Part 2 of my Non-Toxic Bedroom Series: Bedding Material Choices for a naturally temperature regulated sleep environment aka no swampy, sweaty beds. Done in partnership with Bedrooms & More.
SWAMP BED
If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, make sure you catch up. It’s all about choosing a latex mattress and demystifying some of the confusion around how to shop for a mattress that is truly non-toxic. I briefly brought up some of the other bedding materials that I chose and now I want to dive into it and get into the “Why”.
Besides wanting to overhaul our bedroom and update everything with non-toxic choices, another issue I wanted to solve for was naturally regulating the temperature of our sleep environment.
Bottom line: my husband *was* a super sweaty / hot sleeper. He says I was as well (Um, WHAT!?) and let’s be honest here — it was gross. After talking to the helpful people at Bedrooms and More, it’s likely that we were having swamp bed because of our previous bedding choices (memory foam mattress, down comforter, down pillows), especially our down comforter.
WHAT IS A SLEEP ENVELOPE?
It just even never occurred to me that our materials were contributing to creating a sweaty sleep environment. I just always thought my husband was warm (and cozy) and that’s just what it was. When the Bedrooms and More people introduced this idea of the “Sleep Envelope” (It’s the idea that not one single element of your bed is the key to a good night’s sleep, but rather that every piece works in unison to create the ideal environment, just like food!) to me, it was like a lightning bolt. Duh. Of course everything matters and works together. Why hadn’t I ever thought of this before?
MATERIALS
First goal is to keep it as non-toxic as possible. After all, we are spending (hopefully) 8+ hours a night face down in our beds. Second goal for us (and I know many of you) was to sleep cooler so while high quality down can be awesome, for us, it’s not a good choice as it repels moisture back to you aka makes you sleep hot.
So, what bedding materials should you choose if you want to sleep cool and keep it non-toxic? Believe it or not, the best choices are Washable Wool, 100% Cotton or Bamboo, Silk and Botanical Latex.
We talked alot about Botanical Latex in Post #1 in reference to the mattress but botanical latex can also be used for pillows and also mattress toppers.
Washable Wool is an excellent choice for mattress toppers, comforters and pillows. The wool is treated so that it is washable and doesn’t felt and shrink and then encased in 100% cotton. Bedrooms and More uses a natural technique to treat their wool – soaking it in hydrogen peroxide. Some other companies use bleach and/or other chemicals which is no good so something to watch out for. Washable wool is also hypoallergenic (unless you are allergic to wool), antimicrobial and moisture-wicking (hell yes!).
We have always had 100% Cotton sheets but recently switched to Bedrooms and More’s Bamboo sheets and they are so soft. We are no-joke in love with these sheets! Moral of the story is you do not want to get sheets made from synthetic fabrics or blends of natural fabrics with synthetic.
OUR SLEEP ENVELOPE
Soooo, what did we decide on? First things first, we upgraded to a Plush King Size Botanical Latex mattress (from a Queen) and as I said in the first post, we got rid of our toxic, hot and uncomfortable memory foam mattress. We also got rid of our solid wood bed frame. It was a Queen Size and also a bit more traditional in style than I prefer so a great opportunity to upgrade!
Next, in keeping with our desire to sleep cooler, we went with a Washable Wool Mattress Pad, which is in a 100% Cotton cover.
Since I really, really love a super plush sleep environment, we got a Deluxe Mattress Topper. Also 100% Cotton with washable wool inside.
We have a few sets of sheets (because laundry is the worst) but our current favorite is hands-down these 100% Bamboo Bed Sheets. They launder so soft and almost feel like jersey or an old-super-comfy-worn-in-T-shirt. This is a majorly good thing.
For our comforter, we chose Washable Wool in Cotton again and got rid of our Down Comforter. This “Lightweight” Washable Wool Comforter is still plenty heavy and perfect for our year-round moderate climate here in Seattle. My husband is OBSESSED with this blanket and has been from the minute he rested underneath of one in the store.
Last but not least — pillows. We have a mix of pillows, some Shredded Latex, some Washable Wool and two of these super fancy pants side sleeper pillows that Bedrooms and More just came out with.
HOW WE ARE SLEEPING
Well, we have been sleeping on all of these products for about a little over three months now and we are in love with our bed. Almost every single night, we get into bed and say to each other, “I just love this bed!”
I can’t stress just how happy I am that our sleep environment is finally non-toxic. On top of that, it’s ridiculously comfortable and guess what? No more sweaty swamp bed! It’s crazy and seems like a miracle. My husband still sleeps warm but he doesn’t sweat all over and get sticky. It’s the best thing ever!
I hope this is helpful for you as you navigate non-toxic bedding. Bedrooms and More ships all over the country but if you are local to Seattle, I highly recommend popping over to their showroom in Wallingford to check out these products. Tell them I sent you and say Hi!
Stay tuned for Part 3 next month – a wrap up and reveal of the full Bedroom Makeover!
DISCLOSURE: This post is part of a series of posts sponsored by Bedrooms & More. Bedrooms & More has compensated me for my time to create this content and share about my personal experiences with their products. All opinions are my own.
I’ve honestly never put a whole lot of thought into our bedding choices. This is so informative!
So glad you found it helpful!
Great post! I need to follow your advice!
So glad you are finding it useful!
This is really helpful information! Thanks for sharing your selections. Can’t wait to see your full bedroom makeover!
Thanks Erin! Coming soon 🙂
Choosing the right bedding is so important! We recently bought a new bed and spent over a week very carefully researching the best mattress and bedding options on the market. It makes ALL the difference in comfort and just psychologically knowing that you’re not spending 8 hours a night on something with chemicals and fumes that will harm you in the long run.
It is so true Kimberly!!!! What kind of bed did you end up getting?
I found all of this so interesting – Thank you for sharing!
Yes! It’s such an important topic!
Yup, we are ready for a new mattress and live in Atlanta, GA. I guess it is time for a trip to Seattle to check out these mattresses and see Seattle. Informative blog and much appreciated.
So glad it’s helpful for you Colleen! And, the summer is the BEST time to visit Seattle! The weather is dreamy (no humidity like GA) and temps are mid-70’s to low-80’s with long days of blue skies.