and other pests that like warm, dark places.
2. Hang quilts, blankets and pillows outside on a clothesline on a dry day.
However, don’t hang out anything with a feather filling in intense sunlight, as this can make it brittle and porous.
3. Wash bedding in a washing machine only if the drum is big enough to handle it. If not, have it cleaned commercially.
4. Use a gentle detergent or hair shampoo to wash feather or down pillows then put them in the dryer at a low temperature along with a clean tennis ball, which prevents the filling from clumping. Do not vacuum down or feather quilts, or you risk thinning out the filling.
5. If you suffer from allergies, wash your bedding frequently and use pillows, quilts and blankets made from synthetic materials or rayon and with synthetic filling, not feathers. These are easier to wash and dry to get rid of mites.
6. Invest in good mattress
Good mattresses come in many varieties. They may have a core of synthetic material, such as foam, latex or interior springs, or the core may be made from natural materials such as coconut, horsehair, straw or seaweed. The covering usually consists of linen, cotton or raw silk. Mattresses with a natural core should be refurbished after about five years, as they wear out more quickly than latex or spring mattresses. If you’re plagued by allergies, opt for a dust-free, antibacterial mattress of foam or latex.
7. Prevent lumps from forming by turning a mattress every 3 months and flipping it twice a year. However, a memory foam mattress should never be turned.