The Great American Bed Paradox

[unixronin]

I was pondering beds and bedding, this morning and last night, as a result of getting a real bed into my apartment and having bedding dropped off for it (part of a complementary housewares package from Scottish Maids, wonderful people... yeah, I know, many of them don't look very Scottish).  And it occurred to me that there is a strange paradox in America about beds and bedding.

You see, in England, if memory serves, there were two sizes of beds:  single and double.  In the US, you have the twin, comparable to an English single, then the larger full size, then queen size, comparable to an English double; then, where English beds stop, American beds go on to king and California king sizes.

American bedding, though, is another story. Sure, it comes in the same range of different sizes, but it's barely big enough to go on the bed.  Buy flat sheets or blankets the same nominal size as your bed, and you'll have bare inches to tuck in, especially on a queen or larger bed.  I've seen queen-size blankets not long enough to even reach to the end of the bed.  If you want to have enough sheet to actually tuck in and expect the sheet not to come untucked and wrap around you the first time you roll over in your sleep, you have to buy your top sheets at least one size larger than your mattress -- which means if you want sheets for a king size bed that'll actually stay tucked in, you'll probably have to get them custom-made (and possibly even have the fabric custom-woven to get a wide enough piece of fabric).  I've never slept in an American bed with "correct size" bedding that didn't come untucked on me almost as soon as I got into it -- which can be damned drafty in cold climates, especially if you're sharing the bed with someone else who also doesn't spend the night lying as still as if paralyzed.  It's no wonder so many people complain about bed partners stealing the covers -- when there's only three inches of tuck-in allowance, you can steal the covers by accident.

(This is why I sleep in a queen size bed, and buy queen size mattress pads and fitted sheets, but king size flat (top) sheets and comforters:  that way, I have about a foot of sheet to tuck in, and the sheets stay tucked in.)

So this is the great American bed paradox -- American beds are often huge, extravagant affairs, but the bedding to go on any of them is niggardly and barely big enough to even make the bed.  What gives?  What's the story here?

Anyone want to take a whack at this one?

Comments

[bbullock.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, while I have faced this problem in the past, I do not currently suffer from it.
I have a Cal-King bed and use sheets made for it (I don't have any other choice at that size, really) and it seems to depend on the sheet. A couple of them are way long, but some are short, like you said.
Of course, a big part of the problem is my wife, who insists on dragging the end of the sheet out of the tuck so she can "tent her toes."

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

We've solved that problem.

I make the bed so that I can stick my feet out on my side of the bed without untucking the sheets from the bottom of the bed.

But now as he's gone.... I've made the bed like ~I~ like it.

That means the bottom and the sides are not tucked in at all and the bottom of the sheet is brought up and folded over the end of the comforter same as the top of the sheet is folded over the top of the comforter.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think it's a wonder we ever manage to sleep in the same bed at all. :p

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

Hey! I do ask you to come to bed with me. You just aren't ready to sleep yet so you don't follow me.

[dirtynumbangel.livejournal.com]

Odd, never had a problem up here in Canuckistan. You have a queen-sized bed? Buy queen-sized sheets and such.

You'll never guess what my answer is...

[koyote.livejournal.com]

profit!

In the eternal search for more profit percentage, the sheets from some manufacturers probably get a bit smaller over time.

Alternatively, the trend toward thicker mattresses in the past decade or so may have had an effect.

This sort of thing has always bugged me, too. I grew up with hospital (aka military) corners and flat sheets, which are much nicer than fitted sheets. But when I started buying queen and king beds, I ran into trouble.

Re: You'll never guess what my answer is...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Step 3!

Yeah, I considered the thicker mattresses. But they make mattress pads and fitted sheets that have deeper skirts to accomodate "premium" mattresses. I can't believe it never occurred to anyone that flat sheets would need to be bigger too. You can bet they'd charge a higher markup for the "premium-size" sheets than the simple percentage increase in fabric area. I'm guessing on the order of 10% extra fabric, 30% extra price.
Even on a non-premium mattress, though, king and queen sheets are already too small to tuck in adequately.

[jilara.livejournal.com]

You forgot the "Hollywood bed," which is a reduced-size twin, just enough reduced on all diminsions so that "fitted" twin sheets don't fit. On the other side of the coin, I've noticed that fitted sheets now seem to have a sloppy fit, if you don't happen to own a pillow-top or deep mattress, and you have to buy elastic straps to hold the corners in place.

The one that makes you go "huh" is that blankets are generally shorter than comforters. You can't tuck one in if you want cozy shoulders.

I think bedding manufacturers make it up as they go.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

If it comes to that, I also left off toddler/crib beds.

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

I used to sleep in a 3/4 bed. It was 3/4 the size of a double bed. It was my paternal grandparents bed.

For some reason my grandparents had odd sized beds. The maternal grandparents had an extra long double bed.