It’s Sunday, 3pm, when it hits you: in just a few hours the weekend will be over. You probably want to hide under the covers and pretend it’s Saturday morning again, but is the better solution for the so-called Sunday Scaries actually to grab those covers, strip the bed, and get cleaning?
Regular sheet changes are essential to keeping your best mattress and best pillow in tip-top shape, and Sunday afternoon might be the perfect time to wash and change your bedding. “By doing it at this time, you can distract yourself from any negative feelings and, instead, experience the positive outcomes of a tidy space,” explains Martin Seeley, sleep expert and CEO at Mattress Next Day.
Known on TikTok as the Sunday Reset, this weekend clean helps banish the Sunday Scaries – the looming stress of going back to work. And Martin thinks he’s nailed the exact time to switch your bedding: 3pm. “The optimal time for a Sunday reset of your bedroom is between 3-5 pm,” he says, “aligning with the period when people typically experience Sunday blues.” Here’s what you need to do…
“Cleaning your bedroom and changing your sheets on a Sunday is recommended as this is known by many as the wind-down day of the weekend,” says Martin. He explains that opting for a Sunday reset leaves Saturday free for socializing while ensuring you start the new week without chores lingering over your head. “There’s nothing worse than going into a new week with a long to-do list.”
This Sunday declutter can help you sleep for a few reasons. First, you won’t lie awake stressing over all the cleaning you meant to do over the weekend, but never got round to. Beyond that, those fresh sheets themselves might also help you drift off. “A study from The National Sleep Foundation found that people sleep better when their bedrooms are comfortable and tidy,” explains Martin. “Starting each week with a fresh and clean bedroom can improve your sleep.”
(Image credit: Getty)
“You must get the best rest before the start of your week, without disrupting your circadian rhythm. Any disruptions can cause sleep disturbances that can impact your cognitive function,” says Martin. By completing your Sunday Reset, you set yourself up for a more productive Monday and a better week overall.
And the good news is, your Sunday Refresh starts off with the simplest step: let your mattress breathe. “Once a week, you should be pulling back your bedding and letting your mattress air,” says Martin. “This gives your mattress the chance to spring back into shape, whilst evaporating any excess moisture.”
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Start your Sunday cleaning by doing nothing? That’s just what I like to hear. Then when the Sunday Scaries hit mid-afternoon, move on to cleaning your headboard, then fluff your pillows, and change your bedding. A quick spot-clean should keep you bed looking fresh, but once every six months, it’s time to deep clean your mattress.
(Image credit: Getty)
With your bed refreshed and your mind successfully distracted, you can enjoy the rest of your evening, satisfied with a job well done. You might even look forward to going to bed on Sunday night – who doesn’t get excited about curling up with fresh sheets?
Google has announced that Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets applications for Android now offer a sidebar containing formatting options on devices with large screens, such as tablets, which makes it easier for you to access formatting options.
The Docs, Slides, and Sheets apps for Android offer formatting options in a horizontal bar at the top of the screen. Since the bar is tiny and has to show many formatting options, it doesn’t show sub-options of a main option, which means that you have to tap multiple times on the screen to access a sub-option, which feels quite cumbersome.
With the update, the bar at the top of the screen will show you an option called Format that will bring all the formatting options to a card on the right-hand side of the display. Since the card is spread across a much larger than the bar, formatting options appear more clearer and informative. Plus, the card also shows granular options all the time, which, according to Google, “reduces the number of taps needed to navigate to formatting options, enabling you to more easily arrange text, tables, images and more.”
With the formatting sidebar, the experience of using Docs, Slides, and Sheets on Android tablets feels similar to using those platforms on a desktop. Google has started rolling out the new feature with an update to the three apps. So, update them from the Play Store to get it on your Galaxy Tab. According to Google, the latest feature is available to “all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.”
LilySilk 19-Momme Silk Pillowcase for $40: This is the same price as the Quince pillowcase, but a lighter weight, though it’s barely noticeable side by side. If you prefer no zipper, though, this is the silk pillowcase for you. It does have a few colors and prints that Quince doesn’t, so you might want to peruse the two brands and choose based on your color preference.
Silken Pure Silk Envelope Pillowcase for $78: This pillowcase is a splurge, but the Silken Pure is noticeably higher-end. Medea found it’s not as slippery as other, cheaper pillowcases, but is super cooling on your skin. She says it’s held up great in the wash too. She does find she has to adjust it in the morning, since it doesn’t have a zipper enclosure.
Kitsch Satin Pillowcase for $19: This pillowcase is satin, not silk, but Medea says it’s better than similarly priced silk options. If you’re not looking to spend more than $20 to $25, she says to choose this one over the cheap silk pillowcases you’ll find on Amazon.
