I am a no nonsense kind of person. We have 3 double beds in this house and William's loft bed. I have one set of sheets for each bed.
Period.
I don't like to fold sheets, and so I take them hot from the dryer, and put them directly back on their beds. (Follow me for more practical housekeeping advice.)
When family came, I set up an extra bed for Iris, sliding a twin mattress under the loft bed in William's room. I was short a set of sheets. (Try saying that three times fast!)
In a closet at the house we are rehabbing, there are sheets. Lots and lots of sheets. Still in their original packages. All from JCPenney, all of them still with the original price tags: $2.99 for twin flat and fitted, $3.99 for double sized flat and fitted sheets.
Imagine! The last set of sheets we bought cost about $50, and that's not counting the fact that we had to buy an extra pair of pillow cases. I like pillows, okay?
Anyways, I grabbed a set of sheets for a twin bed from the rehab the last time I was there. When I got home, I opened the packages and was amazed to see that the elastic on the fitted sheet was still in perfect shape. I tossed them in the washer, then the dryer, and then put them on the mattress. They were perfect, Dated probably, with yellow roses, and the embroidered yellow trim, but they'd work just fine.
I figured to gather up the rest of them and drop them off at the Restore It is a store that sells everything for 50 cents, and it benefits a lot of people who struggle. They are my first choice for donations in these days.
But that elastic! I mean those sheets have to be 50 years old and the elastic is perfect, not dry rotted or stretched out. I really was curious about the approximate time frame that these would have been sold, so I tried to find old JCPenney ads for sheets on line. Much to my shock, I see that these sheets, the very sheets that I have, are selling on Ebay, Etsy, and the like.
Hmm. So will you sell them? I feel if you give them someone will pay 50c and then flog them for a profit. You could sell them and give the money away. But then you need that extra pressure like a hole in the head right now!!
ReplyDeleteNo. I will drop them off at the Restore. I am sure there are people out there who need those sheets a lot worse than I need money. And you are right...i just don't want one more thing on my plate.
DeleteAll my life I operated on one set of sheets per bed. When my girls were old enough to do their own laundry I chuckled to note sleeping bags where sheets belonged. Now I have two sets of sheets as I need a replacement set when the first goes to the laundry.
ReplyDeleteI am blown away by your sheet discovery. I hope you still intend to give them to Restore. They are fine people.
Isn't it the craziest thing? I never would have dreamed such a thing?
DeleteI have two sets of sheets; one I like and one I can use if I have to. I rub my feet together most of the night and found the fitted sheet I like has a hole in it on two corners. I guess I will need to turn the sheet and use another corner on my side when I change it this week.
ReplyDeleteTim's feet move all night too. So far my sheets have held up.
DeleteI only have one set of sheets and like you, wash, dry and back on the bed.
ReplyDeleteI could say that I learned that household tip from you...but really, I just hate folding sheets.
DeleteAmazing that they have stood up so well! I think we have two King sets, and two for the queen guest, and also two winter sets for our King. But we use them for a long time, I assure you. Towels too.
ReplyDeleteThey are still in their sealed packaging. I guess that is it. I just expected that after all these years the elastic on the fitted sheets would have dry rotted or something. I have not bought sheets for years really. Our towels are good quality and have also stood the test of time.
DeleteInteresting thing about rubbing feet together in the corner of the sheets…. Many years ago a colleague said her husband had the same habit — and she was stunned to see her child doing the same *in her womb* on ultrasound!
ReplyDeleteLOL. Genes! When my son first began to talk, he spoke in a hoarse, halting voice. It was not long after the ET years. I privately thought of it as his little 'alien' voice. Imagine my surprise to hear that voice once again...from his daughter! It was something that they both outgrew as they became more handy with the language, but I loved it so.
DeleteI don’t have a dryer so have two sets of sheets. Margaret
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Do you hang all your clothes outside? It was the way it used to be done, and I remember hanging diapers outside in the winter. I cannot imagine doing without a dryer now. Probably because I remember hanging diapers outside in the winter. I do want to have a clothes line when we get back to the country.
DeleteSame as Margaret here, although we do have an old dryer it is far too expensive to run so one set on the bed and a replacement set for laundry day. Our climate means that sheet drying can take a while.
ReplyDeleteI imagine. What do you do in the winter?
DeleteI drape things on hangers over the central heating boiler.
DeleteOh geez. I forgot about drying cupboards. We don't have them here but they are very practical.
DeleteI am married to a man who believes in having 97 of everything. Before we married (as adults in our 40's) I had maybe 2 sets of sheets in my own home, and a few pillows, so I was astonished when I saw how many he had. We now have so many sets, I can't even count. And so many pillows we've bought, trying to find the right pillow (hint - there aren't any) and pillow cases and slip covers galore. GOOD Lord. He's the same with towels - we have dozens and dozens. His parents were children of the Depression, and were taught to keep everything, for you never knew if or when you'd get another one. I get that, but COME ON! However it does make stripping the bed a quick thing, no waiting for sheets to dry. And once, when the dishwasher decided to break and flood the kitchen, we did use every single one of the extra towels to mop it up. So, every now and then his need to have multiples and to keep everything does pan out!
