Linens, sheets... Confused, HELP!!

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'll be going to college this fall- you guessed it, as a first year student. Right now I'm ordering basic dorm stuff such as sheets, comforters, pillows online, at uparents.com (recommended by my cornell university).</p>

<p>The thing is, there are too many things which I haven't used/looked at/considered ever, so I'm hoping someone could help me sort this out.</p>

<p>1) What are flat sheets and fitted sheets used for? My guess is that you use one or the other to cover the mattress. But since they come together in all the packs, and it says "Two complete changes of linens" it must mean they're somehow used together. So it's one on top of the other and you lie on top of both? Or you use one to cover yourself?</p>

<p>2) Comforter- is this what you use to cover yourself and keep warm during the cold Ithaca winters?</p>

<p>3) What are the mattress pads and egg crates for, how do you use them, and can they be used at the same time? Their function looks to be to make the mattress more comfortable, but then why would you need both? You place these under the the sheets but on top of the mattress, right?</p>

<p>4) How easy is it to get all this set up the first time? I'm ashamed to admit that I've never done this before...</p>

<p>Thanks for the help. Yup, I'm looking forward to college :P</p>

2

<p>Ever heard of wikipedia? Just type these things in.</p>

<p>1) Fitted sheets go around the mattress. Flat sheets go on top. Fitted sheets are necessary, but flat sheets aren't (though most people feel that they are).</p>

<p>2) Comforters are essentially big blankets. They often have an outer cover that can be removed for washing.</p>

<p>3) Dorm mattresses are sometimes considered uncomfortable and subpar so people put pads on top to make them softer.</p>

<p>4) I don't think it should be too hard. Just go shopping.</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>The fitted sheet is the sheet that has elastic in the corners. It is used to cover the mattress. The flat sheet is what you use to cover yourself. Most inexpensive sheets are sold in sets that include one flat sheet, one fitted sheet, and one pillow case (for a twin sized bed). </p></li>
<li><p>Yes. A comforter is a blanket.</p></li>
<li><p>They could be used either together or separately. Dorm beds are notorious for being hard or otherwise uncomfortable, and some are even covered in plastic instead of fabric. Using both a traditional mattress pad and an egg crate pad creates a softer, more comfortable bed. If you were using both, the egg crate would be placed on the bed first and covered with the traditional mattress pad, and the fitted sheet would go over both.</p></li>
<li><p>It is very easy. It should take about 5-10 minutes including unpacking everything. Don't worry about it; there is nothing complected or time-consuming to do.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>One last thing: I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just curious and I have to ask. Don't you use bedding at home?</p>

4

<p>I see that you're from Barcelona, but don't you have sheets and things to cover your bodies and beds with at night?</p>

<p>Okay: The comforter is the big thicker blanket that most people use 365 days a year on their beds, unless you're going to Florida. Typically, they aren't heavy at all, they're just thicker than the sheets. I'm sure of you really want one that's heavy and will weight you down as you sleep, you could find it somewhere. </p>

<p>The mattress pad makes the bed softer. You don't get both-they do the same thing- so it's one or the other. College mattresses are notorious for being really stiff. Sleeping on one without a mattress pad would be like not sleeping on a bed at all and just laying on the floor. Yeah, it's that bad. If you don't buy one before you go to school, you'll be ready to buy one after the first night you're there. At this point in the college-buying season, you'll be hard-pressed to find a twin or twin XL egg crate-you know, the yellow pads with the deep grooves in them that look like egg cartons- but you can probably find a regular mattress pad at BB&B for under $15, depending on whether you need twin or twin XL. It sounds like you know at least that much. But if you don't, call the school and find out. </p>

<p>When you get to your room, you'll have just a mattress. You'll put the mattress pad on top of the mattress. Then you'll put down the fitted sheet. It's the one with the elastic that will make it fit nicely around the mattress and mattress pad. Hence the name "Fitted" sheet. Yes, it will fit over both. Next you'll put down the flat sheet, which you only tuck under the mattress at the foot of the bed. When you get in bed to go to sleep, you'll be UNDER the flat sheet. </p>

<p>I've heard that the quality of the sheets and such from those school-suggested web sites is horrible. Try JC Penny, Hecht's, Kohl's, Sears, Target, Walmart, Linens N Things, and Bed, Bath and Beyond when you get here. You'll be able to see and feel the quality of what you're getting before it's too late to send it back and you won't have to pay for shipping. Besides, shopping for college is fun. </p>

<p>Most people over here spend about ten minutes to make a bare bed, and since some don't care about the cleanliness of their rooms, it's the one and only time they do it all year. I would suggest you try and get to the States early and figure out some of these things that are going to be common sense for your peers. </p>

<p>Well good luck at Cornell and living in the US full-time!</p>

5

<p>Haha thanks for the replies ^^ I understand now</p>

<p>You see, my bed at home consists of a mattress, a "flat" sheet covering it, and a blanket on top; and at the other place where I spend a lot of time, Taiwan, I sleep on a tatami style matt with a simple blanket</p>

<p>(and so I wanted to make sure about those pads/crates and the "extra sheets")</p>

<p>Anyway... so can you or can you not use a mattress pad plus and egg crate? The egg crate looks more comfortable. And has anyone else tried that site?</p>

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<p>Don't use uparents.com!!! It's a total scam! The quality of their stuff is ****. Don't do it! Go to Bed Bath and Beyond's website... </p>

<p>I got a letter from them too, and it looked like ucla had endorsed it...but apparently they hadn't...</p>

<p>Anyways, read this complaint letter from a ucla parent:
September 25, 2005</p>