Organic Sheets
Why buy organic sheets? If you’re buying an organic mattress, you probably want to pair it with organic sheets. Otherwise, nonorganic sheets can bring the chemicals and materials you avoided—including anything from formaldehyde and TCEP (a flame retardant) to phthalates—right back into your life. Even if you have a regular mattress, you can still benefit from choosing sheets that are made of natural, organic materials.
Our Favorite Organic Sheets
WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson tests organic bedding, and these are the best organic cotton sheets he’s tried. They’re soft but not overly silky, which is a feeling he doesn’t care for (if you do, check out the Avocado sheets below). The Brooklinen organic cotton sheets are made from Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified organic cotton. They’re also Oeko-Tex certified, which means they’re tested for and do not contain any known toxic chemicals.
The 300 thread count makes this plenty crisp and soft but not so tight that you end up sleeping hot. These are a great choice for summer or if, like Scott, you sleep on the warm side even in winter.
Other Great Organic Sheets
Avocado Organic Cotton Sheets for $229: These 600-count sheets are like sleeping on silk or satin and are 100 percent GOTS-certified organic cotton from India. The only potential issue here is that, because they are such a dense weave, they sleep a little warmer than what you might be used to. There’s also a 400-count version we haven’t tested.
Avocado Organic Linen Sheets for $499: These linen sheets are some of the heaviest Scott has tried and will likely last you many years, thanks to the heavy weight. They’ll get softer with every wash, but they are initially rougher than other styles of sheets.
Alternative Materials
Why buy bamboo or eucalyptus sheets? Companies are making sheets from other materials now too, like bamboo and eucalyptus. The latter usually takes less water than cotton and less harsh chemicals than bamboo to produce sheets. Because bamboo plants grow so quickly, it’s thought to be an eco-friendly resource we can use without depleting the planet. However, it’s not a perfect solution. The process of turning bamboo into fabric uses harsh chemicals, which can actually add to air and water pollution. Bamboo viscose is slightly better than bamboo rayon.
A Eucalyptus Sheet
We were already fans of Buffy’s enormous Wiggle Pllow, and now we’re happy to have tried the company’s sheets too. They’re light and airy and yet feel warm, like you’re cozy under your favorite blanket, without making you hot and sweaty. WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano says her husband struggles with waking up sweaty on materials like percale, even when they feel cool to the touch, but he commented on how nice he felt sleeping in these. She did, however, note that they slid up the side of her mattress more than some other sheets.
The fabric uses a sateen weave but is actually Tencel lyocell, which is made from sustainable wood sources—in this case, eucalyptus—and it’s biodegradable.
A Bamboo Sheet
While WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano says she prefers the crispness of percale, these Luxome sheets made from bamboo viscose are the softest bedding she’s ever slept in. They’re silky and drape well, but have deep pockets and elastic straps to keep them on your mattress all night. They’ve held up in the wash too. We were nervous they’d get pilly like some similar cheap soft sheets we’ve tried from Bed Bath and Beyond (RIP) but that hasn’t been the case.
Other Great Bamboo Sheets
Bedsure Bamboo Cooling Sheet Set for $60: This is one of the best cheap sets of sheets we found from stores like Amazon and Walmart, and happened to be bamboo to boot. They’re made from bamboo rayon (instead of viscose, which is better for the environment), and while they aren’t as silky and cool as the Luxome sheets above, they’re a close second.
Quince Bamboo Linen Sheet Set for $100: Quince’s bamboo linen sheets are well priced for linen. They have a slightly softer, silkier feel compared to regular linen but still maintain some of the weight and stiffness you’d expect with linen sheets. It’s made with 70 percent bamboo rayon (less ideal than bamboo viscose) and 30 percent linen. These are a little more cooling to sleep on compared to other linen sheets too.
Cozy Earth Bamboo Sheet Set for $339: Similar to Luxome, these bamboo sheets are 100 percent bamboo viscose, but they’re pricier. Still, they’re insanely soft and nice and cold to the touch. They warm up after about 15 minutes of lying in bed but still feel almost as if they’ve melted around you.
A Bamboo Linen Sheet
Quince’s bamboo linen sheets are well priced for linen. They have a slightly softer, silkier feel compared to regular linen but still maintain some of the weight and stiffness you’d expect with linen sheets. It’s made with 70 percent bamboo rayon (less ideal than bamboo viscose) and 30 percent linen. These are a little more cooling to sleep on compared to other linen sheets too.
Best Budget Sheets
On a tight budget? Some of our favorite sheets are surprisingly cheap compared to other similar sets, but they cover a range of sheet styles.
