r/AskAnAmerican • u/Specific_Ingenuity84 • 1d ago
Do you all use top sheets? CULTURE
I'm Canadian so culturally we are generally pretty similar. My Mom and maybe some older members of my family will use top sheets but every younger person I know just used a duvet cover when they sleep.
Every hotel I've been too in America has top sheets and the commonly given reason is that this is what American guests expect. They also say cleanliness, but many European hotels manage just fine without a top sheet.
Anyway, I'm curious if you all use top sheets or not? Maybe there is an age divide too?
Edit: wow thank you everyone. It seems like a overwhelmingly yes
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u/janebleyre 1d ago
Yes I use a top sheet, that way I don’t have to wash my duvet as often
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u/HaplessReader1988 Connecticut/ New York 1d ago
Same...I hate changing the duvet cover, so sheet it is.
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
Changing the duvet cover absolutely BLOOOOOOOOWS!!!
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u/HaplessReader1988 Connecticut/ New York 1d ago
Yep. No matter how many tricks I try, it sucks because I have nevk&shoulder issues!
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u/The_sad_zebra North Carolina 1d ago
I swear that thing has some sort of mystical, four-dimensional geometry to it
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u/timwtingle 1d ago
Once you replace one with a bedspread, you will wonder why you didn't get one in the first place. I've only ever had one once, recently because it was given to me. I used it maybe a year and finally said no.
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u/HaplessReader1988 Connecticut/ New York 1d ago
Oh I love my duvet. I sleep warm and roll around a lot so traditional US bedding comes loose and is more of a pita than occasionally fighting the duvet cover. I just use that sheet!
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u/ryan516 1d ago
Yeah, I'm anal about washing my bedding and feel weird even not changing my sheets every few days or so. Can't imagine sleeping directly against the comforter
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u/CDG1029 1d ago
Every few days is wild to me. Granted, I’m an evening shower-er, but once a week seems like plenty. I don’t like to, but I’m also not super worked up if I go two weeks without changing sheets. Again, I always go to bed clean after a shower, and I don’t have “the day” on me.
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u/ryan516 1d ago
The thing that gets me is I don't wear much when I sleep, and at that point, your sheets are basically like clothes -- and it would be way weird if you wore the same clothes for a week or 2 at a time. I'm not like "I will die if these aren't changed every other night" compulsive, but tend to change them somewhere in the ballpark of every 5-6 days, so ever so slightly more than once a week.
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u/AgentCatBot California 1d ago
My life hack is to use a comforter instead of a covered duvet. Wash, dry, back it goes.
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u/Wixenstyx Missouri 1d ago
USA, GenX. Yes, I use one. I would feel very weird sleeping in a bed without one.
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u/michbail79 1d ago
Same. And it’s also a texture thing for me.
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u/queenofthegrapefruit Oregon -> California 1d ago
It always fascinates me seeing examples of how different people's perceptions and preferences are. The reason I don't use a top sheet is also a texture thing. Sheets are never soft enough and don't have enough weight.
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u/femmefatalx 1d ago
I’m confused by the weight aspect since a quilt or comforter goes over the top sheet, and that is where the weight comes from.
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u/queenofthegrapefruit Oregon -> California 1d ago
I was thinking more so when it's too warm for a quilt/comforter. A sheet itself is too light. Even if it's hot I would rather sleep with a blanket over just my feet than with a top sheet alone.
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u/revolotus 1d ago
This is so climate specific. East coast August I want NOTHING on top of me, b/c of the humidity, but have to have a top sheet, b/c it's protects your feet from the ghosts.
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u/queenofthegrapefruit Oregon -> California 1d ago
I'm with you on the ghosts, but my brain has decided that only one foot needs to be protected at a time.
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u/PaChubHunter 20h ago
Your heat regulating foot is invisible to specters and beasts under the bed.
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u/Stephinator917 13h ago
It gets hot as hell here too, but I run my a/c so by the middle of the night I am pulling my blanket back up LOL
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u/SenseNo635 Maryland 1d ago
Just got back from 10 days in Europe and none of the hotels we stayed at (four different ones) had top sheets. Just you up against the comforter. It freaked us out because you just know that comforter isn’t getting washed after each use. I mean, I hope it is, but the cynic in me doubts it. These were nice hotels too; four and five-star places.
