Organic bedding has come up a lot in conversation lately. Seems strange I know, but here’s why. A few weeks ago I had some time to myself so I headed to the store. My youngest son needed new bedding-the cars and trucks weren’t cutting it anymore now that he’s nine. I brought home what I thought was the greatest bedding set for his room. Just as we were about to break open everything we started to talk about chemicals in the bedding.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while you know that I’m all about everything in moderation. I know that we can’t be perfectly bright green all the time (at least I can’t). We do the best that we can to keep our families safe. I began thinking about how much time we theoretically spend in our beds. My kids spend a good 10 plus hours in their beds each night. I shoot for a solid 8 hours of sleep or I’m a frightening force to be reckoned with.
Toxins in sheets?
If bedding has been treated [1] so it’s permanent press, no-iron, crease resistant, shrinkproof, stretchproof, stain-proof, water repellent, water-proof or flame resistant it could be emitting toxic chemical vapors.
Cotton is considered the world’s ‘dirtiest’ crop due to its heavy use of insecticides, the most hazardous pesticide to human and animal health. Most bedding is made from cotton or a cotton blend.
After this realization I was officially driving myself crazy. I couldn’t in good conscience buy any new bedding that could be off gassing toxins. The entire bedding set went back to the store.
Organic bedding
With almost 1/3 of our lives spent in bed, what we have in our bedrooms does affect us. Organic bedding doesn’t contain any of the chemicals that regular bedding has.
Organically produced goods [2] must be produced without the use of:
- Antibiotics
- Synthetic hormones
- Genetic engineering
- Other excluded practices
- Sewage sludge
- Irradiation
Now I’m on the lookout for organic bedding. It’s not easy. There are very few cute patterns or colors. Everything seems very neutral. But I decided that was the route I was going to take. So slowly, over time I’ve been replacing our bedding with organic sheets, covers and pillow cases.
Magnoila Organics
[3]Magnolia Organics offers organic bedding (including crib sets), towels and reusable bags. The company is committed to fair labor, sustainable materials, minimalist packaging, and they keep a close eye on the carbon footprint of each product.
The timing was perfect. The nice folks at Magnolia Organics were kind enough to send me an organic sheet set to try out on my own bed. The sheets are 200 thread count percale and come in a variety of colors, which is unusual for organic sheets. I chose the sheets in a neutral Ecru color.
After washing the sheets I crawled into bed, excited to test out them out. My initial impression was that the sheets weren’t as soft as my previous conventional sheet set.
I’ve been using the sheets for about a month and they are finally feeling much softer. Several times through the washing machine has really helped to break them in. The sheet set is well made and I’m guessing it will be around for a long time.
The price point for these sheets is pretty reasonable as far as bedding is concerned- ranging from $64.99 for a twin set to $79.99 for a king set.
Now on to replace my kids bedding. All in good time.
Do you buy organic bedding?
photo credit: || UggBoy♥UggGirl || PHOTO || WORLD || TRAVEL || [4] via photopin [5] cc [6]
Disclosure: I was sent an organic sheet set from Magnolia Organics for review. The opinions contained in this review are my very own.