Our Favorite Budget Sheets
When I upgraded my mattress after moving across California, I popped into Target to grab its cheapest queen sheet set off the shelf and promptly left the store. Target’s Room Essentials set is made with a plain cotton weave, and I didn’t expect them to hold up for long, especially with my claw-happy cat in the house.
It’s been four years and I still use these sheets. They’re soft and light after years of use and feel a bit like a favorite T-shirt I’ve worn in the perfect amount. My husband, much to my ire, calls these “the nice sheets” even though we have actual nice sheets. They’re affordable and are comfortable to sleep on.
How you’re sleeping affects how you feel the rest of the day. If your sleep is suffering, and you’ve already tried putting your smartphone in another room to keep the distractions at bay, well you’re in luck. National Sleep Awareness Week runs from March 10 to March 16, and that means some of our favorite sleep accessories are on sale right now. You can get a whole new mattress or maybe a fresh pair of sheets to keep you cool. All the prices listed are for queen sizes wherever relevant.
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Use code MADNESS20 at checkout to get 20 percent off our favorite mattress. It was slightly cheaper during President’s Day, but it’s a great mattress if you can splurge, and it works well for all sleeping positions. We tried the medium-firm Midnight Luxe model, but there are a few other versions to choose from.
Leesa’s Sapira hybrid is our runner-up pick. This bed is firm but still feels soft, and we kept coming back to it during our testing. It was also cheaper during its President’s Day sale, but it doesn’t usually have great discounts. The $1,699 price it usually is just went up on Amazon to $1,719. We’ll keep checking to see if it stays there.
Use code MADNESS20 to get this discount. The Elite is even more expensive than the other Helix we like, but it is very luxurious with nine layers of foam packed into its 16-inch thick body. Like the Luxe, there are various options depending on what firmness level and sleep position you prefer.
My Green Mattress Kiwi Children’s (Twin) Mattress
Photograph: My Green Mattress
The twin size of this mattress is reasonably priced, so we recommend it as an organic option for kids. We saw it drop to $679 during the President’s Day sale, but this is the usual sale price. It’s made using certified organic cotton, wool, and latex.
WIRED readers can use code WIRED100 to get an additional $100 off the sale price. Technically this deal is $975 off, but we’ve only rarely seen it hit its $2,499 MSRP. When it was available on Amazon, it hovered between $1,625 and $1,700 most of the time. Still, it did occasionally reach peak price, and it is a discount on a great mattress for side sleepers. It needed a full two weeks to break in, though, so give it time. There’s a 120-night sleep trial, but it’s an extra $100.
This DreamCloud bed is the runner-up in our Best Mattresses You Can Buy on Amazon guide. Its eight layers of foam, coiled springs, and cashmere-blend quilted pillow top make it feel luxurious. The medium-firm feel is great for side and back sleepers, but it does lack edge support. We’ve seen it drop lower than this, but it’s steadily $1,399.
Awara Natural Hybrid Mattress
Photograph: Awara
The Awara is a more affordable organic choice, and it is both supportive and bouncy, with little motion transfer. But we could feel the springs a bit more. As a nice plus, it has less off-gassing odors than other beds in boxes we’ve tried.
This is our favorite organic latex mattress. Latex beds are usually very heavy and hard to ship nationally. Turmerry solves this by shipping its bed in four boxes—the three or four separate layers zip into an organic cotton cover.
Enter code DEALS at checkout to get this discount on our favorite side-sleeping mattress. It’s 14 inches thick and firmer than most options geared toward side sleepers. But the layer of springs of varied rigidity allows your hips to sink in comfortably. The Elite occasionally reaches its $2,305 price, but we usually see it around this sale price.
Saatva Classic Innerspring Mattress
Photograph: Saatva
The base price for this bed has risen from $1,995 to $2,095. We haven’t tracked it reaching $1,995 until the end of February, so $400 off is a generous estimate. Still, this innerspring mattress is great if you’re dealing with back pain. The luxury firm option has a quilted organic cotton pillow top that’s zoned to promote lumbar support. A layer of high-density foam helps achy lower backs.
Most cheap mattresses are not going to be great options, but this one is fine if you absolutely need the cheapest bed right now or just want to outfit a guest room. Just know that the edge support is uneven, and the springs are a little creaky.
We liked the Linenspa better, but this is another super-cheap bed that typically costs $252. We’re impressed that its foam is CertiPUR-US certified, which means it doesn’t use formaldehyde or problematic flame retardants. We wouldn’t want to sleep on it every night, but younger people who have yet to face back problems might not mind it. It’s perfect for a guest room.
