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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To thing that making a bed is the most pointless exercise?

130 replies

PyongyangKipperbang · 03/04/2023 01:17

You wake, you throw back the covers and they stay there. That airs the bed.

12 to 18 hours later you get back in said bed, and pull the covers over. Job done.

Why the need to "make the bed"? My mother would occasionally be running for the bus because she had to make the beds before she left the house. Making the beds first thing in the morning was considered, and still is it seems, to be a standard. Why?!

As an adult who uses a bed to sleep in and bed room as ....well a room for a bed why would I waste precious sleep time to get up ten minutes early to make sure that the pillows are straight?

OP posts:
GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 03/04/2023 12:27

I love a made bed. I too pull the duvet back for an hour or so and then make it a bit later. It takes me 2 mins. I also have 2 extra cushions and a colour coordinated throw thing. I’m a person who likes neat and tidy though. We’re all different and I don’t give much thought to anyone who does things differently.

atthebottomofthehill · 03/04/2023 13:56

Those throws and extra cushions are the bane of my life 😂 I can't bear it when we stay somewhere and I just have to what - throw them all on the floor? Nightmare

TheNoodlesIncident · 03/04/2023 14:30

magicthree · 03/04/2023 09:09

I have two cushions that I use for reading in bed, once I'm done with that I pitch them on the floor for the night.

I might not make my bed, but throwing cushions, or indeed anything, on the floor is something I would never do.

Why? What's the issue with that? They're not being chucked across the room, just dropped down the side of the bed. I don't currently have a chair or something that I could put them on overnight (or I would do that), so what's wrong with putting them on the floor?

PinkSyCo · 03/04/2023 14:36

pd339 · 03/04/2023 08:25

Did you read the other thread from a few days ago about a woman moaning about her "unhygenic" husband who didn't make the bed. It was a classic :)

Do you have a link?

PinkSyCo · 03/04/2023 14:43

borntobequiet · 03/04/2023 08:32

The people I know who don’t bother to make their beds tend to be careless, thoughtless and disorganised in much else they do.

Even those of us who have thought of a good reason not to make our beds? Do we all get judged the same by you anal, pearl clutchers laying in your sweaty, dust mite infested but crease free beds?

borntobequiet · 03/04/2023 14:43

SoupDragon · 03/04/2023 09:20

the people I know who make their beds tend to be uptight and controlling in much else they do...

not true of course. I have no idea whether people make their beds or not. How big a sample size are we talking about here? Surely you don't know the bed habits of very many people? 😂

Show quote history

Of course I don’t. It was a remark about people I know. Why imply I was generalising, when I wasn’t?

borntobequiet · 03/04/2023 14:44

PinkSyCo · 03/04/2023 14:43

Even those of us who have thought of a good reason not to make our beds? Do we all get judged the same by you anal, pearl clutchers laying in your sweaty, dust mite infested but crease free beds?

Show quote history

Somewhat hyperbolic. Why?

OldTinHat · 03/04/2023 14:46

Agree! I open the window, pull the duvet right back to the end, tadaaa, aired and fresh when you climb back in and pull the cover back over.

Whats an iron, btw?!

SoupDragon · 03/04/2023 15:46

borntobequiet · 03/04/2023 14:43

Of course I don’t. It was a remark about people I know. Why imply I was generalising, when I wasn’t?

Show quote history

Because that's really what your comment implied.

magicthree · 03/04/2023 20:28

A room with a made up bed looks tidier and it's better for your mental health to come back into a room that looks inviting.

Says who? I haven't made my bed since I was in my late teens, and have very robust mental health, thank you. Why should a room with an unmade bed not look inviting? Honestly, people talk such rot sometimes.

magicthree · 03/04/2023 20:31

TheNoodlesIncident · 03/04/2023 14:30

Why? What's the issue with that? They're not being chucked across the room, just dropped down the side of the bed. I don't currently have a chair or something that I could put them on overnight (or I would do that), so what's wrong with putting them on the floor?

Show quote history

I don't suppose there is anything "wrong" with it, it's just that I don't consider the floor to be a place for anything other than carpet and rugs. Never have done, even as an untidy teen.

Ichosetheredpill · 03/04/2023 21:01

We do both. Air the bed during the day while we’re out then one of us nips up in the evening to make up the beds before we go up so it’s nice to get into. Couldn’t get into an unmade bed, getting between nice sheets is one of my favourite bits of the day.

Bouledeneige · 04/04/2023 14:49

Why draw the curtains? You're only going to close them again?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 04/04/2023 15:16

Why draw the curtains? You're only going to close them again?

That reminds me of a thread from a while ago, where OP and DH left for work whilst it was dark, returned after it had got dark again and so didn't open their curtains. A neighbour berated them for it, as she was insisting that it was 'the done thing' - although they strongly suspected it was so she could have a good old nosey in their house!

Furries · 05/04/2023 01:32

Bouledeneige · 04/04/2023 14:49

Why draw the curtains? You're only going to close them again?

My easy solution is that they stay where they are - they frame the window. Haven’t pulled curtains closed for donkeys years - I hate closed curtains. Am aware that this isn’t typical.

PinkSyCo · 05/04/2023 05:31

Bouledeneige · 04/04/2023 14:49

Why draw the curtains? You're only going to close them again?

To let light and air in perhaps?

Tg2023 · 05/04/2023 05:52

It's actually more hygienic not to make your bed.
Unmade beds give the sheets time to breathe and results in fewer dust/bed mites.

Ginmonkeyagain · 05/04/2023 07:21

You open curtains to let in light and air, obviously.

A house with constantly shut curtains in the winter is likely to be pretty stuffy and damp.

How do some people not know about airing stuff?

Our flats were built in the 1930s and the leases have a detailed section on the importance of airing rooms and beds daily. 😂

Boulezvous · 05/04/2023 08:31

PinkSyCo · 05/04/2023 05:31

To let light and air in perhaps?

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I think Boule was joking….

Boulezvous · 05/04/2023 08:33

Bouledeneige was joking obviously.

ScoopT · 05/04/2023 08:40

There's many a thing I do that would make mumsnetters think I live in a hovel (loobrush anyone?) but I absolutely hate the bed not being made, I just think it's a bit grim

Chocolatesandroses · 05/04/2023 09:24

for me personally I would never be late because I made a bed I would leave it until I came home . Like yesterday took the kids out early didn’t get chance to make in the morning so when I came home I made it . I don’t feel right unless I made the bed and I feel weird getting in to a bed I didn’t make . I admit I probably am a bit ocd

PinkSyCo · 05/04/2023 09:44

Boulezvous · 05/04/2023 08:33

Bouledeneige was joking obviously.

So you weren’t trying to compare it to the pointless exercise of making the bed?

Bouledeneige · 05/04/2023 15:51

I think making a bed is a good start to the day psychologically and that it's much nicer to walk into a tidy bedroom than one that looks unmade. And I'd draw a parallel to opening the curtains and starting each day fresh and optimistic.

SunhatsAndFlipFlops · 05/04/2023 15:59

A bed takes about 30 seconds to straighten up, it’s hardly a chore.

I think it makes the whole room look cleaner & nicer to look at when the bed has been made. It doesn’t matter if the only people who see it are in our household. It sets a good example for our children too. Plus it feels more cosy getting into it at night.