Category Archive, “Bed Sizes”

Twin XL Bedding Truths

Were just now passing the busy season for back to school college students.  By this point most students have purchased their dorm room items and are moving to or living in the dorms as we speak.  So in reflection I wanted to pass on some thoughts about the special sizes needed for most dorm beds which measure 39 x 80 inches (or as we say twin xl).

Now most colleges do have these longer beds which cause quite a bit on confusion and worry on the part of students and parents.  We get flooded with questions on how to buy the correct bedidng for the dorm rooms. There are basically two areas of bedding products - ‘top of bed’ and ‘on bed’.  Top of bed would include items like pillows and comforters - in other words items that appear above the sheets.  Typically many students can get by using a ‘normal’ size twin comforter (although we recommend the longer xl twin size - usually 66 x 90 or 68 x 92). Pillows are of course a matter of personal preference and most students seem to buy a couple standard pillows or jumbo pillows.

When it comes time for ‘on bed products’ - like twin xl sheets, mattress pads or featherbeds - size does make a difference.  We only recommend specially sized items in those cases - by default the measure 80 inches long - to fit those additional 5 inches (a normal twin measures 39 x 75 - a twin xl measures 39 x 80).

Now no one is a fan or dorms rooms - even the nicest luxury ones suffer from issues like noise levels, visitors, smells and all kinds of fun.  What we see is a lot of college students who want a ‘piece of home’ with them in college - so items like a nice puffy down comforter or a soft featherbed really can make a difference.  The truth is that most dorm mattresses are pretty much the same thing used in prisons - hard, plastic coated and used from person to person.  Why anyone would want to live on a bed like that astounds us.  Our newest item we make specially designed for dorm beds is our pillow top twin xl featherbed. Not only is it longer for the twin xl size - but it uses a special dual fabric layer system to prevent any poking.  The silky soft quilted top features a durable and pretty fabric as well which has a thread count of 325. Our xl twin featherbed pricing has lowered to $100 which is about $30 then what you would see in most specialty bedding catalogs for that size and style.

Another frequent question we see is about blankets - what will work in a dorm room?  Well most blankets are actually longer - typically measuring 70 x 90 for a ‘normal’ twin’ size.  As such they will fit your college students bed perfectly fine.

Of course as a bedding manufacturer were a bit biased - but overall I think these days college students have many twin xl bedding options.  So when your local store runs out or you want to buy a nicer version of a product carried in a store you can always visit or niche website - TwinXLBedidng.com for additional options.

Posted in Bed Sizes on Fri, August 28th, 2009 at 3:05 pm. No comments.

Full Size Bedding - Where Art Thou?

We have been seeing ‘full size’ bedding requests on a regular basis - maybe once a week an email from a consumer seeking full size bedding. As part of our item development process we just stopped making full size bedding for our own collections. It’s always a shame to turn a customer away but the reality is that full size bedding is such a niche.  Now we do a healthy amount of ‘Double Size’ bedding for hotels - but usually those are full XL’s.

We thought we had the size rations down pat and even went heavy on Twin XL products for students and for some single living bedding needs - but Full’s no more.

Maybe if we see the trend keep up we will reconsider?

This really applies to sheeting, mattress pads and bed toppers being in full size. We do sell quite a few full size comforters in both down and down alternative.

Posted in Bed Sizes on Mon, August 11th, 2008 at 3:32 am. No comments.

Adjustable Bed Solutions

I had recently taken a series of phone calls from customers with adjustable beds searching for sheets. It turns out that many adjustable beds feature seperate sides which are basically two twin xl adjustable beds. Normally, we see most of our twin xl bedding being bought by potential dorm students or their families. After some further research it appears that one of our fastest growing segments we serve is twin xl adjustable bed owners. It was a pleasent suprise because when we designed our new fine linen collections we specifically wanted to have twin xl bedding for dorm students and or older customers with seperate beds.  We did not plan or know about the market for twin xl adjustable bed bedding.

One thing we did learn is that our deep pocket twin extra long sheets were really too deep for most of these beds - which ranged from 12 to 14 inches at most. We have told customers to try sheet clips as a way to hold on to the fitted sheets from below.

We also heard from another customer whose husband had Parkinsons with issues of getting in and out of bed and wanted a ’slick’ sheeting material in a twin xl size. In that case we recommended our 500 TC Tencel Lyocell Cotton sheet set in twin xl. That customer wanted wrinkle free sheets and is currently doing a wash test on her own to see if she can shrink the sheets a bit to fit her bed side better.

In short DOWNLITE is unique in that it has so many twin xl sheeting options to choose from [300 TC Percale Twin XL Sheet Set, 400 TC Sateen Twin XL Sheet Set, 500 TC Tencel Lyocell Cotton Twin XL Sheet Set]. I still stand behind the sheet sets we make as great options for adjustable beds - just make sure you get a pair of sheet clips in case you want an extra tight fitted sheet. The cool touch, moisture wicking Tencel Lyocell sheet set is a great choise for sleepers with night sweats.

Posted in Bed Sizes on Mon, August 4th, 2008 at 4:08 am. No comments.