Christmas gifts | Sheet stores can be a trap – This is how you choose bedding that will last for years

Sheets are a kind of luxury sign. The market is full of more expensive and trendier sheets, which are promised to guarantee a soft and pleasant night's sleep.

At Christmas time, the trade is hotand the sheets revealed from the soft packages are thought to be a practical and durable gift.

You should still be careful when shopping for sheets, experts say.

To Tampere lecturer in textile and materials technology at the University of Applied Sciences Marja Rissanen you would choose sheets for the gift box that the gift recipient likes: the color and material of the sheets should be pleasing, because the bedding will be used for several years.

Next, Rissanen considered the quality criteria for sheets.

“100% cotton holds up well. For a person for whom ethics is important, I would still choose organic cotton and Fair Trade cotton.”

Responsibility influencer, textile maintenance professional Outi Pyy urges you to think about the purchase of sheets in terms of four points. First of all, sheets must be comfortable to use. Second, they should last for years.

Thirdly, their maintenance must withstand a washing temperature of at least 60 degrees. Fourthly, we should consider issues of responsibility, such as environmental impacts and human rights.

“Cotton and linen are by far the best sheet materials. Even if there are human rights risks associated with cotton production, at least they will last for ten years.”

According to Pyy, linen is a more valuable material than cotton, but definitely the most durable of all options. It is also grown in large quantities in Europe, where production can be monitored.

bedding according to experts, should be able to withstand washing at least 60 degrees. This is because a person sweats while sleeping, and sweat, sebum and other dirt remain on the sheets.

“No matter how you wash your face in the evening, sebum and skin cells come off. You have to get the grease off the sheet, and that grease won't be cleaned in under sixty. If the bedding can't withstand the heat, it's not worth buying,” says Pyy.

Because of this, Rissanen and Pyy would leave the silk sheets in the store, even though they are listed as one of the hit Christmas gifts.

“Silk is a really luxurious material. But it can't withstand washing in a washing machine at 60 degrees,” says Rissanen

There are several schools between changing sheets. For example Martta's instructions is to change the sheets about every couple of weeks. The pillowcase is often instructed to change about every week.

Therefore, sheets that have been in use for years are spun in the washing machine countless times. In this case, it is important that the material is sufficiently durable.

Silk sheets sometimes also sold in a misleading way, especially in foreign online stores. The English word silk does not necessarily mean silk as a fiber, but only a material that feels like silk, probably polyester or viscose. They pop up quickly, points out Pyy.

“A sheet set easily costs more than a hundred. Such textiles are not purchased every two years. It's a waste of fiber and economically unsustainable.”

When shopping for sheets online, Pyy would also find out in which country the product was assembled and in which country the materials were produced. Textiles should also have the Oeko-Tex label, which states that the product does not contain chemicals harmful to health.

On the market there are sheets that are advertised with various health claims. Advertisements feature pillowcases, which are promised to help with skin problems and soften hair, among other things. In addition to this, many sellers may tell you that the sheet is ecological and ethical.

Those who are shopping for gifts should be critical of such claims.

According to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV), consumers must not be misled by using it exaggerated or false environmental claims. The same can be used in marketing only factual statements that are accurate.

“For example, an ecological bamboo blanket is really green washing. Bamboo is often a viscose fiber made from bamboo cellulose, which behaves exactly the same as viscose,” says Rissanen.

“Bamboo viscose is a really non-ecological material. Although bamboo as a plant does not use much water to grow, turning the plant into cellulose pulp and from it into yarn requires a long chemical process. This usually happens in China,” says Pyy.

According to experts, the consumer should also care about the usage characteristics of the bamboo material.

“The abrasion resistance of modified fibers is poor and the wet strength is non-existent. If you take a sheet from the washing machine with a majority of modified fibers, such as bamboo viscose, it should not be straightened, it will tear,” says Pyy.

According to him, synthetic fibers are best suited for clothes, not sheets.

With Rissa is a direct opinion on sheets marketed with health claims.

“They are absolutely ridiculous. For example, bamboo is advertised as being somehow particularly soft against the skin. It's true, but all viscose sheets are soft.”

Pyy is also critical of bed sheet sellers who suggest health claims.

“No fiber is automatically good for the skin. No health claims can be made for fiber.”

Correction 16.12. at 10:21 p.m.: The Oeko-Tex label was previously mistakenly in the form Ökö-Tex in the article.