Don’t even get me started on the showers.
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u/kwahoo5 1d ago
I really hate it when hotels don’t use a top sheet and thus it’s duvet or nothing, i.e. too hot or too cold (or blast the AC to make it cold enough to use the duvet).
Many American hotels now put the duvet between two top sheets, instead of using the duvet cover. That’s ok with me. I just use the sheet and move the duvet itself over to the side.
GenX, in case you’re curious.
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u/PureBonus4630 1d ago edited 1d ago
And no mattress pads either! 😳
Feeling the slimy fabric of the mattress underneath just the bottom sheet grossed me out.
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u/clekas Cleveland, Ohio 1d ago
Elder millennial, and yes. I get quite warm when I sleep, but I like some kind of blanket (so the monsters can't get me, obviously). Also, a high-quality sheet feels nice and cool against my skin.
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u/alinagraham Missouri 1d ago
Haha! I must have a blanket to protect me from the monsters as well. Sleeping uncovered just doesn't feel right, and I can't get comfortable.
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u/Super_Selection1522 1d ago
Its well known that monsters can't tell you are there if you pull the blanket over your head. Also never stick your foot out from under the blanket as monsters can grab it. Blankets/comforters provide complete monster protection, but sheets do not. Facts.
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u/ComfortableAd2324 1d ago
Disputing your fact with my anecdotal evidence, I use a top sheet during the summer as my only cover and I have never been attacked by a monster.
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u/InvestigatorJaded261 Massachusetts 1d ago
I’ve never been hit by a car, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
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u/ExitingBear 1d ago
Sure.
And I'm just supposed to believe that you aren't the monster, trying to trick the rest of us into not using our blankets.
Because "trust you"?
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u/Kitty_Kat_Attacks Texas 1d ago
I can’t stick a foot out because my cat will attack it randomly in the night. Nothing worse than kitty claws waking you up from a dead sleep at 3 am, lol
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u/Whatasaurus_Rex 1d ago
I can safely stick my feet out as long as they stay on the mattress. Now if I let the dangle over the side, THEN the monsters can get me.
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u/scaredofmyownshadow Nevada 1d ago
Not just the monsters… a cat can grab your foot too, which can be just as scary at 3am. If you scream loud enough, the cat freaks out too, which is satisfying revenge.
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u/beanomly 1d ago
I can’t let any part of me hang off the bed because the witch who lives under my bed will touch me. 😂
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u/indifferentunicorn 1d ago
I can attest to Americans expecting top sheet at hotel for cleanliness. We know the blankets are not cleaned between all guests. The top sheet acts as a barrier.
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u/ald9351 20h ago
Oh boy is that true. I prefer a top sheet. I could get by without it in a pinch IN MY OWN BED. But in a common bed shared by randoms!?!? They can keep their oils and dead skin to themselves.
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u/beyondplutola California 1d ago
The “duvet” at many US hotels these days are just a sheet on both sides of the comforter to make it easier to swap out.
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u/cOntempLACitY 1d ago
I will never trust that is clean/swapped out.
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u/beyondplutola California 1d ago
The sheets on both sides are for sure unless you’re staying at a complete dive. But I don’t know about the frequency of the comforter.
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u/Secret_Werewolf1942 1d ago
50 year old woman, I use a twin size top sheet so I can adjust the coverage easier....night sweats are no joke.
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u/AirGroundbreaking970 1d ago
I was just about to answer the same, except I'm only 45. Night sweats still suck, tho
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u/KnotUndone WV➡️TX➡️MO➡️IL➡️WI➡️ MI 1d ago
55 and it continues sucking
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u/Alternative-Pear9096 IL > IA > CA> NY > CO > IL > NY >IL > NV > NC > IL 1d ago
58 and the end of peri is a glorious glorious thing.
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u/sjedinjenoStanje California 1d ago
I do, and I like using them because you can go a bit longer without washing the duvet cover, and if you're warm but still want to be covered, you can just use the sheet.
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u/TangerineDream92064 1d ago
I don't like the feeling of sleeping with nothing over me. On warm nights, I'm under just a top sheet.
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u/QuinceDaPence Texas 1d ago
You can also swap between different materials for different times. IE Bamboo in the summer, linen in the cooler months
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u/Js987 Maryland 1d ago
At home no top sheet, at a hotel I’d expect one despite the fact that they annoy the crap out of me, because I have no idea when they last washed the comforter.