<p>We received a post letter from "Residence Hall Linens" (web site <a href="http://www.uparents.com/linens/linens.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uparents.com/linens/linens.aspx&lt;/a&gt;) that looked like it was sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to purchase bedding for my son's first year of college. I ordered the linens since in the letter, it stated that UCLA beds are a special size. This was the beginning of what I would like other parents to avoid at all costs.</p>

<p>This company is a scam. UCLA has no knowledge of this company. Furthermore, my order was incorrectly processed, the quality is absolute junk and I received the incorrect color and size of the linens.</p>

<p>The quality of the towels, bed sheets, robe, and comforter is so bad that the first laundry destroyed many of the items and the dyes leeched on all the washed clothes and even stained my laundry machine tub green. I have never purchased linens of such bad quality.</p>

<p>My son has to leave this week for his first year so I have no time to return the junk and have lost about $189.00 on products I would never recommend anyone buying.</p>

<p>Although there is a guarantee advertised on their web site, all my interactions were so bad that I don't trust that the company will return my money after I ship the junk back. I certainly don't want to risk more loss by pay shipping costs. Details:</p>

<p>1) When I placed my order for $189.00, I received NO confirmation of the order over the web nor in email. Clicking on the "submit" for payment button gave me no confirmation number to refer to when calling customer service. I then called the company 2 days in a row, many times during the day, to change the default Green color to Blue and was told that the order didn't go through because there was no record of it on their computers.</p>

<p>They used my name to try to find the order. Customer service operators stated that they left paper messages with the request to change the color from green to blue but had no way of electronically recording my calls. I was never called back. This is after I submitted my credit card information! Obviously every web consumers nightmare.</p>

<p>2) Although I was told the order didn't go through, the shipment unexpectedly arrived, with the incorrect color and then another set of problems started.</p>

<p>3) The size of the comforter advertised on the web was an Extra Long. I received a normal twin size. I only noticed after I washed it.</p>

<p>4) The comforter is junk. After I washed it in cold water, as usually done before first use, the green color from one side leeched into the cream on the other and what used to be cream became a puke green color.
Also, The polyester filling scrunched up and became totally uneven. I have never had this happen to any other comforters that I have been washing for many years now.</p>

<p>5) The "special size" of linens is standard extra-long twin. There is nothing special about UCLA bed sizes and I didn't need to special order anything! It would have been much cheaper for me to go to K-Mart and I would have purchased far better quality.</p>

<p>6) The "Blue Velvet" Robe, which required washing before first use, fell apart with a hole in the shoulder AFTER THE FIRST WASH! Also, threads started coming out at the seams.</p>

<p>7) The towel quality is very poor. They also lost lots of green dye and left a unusual amount of lint, becoming thin after the first wash. I have never had towels of such poor quality.</p>

<p>8) I left email and phone mail with staff and supervisors and no one returned email or phone calls.</p>

<p>Because I have no time left to return the awful merchandise and I refuse to risk losing more money on shipping fees to a company I don't trust, my son is going off to college with holes in his robe, a puky green comforter that is too short for his bed, and green bed sheets and towels that leech dye badly. I warned him not to wash the linens with ANY of his clothes since his clothes will all be puky green too - a challenge for any college kid to remember and certainly not something I have ever had to worry about before.</p>

<p>Any parents that are thinking about ordering from "Residence Hall Linens" should stop immediately and go to their normal linen outlet for much better quality stuff at much lower prices.</p>

<p>Marina</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Anyway... so can you or can you not use a mattress pad plus and egg crate?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You CAN use both together, but you can also use just one or the other. Using both makes it softer but is in no way necessary.</p>

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<p>marina, THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT.</p>

<p>i almost purchased from that company though a flyer they send out. they go under "ASUC Auxiliary" also.</p>

<p>anyways...WHEW!!!</p>

9

<p>Marina's the name of the parent. =p</p>

<p>You're welcome.</p>

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<p>People always try to scam college students. I have gotten advertisements in the mail, supposedly sponsored by my school or even the federal government, for all sorts of things. If it doesn't have my school's letterhead I ignore it. You can get inexpensive bedding at stores like Linens N Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, JCPenneys...all of which have websites you can order from. However, surely in your town, you have stores that sell bedding so you can check out the quality first hand.</p>

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<p>If in a bind, you can use flat sheets to cover the mattress (you have to fold the corners under the mattress in a special way). It's more bothersome that using a fitted sheet, but possible.</p>

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<p>ROFL. One parent complaint, and you guys are running scared? Whatever, I'm happy with what I got from Residence Hall Linens. And these guys are legit, I've seen them profiled on Occidential and NYU's websites...</p>

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<p>Strykur, just because they are profiled on the website doesn't mean they are high quality. Often companies like that will pay the college for their support, so its basically an advertisement. </p>

<p>Of course, that doesn't make it poor quality, but people think that because its "endorsed" by the school (which often isn't even the case) its somehow better quality or price. I prefer to shop on my own, with companies that have a good public reputation and that I have prior experience with.</p>

<p>When you buy anything online, no matter where you get it, you should always read the fine print of the return policy, and if you haven't heard of the company before, check with the Better Business Bureau.</p>

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<p>personally i got confused too and i used them for yrs.. i just didn't know the proper terms for 'em either XP</p>

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<p>Do NOT use ANY linen company that gets to you through the university, advertises that theirs are the only linens that work on the school's bed, etc. even if the university itself sends you the letter. They are all ripoffs, you can get bedsheets at Bed Bath & Beyond and other quality stores that are cheaper, are of much higher quality, and will fit your bed just as well.</p>