The bed is a place for us to relax and be alone. 1/3 of our lives are spent in bed. The quality of sleep directly affects our mental state and health. This is why choosing a good bed with proper bedding set are so important. If you still feel exhausted after a long sleep, or often wake up with neck and shoulder pain, then you should consider to rebuild your bedding set or Mattress.
The choice of bedding is also very important. In a narrow sense, bedding usually includes bedding sets, quilts, pillows, mattresses, etc.
In a broad sense, lighting systems, fragrances, etc. are all part of a complete and comfortable sleep system. The reason why we can get a better and more comfortable sleep experience in high-end hotels is because they attach importance to the creation of a sleep system. The higher the star rating, the more so, especially the five-star hotels.
Ergonomics during sleep
Ergonomics aims to establish a harmonious relationship between people and things (products), and enhance comfort, safety and happiness by studying the structural and functional dimensions of the human body.
According Sciencedirect Chapter 28: Sleep is a vital activity for humans, and the good design of sleeping systems is a complex and multifactorial activity. Sleeping systems have to match several requirements: Perfect back support, optimal body comfort, good breathability, and ideal microclimate are the key elements of a quality bed system, but there is no rule that applies to everyone. Finally, there is the cultural factor: Sleeping is also a matter of habits. Specific needs also apply to different ages in our life: Sleeping systems of newborns and babies completely differ from those of adults, and then elderly requirements introduce other and more complex functions. Among these, mobility in bed and posture changes are also important. This chapter aims at presenting and analyzing the main factors to be considered in designing proper sleeping systems and several examples of solutions and methods. As a final consideration and looking to the future, sleeping in space is analyzed, when neutral body posture is assumed and it could be a reference also for some earth design.
1. Mattress
Mattresses are very important for sleep. A comfortable mattress helps to reduce the pressure points of our body and promote blood circulation. During our sleep, our sleeping posture usually changes 30 to 60 times. How to keep the spine relaxed all the time puts high demands on the mattress. A mattress that is too soft or too hard will cause us to toss and turn during sleep and not rest well. The ideal mattress should have the functions of soothing and support at the same time, so that it can fully adapt to the body.
A good mattress should have high elasticity, which can effectively extend the time of deep sleep.
2. Pillow
Although we all have our own preferred sleeping position, we usually change our position every 90 minutes. This requires pillows to fully support our head and neck when we sleep, and prevent the neck from continuing to bend to the side or forward, or to overextend backwards. A pillow that is too soft is easy to deform and cannot support our head and neck; a pillow that is too hard will make the scalp uncomfortable. A pillow that is too high or too low can easily damage the cervical spine. The image below shows the correct pillow height.
With a moderately high pillow, whether lying on the left or right, the curvature of our cervical spine is consistent, so that the cervical spine can be kept in a neutral position.
The filling material of the pillow is another factor we need to consider. The more common types of pillow fillers on the market are: memory foam, latex, buckwheat husk, down, polyester fiber, PE hose, wool and so on. Down is usually divided into duck down and goose down. Pillows used in high-end hotels usually use white goose down as a filling material, which not only has the fluffy and supportive properties of memory foam, but is also light, breathable, and non-sultry.
3. Bedding set
Bedding set usually include sheets, duvet cover set, pillowcases, etc. These beddings are in direct contact with our body, so they are very important.
we mainly talked about ergonomics above, now we mainly talked about fabrics for bedding sets. In terms of fabrics, there are mainly three types of cotton, linen and polyester cotton. The best and most comfortable is pure cotton, which has good moisture absorption, soft touch and durability. Among all pure cotton materials, the best is Egyptian long-staple cotton, which is also the choice of high-end hotels. And the longer the cotton fiber, the more breathable and softer. The most important thing is that it is suitable for all seasons.
There is an old saying: "Sleep is the closest state of life to dreams, and the distance from dreams is only the length of a bed." Sleep is so important to us, and the investment in bedding cannot be more worthwhile.