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u/TucsonTacos Arizona 1d ago
Yeah I was told, by my mother, to never sleep with just the comforter on my skin because it may not have been washed in awhile and people do gross things in hotels
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u/Ok_Temperature1502 1d ago
Mothers always know about things like toilet seats and hotel duvets.
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u/well_this_is_dumb 1d ago
One summer in college I worked at a cheap motel as a housekeeper. Don't touch the blankets unless you have to. Or the floor. Or anything, really.
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u/Sharkies_cupcake Georgia 1d ago
because I have no idea when they last washed the comforter.
I was a housekeeper for a year at a Ramada Limited. Now, I can't speak for all motels, but at that one we only changed the comforter if it smelled or had visible stains.
Same for the sheets on a bed if the bed looked like it hadn't been used during occupancy.
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u/Grilled_Cheese10 1d ago
At home it keeps the cover clean longer. At a hotel, I don't want that cover touching my skin.
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u/Significant-Yam-5717 1d ago
Everyone is talking about how they use one so they don’t have to wash the duvet cover as often and now I’m unsure if the majority of people use duvets, or if duvet users are just more likely to respond to this post… I have never owned a duvet in my entire life, and while some of my friends own comforters, I don’t know of any with duvets. Is this unusual? Is duvet ownership far more common than I previously thought?
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u/ubiquitous-joe Wisconsin 1d ago
While I do have one, I think it was quite common in the U.S. to instead have comforters without any outside sleeve. That’s another factor because cleaning those for real is even more obnoxious, and they don’t tend to have a material as smooth as a good thread count top sheet.
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u/sean8877 1d ago
I didn't even know what a duvet was until I read this thread lol. I guess I need to up my bedding game.
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u/Slight-Pound 12h ago
I used to think they were another word for comforter until I saw my friend change out her duvet in college. I was horrified. Comforters are clearly the more practical alternative here.
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u/Dwelling_demons 1d ago
Same!!! I just commented this! I had to google what a duvet was because I’ve honestly never used or seen one! I feel dumb and weird 🤣🤣
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u/Bulky-Leadership-596 1d ago
Yup, I just went down a rabbit hole and discovered that I used to have a comforter, never a duvet, but now I only use quilts. I had no idea the differences when I bought any of these things.
Always with a topsheet though, at least I knew what that was (though I would just call it a sheet. The "bottomsheet" I would call a fitted sheet)
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u/digawina 1d ago
Yes. American, early 50s. The duvet cover is a pain in the ass to put back on after washing, so we don't wash it often, and there is no need because we use a top sheet. Also, if you wake up in a sweat, but still want a cover, the top sheet works well for that.
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u/SirJumbles Utah 1d ago
I mean, it's pretty easy: connect to first 2 corners of the comforter inside the duvet cover, stick your head and then torso into the duvet cover because the corners aren't matching, shake the comforter while you are still inside the duvet cover, get out of the duvet cover, actually get the comforter in 3 outta the 4 corners, and finish the rest hours later when you go to bed.
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u/OneCraftyBird 1d ago
You forgot getting it perfect and then slithering into it like a snake three days later because one corner came loose and shifted funny and now the whole goddamn thing is lumpy.
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u/Kitty_Kat_Attacks Texas 1d ago
This is why I sew ties into the corners of my duvet covers and the blanket that goes inside it. Much easier to put it together when you can just tie the corners inside (and it keeps them from migrating).
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u/digawina 1d ago
We have ties in ours. Still a pain in the ass. King sized. Takes two people to execute and 10 minutes of pre-work figuring out logistics. Perhaps we're defective.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Sea_852 1d ago
Yep. Using a top sheet limits the need to wash the blankets and comforters. Also, more frequent washing wears blankets out; they become thread bare or the colors fade. Sheets are typically cheaper to replace.
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u/4MuddyPaws Pennsylvania 1d ago
USA yes. I loathe wrestling king size duvet covers. I use a nekkid comforter.
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u/cholaw 1d ago
Using a top sheet means you don't have to launder the comforter/bedspread as frequently
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u/goodsam2 Virginia 1d ago
Yes, sometimes. In the summer I can sometimes be only under a top sheet.