Sheets, Pillows, and Weighted Blankets Deals
See more info about fabrics and all our favorite picks in our Best Bedsheets guide.
If you have an organic mattress, you should pair it with organic sheets. And if you don’t have one, organic bedding is a more affordable step toward relinquishing chemicals. These Brooklinen sheets are the best organic sheets we’ve tried. They’re soft but not overly silky; crisp but not too tight. They’re made of Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified organic cotton. They’re also Oeko-Tex certified, which means they’re tested for and do not contain any known toxic chemicals.
Buffy’s sheets feel warm and cozy to snuggle into, but they are still light and airy, so you’re not sweating through the night. They’ve held up through many washes, too, with no dreaded pilling. The fabric is eucalyptus Tencel lyocell, which is sustainable and biodegradable.
The Company Store Legends Hotel Velvet Flannel Sheet Set
Use code FAMILY24 to get this discount. These were the softest flannel sheets we tested, though it did take a few washes to get there. If you want warm flannels to cuddle under in the winter, these are a good bet.
Coyuchi’s flannels are another set we liked. They’re still warm and cozy, but a little lighter than the Company Store sheets. If you sleep hot, you may want to splurge on these.
This price is not for the faint of heart, but these were the softest sheets WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell has slept on. They’re silky and cooling, and Farrell says it was nice to slip into a cool bed that warmed up a little once you’re settled.
We haven’t tried these yet, so we can’t say for sure that they’ll be great. However, this 50 percent off deal was too good not to share, and you can return them within 30 days if you end up not liking them. We’ve heard great things and will be testing this bamboo set and the sateen organic set for a future update to our sheets guide.
Buffy Wiggle Pillow
Photograph: Buffy
I love sleeping with this gigantic pillow or curling up with it on the couch. It’s meant to be floppy so you can curl it or tie it, but you can still comfortably lay your head on it. It’s also made using 55 plastic bottles. It’s perfect on its own, but you can get a cover for $81 ($14 off), and there are now more color and fabric options than when we tried it.
Most colors are already sold out, but if you can grab one, Brooklinen’s weighted blanket is one of my favorites. It looks nice, with one satisfyingly textured side and one of washed cotton. It’s a good size too. It’s not too small to snuggle under on the couch, but I could still sleep under it without it covering my husband, who doesn’t like weighted blankets.
This price is for the black and oak colors. WIRED reviewer Jaina Grey says these slippers are like clouds for your feet with a nice beaded design. Manitobah is Indigenous-owned and staffed with Indigenous designers.
This sale price is also only for select colors. L.L.Bean’s Wicked Good slippers are a classic beloved by most who try them. I’ve gifted them to family members, and WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu bought these for his wife. He says they’ve held up over the three years she’s used them. The brand has a few other Wicked Good styles to choose from too.
Brooklinen Super-Plush Robe
Photograph: Brooklinen
This is a classic robe for lounging in while drinking coffee or throwing on after a shower. It feels a bit like a towel, but not scratchy, and it’s held up in the wash. There are great new colors as well as a nice rotating list of limited-edition colors and prints.
We tried the adult version of this robe, and this one is made for 7- to 11-year-olds. It’s 8 pounds, which is just enough to feel like a nice hug but not so heavy that your little one can’t get off the couch. However, it’s pricey even on sale.
Hatch makes great sound machine/night light combos, and the Rest is one of the cheaper models in its lineup. Adults and kids will like it as a bedside companion, but there are time-to-rest and time-to-rise beacons designed specifically for kids. You’ll get a few nice sleep sounds as is, but if you subscribe to the Hatch membership, it unlocks a ton of bedtime stories, lullabies, and mediations.
This isn’t a mask you’d wear to sleep, but Gravity’s eye massager (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great addition to a wind-down routine. Using air pressure, heat, and vibration, this mask gently massages your temples, helping to soothe sore eyes and headaches. I’ve tried a lot of fun things as a WIRED gear writer, but eye massages are among the top five.
Enter code REST25 at checkout to apply this discount. Breathing exercises can help fight insomnia or ward off panic attacks. You don’t need a device to do them, but if you’re having trouble controlling your breathing, this little thing works. Hold it in your hand with your thumb on the heart rate sensor, and match your breath to the device as it expands and contracts. It connects to an app, but if you set your default breathing exercise, you can just grab the device and use it without opening your phone.
These earbuds are half headphones, half sleep tracker. They’re not for everyone, and our tester found it tricky to get comfortable while wearing them, but he loved that you could layer a meditation or sleep story over a nice soundscape like rain. If it’s in your budget and you’ve exhausted other sleep headphone options, these may be worth a shot.
