UKH

Looking for other people's experiences with bed sheets for short term holiday lets. I've tried various suppliers of sheets for beds and so far bought exclusively polycotton, mainly because I won't iron and inherited wisdom suggested that cotton would appear too creased without an iron. However recently a random cotton fitted sheet got mixed in and I have found that it doesn't seem any more or less creased than the polycotton ones so I'm kind of re-evaluating.

polycotton sheets generally only last a few months before getting bobbled and needing to be retired (some as little as 2 months or so).

Do cotton sheets last longer? Does it depend on lot on where you buy them from? Do expensive ones last much longer than cheap ones, or is it just that the material wears out in the same time no matter what you buy?

The accommodation is glamping pods so really expensive high end stuff is out, even if it lasted for ever, sheets get stained periodically and need retired that way anyway.

In reply to henwardian:

This is quite possibly the winner of the most random question ever asked on this forum.

I can't see why a holiday let would be any different to at home other than more Sex. Mt good lady buys decent quality cotton sheets and they last years and are much nicer to sleep in that the cheap polly cotton ones I used to buy before meeting her. 

In reply to Dax H:

Nice. Do I get a medal or a certificate or something?

Thanks, good to know. One of the main differences is that home sheets get washed a lot less often and probably usually don't get tumble-dryed. In terms of terminal events (dinner, blood, other unidentifiable stuff), that definitely happens more often in a holiday let, but thankfully still not that often.

I can't really fully explain why holiday let sheets seem to age so quickly though, I've never spent any money or paid any attention to what sheets I was buying in a personal capacity in the past and they also have never worn out. That I can remember. (although the pillow case with the dolphins which I've had for 2 or 3 decades is getting a bit pale and thin now).

In reply to Dax H:

Not really. It is the sort of thing that is difficult to get unbiased objective advice upon, and it is not unlikely that a person on UKC has vast experience in the linen industry.

What is perhaps more random, is if your profile is up to date that a person who climbed about three times many years ago, is a supporter of UKC and an active poster on a climbing website, and choses to give an opinion on the subject of bed sheets, which they say they nothing about. But, it is a free world, and you seem a nice guy. 

To the OP, High Thread count, Egyptian Cotton appears to the bench mark, for wear and tactile quality for the customer.
You say Glamping pods, and if I was going to use a Glamping pod, I would expect reasonably good bedding, that would be the Glam part of the experience for me, and for car camping I use a Quecha Rectangle Cotton sleeping bag, because I do not like the feel of synthetics on may skin.
I would go and see a local top end B and B and ask what they do, as it is possible they own and wash their own sheets, whereas a big hotel possibly rents sheets and has outside contractors to do the washing.

Do you ever watch 4 in a bed, I always think it a bit formulaic, but suspect amongst the dross, there are some nuggets of information for Band B and Glamping people. Eg people seem to what the cost of Breakfast included and like to have cooked for them.

In reply to Godwin:

Well I don't know, maybe even more random is being on a climbing website, but (if your profile is up to date) never having done a climb outside but having a desire to only do one route which appears to be a mediocre pile of dross.

Just like the representivity (I claim the rights to this new word 😁) of UKC for all climbers is highly dubious, what's in one's UKC logbook may have only loose links with how, when and where you've touched rock.

As for sheets, I would like somebody to invent a fitted sheet that you could fold up neatly, but I appreciate that this might require more than 3 dimensions.

In reply to Michael Hood:

They're fine in 3 dimensions; it's when you try to reduce them to 2 that the problems start.

In reply to Michael Hood:

That is interesting, I did not even know I had a wish list, I must have clicked something. I have done that route anyway, so no idea why it would appear as a wish.

Folding sheets, is a two person, three dimension job.

In reply to henwardian:

I use polycotton and it easily lasts a season.

Many hotels though do use cotton but i suspect they must iron which like you I won't do.

At home I have a lovely 50/50 cotton /linen mix set which is supposed to look a little crumpled, but was significantly more expensive than your basic polycotton.

In reply to henwardian:

Former holiday let owner here - yes, commercially used sheets wear out much quicker because they are being laundered far more often.

More expensive sheets should mean better quality fabric - some of the really cheap sheets are transparent and the corner seams are so meanly constructed they tear and fray apart very rapidly.

Pure cotton generally creases more but feels nicer.

Washing sheets in the same load as towels will bobble the sheets very quickly (no idea if you do this).

Hotels and large accommodation providers more likely to use flat sheets as they can be fed through an industrial ironing press then folded.

In reply to Godwin:

Hmm, I'm aware of this sort of material but it would be a major investment to go to this high a standard. It costs about 6 times as much as polycotton and even if they lasted a full season I'd still be looking at a running cost of £10k a year which would just be unfeasible for the turnover of the business.

I totally agree for sleeping bags, I hate the feel of sleeping bag materials and always remember that being a pain when shopping for one when I was younger.

I don't think anyone rents sheets, a quick google suggests that even in very expensive hotels with very high quality sheets, they only last about a year or so before being recycled. Contract cleaning was something I looked into at the start but it isn't possible where I am.

I watched an episode before and tbh it made me want to pull my brain out through my ear but you are probably right that I should tack it up as a "work" activity and sit down and watch a few more

Mine are purely self-catering, so thankfully I don't have to have anything to do with preparing food.

