Today I bought new organic sheets! Some of you may wonder why I'm so excited? I've been fantasizing about this splurge for at least three years. Most of my sheets are at least four years old and some are not aging well with holes from where I stapled them up on the doorways to seal off heated areas in my heatless house. The last new sheet set I bought was at a garage sale. They were still in the package, king size, bright red (which does not match anything in my bedroom), flannel, but only $3. Other than the color, I love them. I only had to wash them a few times and I'm not sure why they didn't smell much with all that red dye, but they are thick, soft and high quality. Prior to that I bought a brand new cheap set at the local department store. So cheap after my normal 15 washings to get all the nasty chemical treatments off the fabric, they were so thin they lasted barely another year. Very disappointing.
I had high hopes for real, quality-made, organic sheets. I really wasn't excited about spending nearly three times the amount for a set of sheets, but I had given up on finding non-toxic styles that might be affordable. There is an online company that makes natural wool mattresses and bedding located in a town nearby. I like being able to go into a place and smell the products rather than chance ordering something online that might not work. This company often has discount products that were measured wrong or had some minor flaw. Their store is very non-toxic located in an old ex-hardware store from the 1930s with natural wood floors and the old style counter tops still intact. You can watch the employees hand-construct the comforters and mattresses on huge tables. There is something very earthy and traditional about seeing someone actually hand-make something. It's a great space.
They didn't have much discounted as it was in between seasons, but the woman found me two sets of queen size sheets, one dark navy blue and one ivory. I wanted flannel, but all they had was jersey which is still 100% cotton but woven to be stretchy. Flannel is sometimes thicker, but I checked their flannel sheets and they felt the same. They were 30% off. I like to avoid dark colors because of the dyes, and I really prefer to avoid whites so I can avoid having to use bleach when the fabric discolors with age and looks permanently dirty. My bed is ivory as is my quilt so I opted for the ivory anyway.
I got home and eagerly removed the plastic wrap only then realized the set was encased in a drawstring bag which I thought was cute and classy. You don't find such quality packaging with cheap sheets made in China. As I unfolded the sheets, I could smell something chemical. Hmmm...not strong, but definitely chemical and definitely not something I'd want to sleep on. As I registered the toxicity, a little packet of silica gel tucked into the folds fell onto the floor.
Silica gel. Damn. WHY would a manufacturer of organic fabrics pack their products with toxic chemicals? It makes absolutely NO SENSE to me! Yes, I know it's used to keep products from mildewing in storage and these packets are used even in packaging supplements and other food-based items. I also know everyone (the powers-that-be) considers silica to be non-toxic. Well, besides it can irritate your skin and lungs AND causes cancer, but those things don't count, right?
I don't know if what I was smelling was from the silica or some other treatment. The sheets are really soft so it could be sizing. I ended up washing the set in hot water, non-toxic detergent, and vinegar FIVE times and that seemed to do the trick. I guess five times is better than fifteen times. I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping it would be like my organic, but ugly nightshirt: no smell whatsoever and comfortable. I don't understand their reasoning.
Oh, whatever! They are SO beautiful!
Hopefully all that beauty won't suffocate me when I try to sleep on them tonight!
UPDATE: After I wrote this post I emailed the organic store to let them know of my displeasure. As you can see on the above post, I didn't name names because I didn't/don't want to discourage organic products, I just want them to be held accountable. The store customer service specialist emailed back promptly, apologized, and thanked me for the information claiming customer input was appreciated. I was satisfied because I do think it's a really good company. About a half hour later she emailed again. In the meantime she had contacted the company who makes the sheets to let them know of my complaint and told me to send the information on the tags...along with my address. They are going to send me a whole new set of sheets!!!!! FREE! WHOA!! It pays to be proactive. I emailed the information back, but also asked if they had planned to rectify the situation. No response.
UPDATE: After a month I had begun to wonder if they were specially growing the organic cotton for my new sheets! Eventually they did arrive sans silica gel packets and sans STINK! They did have a very faint smell, kind of a mix of burlap and...hamburgers...? It was as if someone ate their lunch around them. Not a bad smell, just a food or cooking smell. Definitely non-toxic. I washed them once just because. It's good to know this company can be non-toxic.
Thanks for the free sheets!!
UPDATE: After a month I had begun to wonder if they were specially growing the organic cotton for my new sheets! Eventually they did arrive sans silica gel packets and sans STINK! They did have a very faint smell, kind of a mix of burlap and...hamburgers...? It was as if someone ate their lunch around them. Not a bad smell, just a food or cooking smell. Definitely non-toxic. I washed them once just because. It's good to know this company can be non-toxic.
Thanks for the free sheets!!
