Let Bed Be Your Cozy Winter Cocoon
One of Albert Einstein’s pithier sayings was: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
The concept can be applied to the science (and art) of winterizing your bed. What should you pile on it and in it to keep you toasty when the world is frosty?
With the increased availability of natural fiber products with keen insulating properties, extra-thick flannels, billowy down comforters that make you feel like you’re sleeping under a dollop of meringue and alternatives for people with allergies, it is now possible to build that perfect winter cocoon without spinning yourself in a web of weighty sheets and covers.
The logic of more weight/more warmth has been debunked. As few as three well-chosen layers can inspire thermal bliss.
We asked two bedding experts to give us their best ideas for creating that well-insulated but light and airy winter bed. No electric pads or electric blankets allowed.
Diane Brush, director of merchandise at New Hampshire-based Garnet Hill, a catalog for highquality, natural-fiber bedding, put together the elements for our hot and light down bed.
Allen Josephson, vice president of merchandising at Southern California-based Strouds the Linen Experts, concocted an option for people who are allergic or have an aversion to down and feathers. Strouds has seven stores in the Chicago area and specializes in moderately to upper-moderately priced linens.
An added benefit to keeping things simple: easy maintenance.
As for pillows: Depends on how much sinkage you like. Could be down-, cotton-or wool-filled - the wool-filled being the most sturdy and thick. “It is really whatever you like. I love the down because you really can get lost in it.” Cover them in a flannel case.
As for pj’s: Make them silk (if you really want to treat yourself) or cotton. “Don’t wear flannel pj’s into your flannel sheets. You can’t roll. You have to think of the total bed.”
In the morning: “Turn your bed back and let it air dry all day.” That means neatly pulling back the comforter and folding it down near the foot of the bed or a bit higher up. Smooth out the exposed fitted sheet and plump up the pillows.
Comments from Diane Brush, Garnet Hill:
Wool mattress pad - “I find it real cozy and really warm. The fleece is incredibly soft, not at all scratchy.”
English flannel bottom (fitted or flat) sheet - “There are many places in the world that make flannel, but because of the width you need for bedding, they don’t make bedding. They don’t have that size loom.” The major players in flannel bedding: Portugal, Germany and England.
Down comforter, wrapped in an English flannel comforter cover - no need for a top sheet this way. You are sandwiched between the flannel bottom sheet and the flannel duvet. Combined with the heating properties of the down itself, this is plenty warm and snug.
Comments from Allen Josephson, Strouds the Linen Experts:
Synthetic fiberbed - Cushy and insulating like a featherbed, but filled with hypoallergenic polyester fibers. No need to use a cover to encase the fiberbed, because “the polyester fibers will not migrate through (the ticking)”
Flannel fitted sheet - Over the fiberbed, over the mattress. Josephson suggests checking out the Portuguese and German flannels, as well as the English.
Flannel flat sheet.
Down-alternative polyester comforter, wrapped in a flannel comforter cover - Offers the look and similar degree of warmth and comfort as a down comforter but uses a hypoallergenic, polyester fill.