Flat sheets

[Northernlassie27]

AIBU to suggest nobody uses flat sheets anymore? In the days of blankets and candlewick bedspreads they were needed as a top layer. But nowadays? Fitted base sheet and duvet cover seems to be what every shop markets as 'normal''. Are flat sheets something to invest in now for posterity before they vanish forever?

Both of my sheets are flat plus I dislike duvets, much prefer prefer blankets.

I used a duvet until I hit peri menopause and started having night sweats. Now If I ever sleep under a duvet I wake up soaked in sweat. I hate them now!

I have a fitted sheet on the bottom and a flat sheet on top with 2 blankets on top of that. It’s enough to keep me warm on cold nights but if I do get hot I can throw off layers according to how hot I am. Now I think about it, it makes much more sense to me than one thick layer that is either on or off.

I put a flat sheet on as a mattress liner, then a fitted sheet

In summer I would use a flat sheet instead of a duvet but dp needs a duvet all year round

@Badoukas

We have them. Better fit over deep mattress plus memory foam topper. Fitted sheet pings off. Had to buy online though, getting harder to buy flat sheets in shops.

Dun Elm Mill have plenty. I bought 2 by accident last time I was in there. Argh! Didn't realise until I opened them so now can't return them.

I hate flat sheets. I always found the idea of a flat sheet and a blanket really strange when I came to the UK, what's so wrong with a comfy duvet? A flat sheet never stays where it should, you end up in a tangled mess of sheet and blanket.

As for over the mattress - so far I only have issues with fitted sheets if they are cheap quality and cut too small, if I buy decent ones they stay even with a mattress protector.

I thought flat sheets would be a pain in the arse but when I ran out of fitted sheets once and put the flat sheets on the mattress because I had no other choice, I was amazed at how beautifully smooth and flat they were and loved it - I'm one of those who hates to have any kind of wrinkle in the bottom sheet. I admit I had to go back to fitted when I moved and had a bedroom where access was difficult and I simply couldn't get into a position to make up the the mattress with a flat sheet but I plan to go back to them soon.

Now a flat sheet under the duvet cover is something completely different. I love the look of a beatifully made bed - Zara Home always goes mad for the whole flat sheets and duvets arrangement and it looks so sumptuous but in reality I find it gets all tangled up until the flat sheet is holding my legs hostage and the duvet is hanging off the bed. I don't know how people can sleep neatly enough to cope with a flat sheet and duvet on top, sleeping is far too athletic a process for me to cope with that!

I use one under the duvet so I don’t have to wash my fancy duvet covers so often.

I prefer fitted sheets on the mattress for ease but our mattress is a foot deep so fitted sheets just don't fit.
Flat sheets are more faffy to put on but I can pull them tight and get a lovely smooth, flat surface.
I've been using flat sheets since my early 20s but use fitted on my children's beds

I have a set for self catering abroad, plus useful on very hot nights in U.K. (about 5 a year)

I buy my flat sheets from asda or wilkos

Fitted sheet on mattress.
Flat sheet on top, electric over blanket on top of that then duvet.
I need flat sheet to pull up over my ears when snuggling down to sleep.
I also need it to polish my glasses with so I can read my book before sleep.
I love my bed, it's one of my favourite places in the world.

[quote Northernlassie27]@Hydrate...as base sheets or to go over you, like some hotels do (& tuck them in v tightly)?[/quote]
We use as a base sheet as we have very deep mattresses that even the deep fitted don't fit well.
My parents, in the UK, also use a flat sheet in the summer instead of a duvet.

Yabu. I use flat sheets on the mattress. We have a double bed but because the mattress is a deep one I get king size sheets. I've just bought some lovely ones, both in colour and quality, from Waitrose for £5!

@steff13

Fitted sheets go on the mattress. You lay on top of the fitted sheet and the flat sheet lays on top of you. And a sheet set contains a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, and pillow cases. Fitted and flat sheets are not interchangeable, and you buy them separately. I feel like I'm through the looking glass here! Or maybe we do things differently in the US.

I think in the US you need a flat sheet as you’re more likely to use a duvet/comforter/quilt that doesn’t have a separate cover?

We tend to buy a naked duvet which gets a cover put on that then gets taken off and washed.

I love a flat sheet, not on the mattress though. I have it between me and the duvet. Sometimes the duvet is too much but I don't like being uncovered so the sheet works great. It's also better for snuggling it up around my neck and shoulders if i get chilly, which the duvet doesn't do even though it's quite an expensive snuggly one anyway

I use flat sheets but I do have a couple of fitted that came with duvet sets. These sets are mainly brushed cotton winter sets when it is nice to snuggle up.
The flat sheets are white cotton and lovely and cool in summer. I like a cool sheet as no matter how warm it is I need some weight over me or I don’t sleep well so summer is white cotton sheets on top and bottom with a weighted blanket over.

When I was little and it was too hot, my mum just used to take all the duvets out of the covers and we'd just sleep under the cover!!

That's exactly what we do, for both us and the dc, I thought that was pretty standard! It's made me chuckle that someone else thinks this is weird, I thought it was what most people did 😂

It would never occur to me to use separate flat sheets in warm weather, the empty duvet cover does just as well!

@HopeHappy

Same as others here, yes. Hot house in the south of England and summer means our bedroom is regularly almost 30 degrees so I use a sheet instead of a duvet in summer but have a 2.5tog duvet folded at the bottom of the bed if it turns chilly.

Mind you, I get too hot in bed anyway. The Max duvet we've had on this winter is 4.5tog!

Snap!!!

We also use a flat sheet in the summer, as do our dc. Our bedrooms are south facing so can get really quite hot, even if we leave the curtains drawn. We leave the duvet in the cover so if one of us does get chilly in the early hours it can just be pulled back on.

I use fitted sheets plus flat sheet. I tend to put layers on the bed rather a heavy duvet.

We use them instead of the duvet when it's very hot.

I use a flat sheet instead of a duvet during the hottest part of the summer.
However, I HATE the feeling of a flat sheet under a duvet, it always gets tangled and horrible. Whenever I stay somewhere that has the bed made like that I take out the flat sheet because I hate it so much.

I use a flat sheet under the duvet so that if it gets too warm in the night I can throw the duvet off and still be covered. I have linen flat sheets for this, I love the slightly rough texture and they look beautiful. I really like the mix and match look of flat sheet, duvet and throw on top.

I only use flat sheets because I am rubbish at folding fitted sheets so they take up too much space in the cupboard. They are also easier to hang to dry.

I like ironed cotton sheets so always use flat sheets. Fitted ones are too small for the mattress.