How to Keep Sheets on a Bed: 10 Strategies
Say Goodbye to Slipping Sheets for Good
This article is part of our series, Sleep Week: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your Best Sleep Ever. Sleep Week is your destination for whole sleep happiness, curating our very best tips and product recommendations to help you create your coziest, most comfortable sleep environment yet.
Ensuring you get quality, deep sleep is crucial to having a good day after you wake up. Learning how to properly keep sheets on your bed can prevent them from interrupting your sleep when they won't stay put throughout the night. A loose fitted sheet or a tangled top sheet can irritate you while you’re sleeping and add more work to your bed-making routine. Along with preventing discomfort, keeping your sheets from slipping off the bed is also beneficial to prevent the sheets from wrinkling while you sleep. However, there are easy ways to address this tiresome problem. Borrow one of these 10 strategies for keeping your sheets on the bed to solve your slipping sheet situation for good.
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1. Measure Your Sheet Pockets
Your sheet’s pocket size is often overlooked when buying new sheets, which can cause slippage if the pocket isn't deep enough for the thickness of your mattress. When buying a sheet set, check the pocket depth listed on the packaging, which refers to how deep the sheets are and what mattress thickness it will fit.
Standard pockets accommodate mattresses up to 14 inches thick. Deep pockets fit mattresses between 14 and 15 inches thick. Sheets with extra-deep pockets fit mattresses measuring 15 inches or more.
2. Start at the Top
For a snug, secure fit, try putting the bottom sheet on at the head of the bed first. Top corners are hard to reach to secure them. By starting at the top of the bed, you can more easily tuck the corners under the mattress to ensure a snug fit. Then, at the foot of the bed, you can pull the sheets tight.
3. Use a Grippy Undersheet
Smooth satin or silk sheets will easily slip and slide due to their lack of friction. If this is the case, try adding a grippy type of undersheet below your fitted sheet before putting your sheets on. By choosing a coarser material, such as thick cotton, fleece, or flannel sheets, you'll add a layer of grip and friction that helps keep your luxuriously smooth—yet slippery—sheets in place.
4. Use Mattress Pads and Mattress Toppers
Mattress pads and toppers soften the surface of your bed and also add friction and grip underneath the sheets. Measure your mattress with the additional cushion or padding in place to ensure your sheet pockets are deep enough to accommodate the adjusted thickness of your bed.
5. Use Sheet Suspenders
Sheet suspenders are elastic straps and clips that are attached to the corners of the bottom sheet, then pulled tight underneath the edge of the mattress. Sheet suspenders keep the corners of the sheet from slipping up or sliding off.
Some sheet suspenders can be placed under the entire mattress, connecting the opposite corners in a large X shape for added security. You will need to lift your entire mattress to use them, creating more work every time you change the sheets.
6. Use Non-Slip Rug Corners
Non-slip rug corners can be added to the inner corners of the bottom sheet where the sheet tucks under the mattress. Placing these between the mattress and the sheet provides extra grip and prevents the sheet from slipping.
7. Use Stretchy Sheet Bands
Stretchy bands for sheets are basically giant rubber bands that fit around the perimeter of your mattress to keep your sheet snuggly wrapped around the mattress. Simply put your sheet on and slide the stretchy band on top. This is an ideal way to keep your sheets in place if you also want to tuck the top sheet in at the foot of the bed since the top sheet can also be tucked into the stretchy band.
8. Use Safety Pins
For a quick fix, use safety pins to pin the sheet directly to the mattress. Just be sure the pins lay flat under the mattress, or you risk them coming undone. This method may not be good for someone who moves around a lot at night since too much pressure on the pins can tear the sheets and further damage silky sheet material.
9. Make DIY Sheet Suspenders
Create your own sheet suspenders with safety pins and thick elastic, about an inch or wider. Take these steps:
Pull the corners of the sheets to smooth them out as if the sheet were on the bed.
Measure 6 inches down each side and place a safety pin at both spots.
Then measure from one safety pin to the other and cut the elastic to fit this space.
Attach the elastic with the safety pins to create a handle.
Repeat for each corner.
Then, use your homemade sheet suspenders tucked underneath the mattress to hold your sheets in place.
10. Replace Your Sheets
Sometimes sheets just wear out and the elastic in them is no longer serving its purpose. You may need to replace your sheets—and remember to measure your pocket depth before purchasing a new set.
If you’re buying new sheets, consider zip-up sheets that won't slide. These sheets wrap completely around the mattress and zip on and off around the perimeter. These kinds of enveloping sheets eliminate the possibility of slipping sheets, ensuring an uninterrupted night of rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my sheets keep falling off my bed?
Your sheets may be fitted improperly with the wrong size sheet pockets or the sheet's material may be too slippery and not grippy enough on the mattress.
How do hotels keep their sheets so tight?
It's typical that hotels only use flat sheets on the beds (not fitted sheets) and they make the beds up using the hospital corners method, which is an efficient way to make beds and keep the bedding tightly tucked in. Hospital corners give a bed that smooth, neat, and polished look.
Does it matter if a fitted sheet is too deep?
Fitted sheets that are too large (with deep pockets) are less likely to come off the bed but there will be extra material that needs to be tucked in. Fitted sheets that are too small are much more likely to fall off the bed.