ReplyDeleteIt's just that sheets take up such a lot of closet space and we live in an old house with 5 closets over 4 floors (two on the third, two on the second and a small cupboard/closet on the first). I'm always looking for the easiest way. We have maybe a half dozen towels in the upstairs, and another half dozen downstairs. Thank goodness we've never had a crisis requiring more towels than that.
DeleteI am married to possibly the only person on the planet who can fold sheets exactly like they are when new! When I fold, it looks like a grumpy teenager did it! We have a tiny, and I mean tiny duplex, so he is adept at neatly squishing 10 pounds of whatever into a 5 pound bag!
DeleteI'm with you on putting the same sheets back on the bed after they are washed and dried although I do sometimes change them up for a different set. But folding fitted sheets is just impossible. For me, at least.
ReplyDeleteIt is remarkable that the elastic on those sheets you found was still in such good condition. How crazy! Someone will absolutely love them, I'm sure. Good find.
They always look sloppy on the shelf and take up way too much room.
DeleteFor years, I did it exactly as you. Wash and then right back onto the bed. Then I got married to someone who NEEDS to sleep on different sheets, ones that have been sitting in a 2.5 gallon plastic bag in a closet for a long time and the fitted sheet is thoroughly wrinkled by then. Giving up the opportunity to sleep on fresh smelling unwrinkled fitted sheet that I have to fold because my spouse is not tall enough and stick back in a closet.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I'm married to someone who will not sleep on flowered sheets. He just doesn't like them. They all have their little quirks, don't they?
DeleteThat 50/50 cotton polyester blend wears like iron too. Not the coziest material, but I used the set my mother gave me for college for at least 30 years. Never did like the pattern, so finally gave them away and bought new to finally establish my own identity as a housewife. At 50.
ReplyDeleteLOL. This made me laugh. But I cannot say a thing. But you are right. Those sheets feel thick and 'un-cozy', not at all like the modern day sheet sets.
DeleteI use to have so many sets of sheets for every season, it was absolutely ridiculous ... so I bundled them up, tied them with yarn, and put them on a table in our Rec Room for folks to take! Some went to a resident's sister, others went to our local Pregnancy Center.
ReplyDeleteNow I have 3 sets ... One I just got from the Cosy company and are bamboo material! Half price ... I had to try them! LOL
I have a stash of bamboo baby blankets. I need to find a home for those too.
DeleteIf you have a local Pregnancy Center, see if they will take the baby blankets!
DeleteI remember that old Penney's logo. I wonder how whoever lived in that house wound up with such a ridiculous quantity of sheets?! I kind of like the yellow/orange/blue flower scheme, but I'm guessing Dave would veto it. :)
ReplyDeleteThe woman worked at Penney's. They were also hoarders. I mean, really, the incredible amount of stuff that we've hauled out of there that was new, in boxes, some things unopened. If I could find a fan of mid-century modern, I have a number of new in box light fixtures. There was German crystal, still with the stickers. Remember the Dorothy Thorpe silver fade glassware? We've got a set of glassware, still in it's carrier, still, in its original packing. We've also got a punch bowl and smaller glasses in the same style. Remember the brand new trash compactor? Unopened box? We have gotten rid of so much stuff in that house, and are still making discoveries. I found a velvet autograph album from 1887 Friday. Never laid eyes on it before.
DeleteI'm in the "two sets of sheets" camp. That probably hearkens back to the days of children and what if there is an accident of any type during the night. I'm surprised the elastic was still good!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, when I had kids, I had extra sheet sets. And they were rotated through far more regularly than I care to remember.
DeleteI am stunned that the elastic is still good.
ReplyDeleteThat is EXACTLY the thing that I found so amazing. I really never expected that. It is a much sturdier, thicker elastic than in today's sheets, but there were still sitting in the closet because I figured that they would be no good and was thinking that they might make good drop cloths when we went to paint. All I can imagine is that it is because they sat in a dark closet for all those years in their plastic packages.
DeleteWell, sheeeet.., that’s amazing! - Sorry, couldn’t help myself😂I’m as amazed as you are that the elastic is still good!! I’m slowly getting rid of extra sheets here - but I do have a couple of new-ish sets that I save for the rare guests staying overnight. -Ricki
ReplyDeleteSurprised the sheet out of me.
DeleteI live in the lower North Island of New Zealand and haven't owned a drier in over 40 years (although I do occasionally use a local laundromat - I think twice this year). All my washing is dried on an outside line. I have four sets of queen size sheets, all 100% cotton (various thread counts), one set for the spare (guest) bed, and the others rotated for mine (I live alone). I'm not quite organised enough to wash/dry and remake bed with the sheets I took off that day!
ReplyDeleteI had those very same flowered sheets and loved them! I would not be surprised if they are still in use, I took them back to England on a visit and gave them to my mother and now my much younger brother took most of her household linen when she died! JanF
ReplyDelete