To replace our bedding with 100% cotton

[cadburyegg]

We bought new bedding from ikea a couple of weeks ago and put it on this week. I don’t like the feel of it and I just looked at it says 50% cotton 50% lytocell.

I just hate it! Ugh I hate the feel of it and it’s all scratchy and hard. I really want to replace it with 100% cotton. My dh can’t understand what my problem is and thinks I’m being ridiculous and wasteful. AIBU?

Wash it and see if that makes a difference.

Btw, lyocell is made from natural fibres (like rayon), so I imagine it’s meant to be like 100% cotton, only softer.

Surely people wash bedding before putting it on their bed.

Surely people wash bedding before putting it on their bed

Nope

Return it to IKEA and get all cotton sets. They’ll take the products back easily.

Wtf of course you wash bedding before using it! It even says it on the pack. A really good wash with fabric conditioner and a nice tumble dry. Can't beat freshly washed new bedding. There's no way any normal person would take them all crunchy and creased and smelling all chemically out of a pack and then sleep on it?! Come on!

Try a good hot wash with softener and tumble dry, always makes our bedding soft and comfy
Couldn’t imagine using bedding without doing this first

@ATBhinchers

I think you underestimate just how lazy some people like me are.

yes, take them back, get 100% cotton and go for a high thread count, they last longer ( i have some 1000 thread counts that are almost 20 years old and still feel amazing) and they feel so much nicer than a mix or low count and they dont pill as mixes tend to do

What's the design, OP? I bought some that has never softened after washing and, no, I'd never wash before I used it despite the stuff in the shop being soft.

That's not laziness though. Its intentionally giving yourself a rash/bad nights sleep etc. Easier to wash it and put it on all nice then leave it on for weekend you're lazy. Put it all crunchy and new and you surely must want to change it after 1 night in that sweaty rashy bed? If not fair play to You but honestly my tiny mind is blown.

*weeks on end not weekend

Oh dear, I am one of those people who have put 'new from the shop' sheets on the bed (only because I was in a rush getting the room ready for my parents to stay, my poor parents). Just wash and tumble dry as pps have said. Don't return them, it is wasteful.

Do it. We have and the kids and DH's eczema are better, and the sheets are so lovely to get between!

@ATBHinchers I can assure you that I am perfectly normal and I do not wash bedding before putting it on the bed. I also have no idea why on earth you would think a person would get a rash from unwashed new bedding. I don't wash my clothes before I wear them the first time either.

Those of you with 100% cotton sheets though, don’t they look really crumpled all the time? I’m assuming nobody except my mum irons their sheets. So how do you keep them looking decent? I’d love 100% cotton, Frette-style sheets, but hate the totally crumpled look. They always look unwashed

You can’t beat a really high thread count cotton.

I’m amazingly rash-free from my new bedsheets. But YANBU wanting to replace with cotton. It does feel lovely.

Ironing is a pain though. I pay a local lady £4 to iron my bedding for a treat.

Unwashed fabric often has a ‘finish’ on it, almost like a starch, to keep it pretty and crisp while on a roll/in a factory/packed up in transit/in a store. Plus you don’t know how many people have handled it in that whole process from weave to shop! I am not pristine but def give it a wash.

7salmons I loathe ironing in general and ironing bedding in particular so I send them to an ironing place. They come back immaculate, certainly much better than I could ever do them. Frette are lovely.
I always buy at least 400 thread count, and put them on the bed straight from the packet. The higher the thread count, the softer and smoother they are IME. They have fold lines but so do my older sheets when they come back from the ironing place.

Lyocell feels horrible, it is made from wood pulp.

My bedding is cotton, it is sometimes a bit wrinkly and I don't iron bedding, however if you smooth and flatten it when wet and hang it to dry it isn't too bad. I don't put bedding in the dryer, it is nicer crisp.

YANBU OP, can't beat 100% cotton, I won't have anything else.

Lyocell is not a synthetic fibre, like a PP said. I understand your preference for cotton, but I’m sure your sheets will soften after a couple of washes.

I’m definitely one of those people who has to wash new sheets before using them. Ugh, hate that chemical smell and feel

Unwashed fabrics stink. They smell like dust and chemicals.

IKEA bedding has become really poor lately. Even the 100% cotton stuff is kinda rough. The Gaspa sheets they used to do are amazing though (sleeping on one now!)

The dvala bedding isn't too bad though.

That's not laziness though. Its intentionally giving yourself a rash/bad nights sleep etc.

Nah, can assure you it IS laziness

In all the decades of my being responsible for my own bedding, I've never washed new sheets before using them. No rashes and/or bad nights sleep (caused by new bedding.lol)

Never once washed brand-new bedding before using it, what a waste of time and tumble drying. As for the non-existent "chemical" smell (everything is made of chemicals), fabric softener reeks to high heaven and leaves everything with a slimy feel. To each their own, I suppose, but can't see how a synthetic stinky slime coating is going to improve OP's bedding.

(My main beef with IKEA bedding is their duvet covers are just a smidge smaller than standard duvets, so making the bed becomes even more of a trial.)