Are You Part of Team Top Sheet Or Team No Top Sheet?

business, family, happiness, health related issues, humor, lessons learned 1 Minute

It’s always fun to read (and then write about) something that is totally meaningless, yet can lead to heated debates.

And that’s what we’ve got here.

A story in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago looked at the debate between those who like having a flat top sheet as part of their bedding, and those who do not.

The debate, perhaps not surprisingly, is a generational one.

Gen X and Baby Boomers are fans of using the top sheet; millennials and Gen Z prefer not to use one.

I am a fan of using a top sheet, in fact, most nights that’s all I prefer to use. And to be even more specific, I am a fan of flannel sheets. (for anyone that’s thinking about sending me sheets for my upcoming 65th birthday).

Team Top Sheet argues that it’s more hygienic, more proper, just more correct to use one. Team No Top Sheet responds that it’s annoying around your feet, it’s extra work in the morning, and if you change your duvet cover regularly it’s just as clean. One owner of a company that sells bedding without a top sheet makes the following observation: “For a younger demographic, eliminating that step when making the bed in the morning really gives you a jump start on the day.” I could think of other ways to get a jump start on the day…

The following excerpt is a reminder that this story is from the Wall Street Journal:

“If you’re spending $3,500 on a monogrammed Leontine Linens duvet cover with all this beautiful embroidery, you certainly don’t want to send that to the laundry every week. It just won’t last.”

(who needs a $3,500 duvet? actually, I’m not quite sure what a duvet is. But unless it’s something I can drive or do an Excel spreadsheet on, I’m not spending $3,500 on it.)

So where do the numbers fall out on the two choices? One brand’s research indicates that 40% of Americans don’t sleep with a top sheet.

Yay for Team Top Sheet!

*image from New York Times

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

Published

63 thoughts on “Are You Part of Team Top Sheet Or Team No Top Sheet?”

  3. I’m top sheet,no top sheet,no sherts at all, sometimes just the mattress pad. All depends o temps and my energy level. This week is blanket as a bottom sheet,light weight fuzzy throw as a blanket.

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    1. I’m with you, and I had the same thought about what people do at hotels…

      I also wondered if there has been an increase in the number of people who bring their own sheets to a hotel, since COVID

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  6. Damn! And here I was getting you silk sheets for your birthday. As one of the world’s fussiest sleepers (just ask my wife, and she’s not wrong), I prefer a cool, dark room. I also can spend an entire night covered by one sheet. Your post reminded me of a George Costanza classic, but then everything in life reminds me of a Seinfeld episode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzda2bjj6YI

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    2. you should still have time to exchange the sheets 🙂

      I scrolled through the clip you sent me; wasn’t sure which scene you were referring to. Is it the one where his girlfriend tells him could drape himself in velvet?

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      1. Some help you are, Springer—send me an hour of crap to look through. I inadvertently sent you the wrong clip. The one I meant to send is only three minutes long. I sent that in my reply to my original comment. If there were one thing I could change about WordPress, it would be for a poster to be able to edit their comment when they realize they’ve made a mistake.

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      2. of course, I found your second clip after I had already commented on your first one. It was fun scrolling through the first clip, lots of classic material!

        and I have never understood why someone can’t delete, or at least edit one of their comments…

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  7. Top sheet. I actually love duvet covers, but too lazy to fiddle around with changing them. Also, top sheets lend themselves better to changing temperatures during the night. Too hot? take the blanket off and sleep with the top sheet only. You can’t really do that with a duvet.

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  8. I am team Top Sheet. But I am all for people having options. My only question here is that if not having a top sheet is saving you time making your bed in the morning, I would love to know what great things you are accomplishing with those extra ten seconds in your day.

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  10. I’m one of the only ones on team no top sheet. I feel too restricted with the sheet and imagine myself a mummy. I just use a duvet and often a blanket on top of that in winter, I love to be warm and cozy, just not immobilized by a top sheet. I love the soft duvet and even piles of blankets in the winter. it’s all about being in a nest.

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  11. Team Top Sheet! I am pretty confident that I can do without the few seconds it may cost me to pull it up and make it even! BUT my daughter doesn’t like top sheets. I guess we are a divided household, but I think we can manage that difference.

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  15. Being a tale-end boomer, of course I need a top sheet. Both my kids prefer a blanket only, and (something I REALLY can’t understand) they don’t tuck in the bottom of the blanket. This, however, “more proper, just more correct to use one” is a stupid argument.

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      1. I find that even in the summer I like the comforter … but that’s the nice thing about down … it seems to know what you need and provide it! You’ve heard of ‘smart phones’? Well, this is a ‘smart blanket’!

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  20. So I grew up not sleeping with a top sheet. It always confused me going to other people’s homes where top sheets were used. I can’t say I mind them… I just don’t use them. I prefer simplicity and plus, we bought a washing comforter that wasn’t too expensive so I don’t mind throwing that in the wash every couple weeks. As for when I am staying elsewhere and if there’s no air conditioning in the summer time, I do prefer to just use a top sheet because why on earth would we need anything else in the humidity (I just recently came back from staying with family who had to A/C) LOL…

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  21. I actually grew up never using a top sheet (coming across it only in hotels), so for me, it’s just those elastic mattress covers and a comforter. I have fantasised about using non-elastic covers so I can make the bed ‘hospital corners’ style, but it’s never been a priority, lol. Interesting that I too care to chime so much on this topic, lol.

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