In reply to Michael Hood:

Put two adjacent corners inside each other with your left hand. Repeat with your right hand. Now put one pair of corners inside the other. Now push the springy bit flat and fold normally

In reply to Sealwife:

Yeah, I bought just 2 or 3 sheets from amazon as an emergency stopgap back in the spring and they were exactly like this. I expected them to be crap and just a temp fix for a few weeks but the level of crapness was impressive. Even for Amazon.

The ones I normally have are all more of a reasonable material.

I guess I need to bite the bullet, buy some expensive cotton/linen ones and just see how they last.

Aha! That I did not know and it's very useful to know. I will change that and see if make much of a difference.

In reply to Siward:

Would you mind sharing links for the polycotton and the cotton/linen sets you have bought?

In reply to henwardian:

Have you considered doing away with them and just changing the mattress every week?

In reply to Clauso:

Yeah, but the bulk waste item uplift charge is just a total buzzkill.

In reply to henwardian:

£10K, that sounds a lot. I am not recommending these people https://bedlinendirect.co.uk/400-thread-count-egyptian-cotton-fitted-sheets... , but just an example, a 400 Count Eygptian Cotton Fitted Sheet, King size is only £32.

Anyway, good luck with it, and maybe a wise person for not catering. We flirted with the idea of a B and B, but as my Wife pointed out, the first person to complain how I had cooked their boiled egg, would end up wearing it, so possibly not the trade for me.

In reply to henwardian:

In many countries with cabin or cottage type hires then you generally provide your own bed linen and towels, unless you pay extra, the same with exit cleaning. 

In reply to Godwin:

And that is what I love about this forum. The diversity of the posts and questions people ask and I think between all the members there is always someone who can answer. 

Just because I only logged about 3 climbs before I got bored of logging climbs doesn't mean I didn't climb much. I climbed multiple times a week for about 2 years, winter was outdoor at weekends and twice a week indoors,  summer was 2 to 3 times a week outdoors. I get bored though and sold all my climbing gear and bought archery gear instead then after a few years motorbikes *edit to add Blacksmithing* and currently RC cars. I'm a UKC supporter because though I'm not big on climbing anymore (and frankly incapable at the moment due to health problems) I love this forum and it's members and I was more than happy to help them a bit when the advertising revenue dried up through covid and I think it's a tiny price to pay for the time I spend on here.  I think my opinion (and I have lots) is valid in that I prefer cotton sheets and find them very long lasting but as I said that opinion isn't based on commercial knowledge.  I wouldn't have commented at all but I wanted to comment on the randomness of the OP. 

Hmm, I'm sure I said something along the lines of good quality cotton sheets. 

In reply to Clauso:

Surely reversible sheets are the answer here…only need to wash half as much.

In reply to Godwin:

The problem is the quantity, 50 fitted sheets, 50 duvet covers, 100 pillow cases. But that was probably an overestimate all the same, I forgot that my first big bedding order also included duvets and pillows and towels.

I tend to think of the British as uniquely qualified for this sort of thing tbh, our version of saying "**** you buddy" is to be excessively polite and most people find it pretty hard to tell the difference, even other Brits. Also a number of years teaching children helps with the key skills of emotion control and emotion masking

In reply to ExiledScot:

Yeah, but this is probably at a bit of a lower price point. Also has the disadvantage of ruling out a huge number of visitors from around the world who are never going to be travelling with their own sheets. And it would be quite dissonant with the provision of all the other facilities and objects in the pod, it's not a cushions everywhere, mood lighting, 4 poster bed type of accommodation but it is definitely towards the upper end of what pods are available to stay in as of 2021/22.

There is always a question of what you charge extra for but I've basically decided that KISS is the best way to go because then you don't get negative reviews aimed at the extras you charge and also a significant percentage of people who book through airbnb do not read and respond to messages or have to be prompted multiple times to answer a question, so even with my single checkin question, I waste time chasing answers. Every extra is another question, another level of complexity, a fair number of people don't even book the right number of people who are coming... At every turn you want to make things as simple as you possibly can.

In reply to SFM:

All sheets are reversible.

The same cannot be said of negative reviews!

In reply to henwardian:

Nope, it's just the way culturally. You can pay £200+/night for a cabin in many places and sheets, cleaning etc are extra.

The option is always option there to hire, sheets, logs, cleaning etc..

I think it's just the distinction between a hotel or B&B, versus cabin, cottage, holiday let. Granted you'd be fighting against uk culture, but many other nationalities wouldn't bat an eyelid.

In reply to henwardian:

"Thanks a lot", where tone is everything. 

In reply to henwardian: try Dunelm , I think it’s a chain ? They have several ranges of thief own brand and also branded stuff . Their mid range high thread count stuff is not  too pricey and “ very nice “ ( said with a Borat voice  ) 

In reply to mike123:

https://www.dunelm.com/?awc=3769_1665168721_08a74c1acd6a5820a87b4b384e6ab06...

In reply to henwardian:

I’ll look into it if I can find the link.

However thinking about it I must say that I have quite a store of sheets now and throw them out when they are past it. So it’s not necessarily a case of one sheet, or even two, sheets per bed per season.

In reply to henwardian:

We've been using (white) Expressions polycotton bedding from Out of Eden for 3 years now, probably averaging 120-150 nights/year and it still looks good, no bobbling and still white.  Gets bleached occasionally and always ironed before putting back on (although I think we could skip that).  Would happily recommend it