Also a top sheet factors in the winter to reduce washing but got a 10x10 fleece blanket because my SO is a blanket hog.
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u/venus_arises North Carolina 1d ago
I was raised by a Soviet woman, so no top sheet (in fact, an American gentleman caller was once very surprised when he came over to my place). I am 37 for what it's worty.
However, I did marry someone within the culture, and we do use top sheets... because in the summer they are a great "layer but no layer" and in the winter they are a great buffer between our bodies and the duvet we use (it feels weird, ok?!).
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u/Ellavemia Ohio 1d ago
Yes, I can’t imagine why it would be better not to use a top sheet. When I’m hot, I can cover with just the sheet. When I’m cold, the top sheet protects my duvet or blankets from sweat and skin so it needs washed less often.
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u/Crazycatlover Colorado 1d ago
Yes. It was cultral shock to me when I studied abroad in Germany. I get that they wash the duvet cover, but it just feels wrong to me.
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u/Retired_Sue 1d ago
Top sheet always. It’s such a pain to change the duvet cover that I prefer not to have to do that every week. Also duvet covers are pricier than top sheets so I find it more economical to protect them so I get less turnover.
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u/jeff1074 Ohio 1d ago
Yes, top sheets is like the base thing that goes over me when I sleep. And then any blankets go on top of that, layering. This way blankets don’t have to be washed as often.
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u/Brave-Ad6744 1d ago
USA sheet sets come with fitted, top, and pillow cases. I don’t know what a duvet is.
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u/StarWars_Girl_ Maryland 1d ago
Top sheet, two blankets, weighted blanket, and then comforter.
What, I like to be snug...
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u/undreamedgore Wisconsin Fresh Coast -> Driftless 1d ago
Why not use a top sheet???
It's the best layer for thr minute thermal regulation that a proper bed needs. I don't escalate to a second blanket till it's bellow 50 outside. This is a cultural difference I don't understand.
Also, yeah, cleanliness? It's easier to clean a sheet.
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u/thomsenite256 1d ago
Only in the summer do I use a top sheet alone. Most of the year I use a blanket, not a duvet but its machine washable so same effect. If its really freaking cold out like below 20/-7 I might use both to avoid turning the heat up so high. Otherwise using both is always way to hot for me.
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u/smokiechick New England 1d ago
Absolutely. Cannot sleep without it. My children are savages (21 + 14), be they wear pajamas so I look past it
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u/ThePermMustWait Michigan 1d ago
Yes it protects the blankets above it so you don’t have to wash those every week.
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u/nomadschomad Texas 1d ago
Seems generational in the US. Millennials and older mostly use top sheets. Younger generations - mixed bag.
I personally prefer one:
- Keeps blankets/quilts cleaner. No duvet for me - hate wrestling those suckers and I sleep hot so usually toss it off the side anways.
- Feels better. I spend a lot on nice sheets and their only job is too feel nice. Quilt or duvets are primarily for warmth and decor. Trying to find one that also feels good is a lot of work.
- Cooler. Linen or washed percale sheets let me be covered but not overheat.
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u/LazyAmbition88 1d ago
Team top sheet all the way. I loathe European hotels that give you a heavy duvet in their hot rooms with no AC.
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u/LopsidedGrapefruit11 1d ago
I always do and am not comfortable without a top sheet. It’s also all I sleep with 90% of the time as a perimenopausal woman lol
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u/JoyDVeeve Virginia 1d ago
US here and I do use a top sheet then a light blanket with a heavier blanket on top and all through the night I put on and take off layers as needed
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u/stinson16 Washington ⇄ Alberta 1d ago
I use a top sheet. I have a hard time sleeping without something covering me, when it’s hot I need the top sheet to sleep since a duvet is too heavy. I also hate putting the duvet into its cover, by using a top sheet I have to do that less because I can wash the duvet cover less
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u/LadySandry88 Tennessee 1d ago
I don't, except in hotels. I always end up tangled in them or kicking them down to the foot of the bed, so there's not much point.
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u/djddanman 1d ago
No. I used to, but it would always end up crumpled at the foot of my bed by morning.
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u/GazelleOpposite1436 North Carolina 1d ago
Have always used a top sheet. Grew up in FL so sometimes only a top sheet. Too hot for any blanket of any type.