Bedding - a brief history
People haven't always had access to comfortable bedding. The most luxurious bedding was reserved for the wealthiest people.
Today we tend to take our bedding for granted. Most of the bedding we buy is good quality and good value and it's easy to replace when we need to.
The origins of bedding
People have been sleeping on beds for over 10,000 years, but, like many developments, the biggest leaps in bedding technology have taken place in the last 100 years. It's around 6,000 years since the Egyptians discovered that it was more comfortable to sleep in a platform that was raised off the ground, and even then, bedding was a luxury that was only reserved for the elite. Over the years, bedding has evolved to include:
Roman bedding
The Romans have been credited with inventing a luxury lifestyle that we've only recently started to emulate - think about underfloor heating. They loved luxury and used soft, comfortable fabrics for their bedding.
Tudor bedding
Although we wouldn't consider the beds of the Tudor period to be particularly comfortable because of the way the mattresses were constructed, the people of this period did pay attention to their bedding. Again, the use of luxury bedding was commonplace amongst the wealthy, with silk and brocade helping to keep people warm during winter nights.
Georgian and Victorian bedding
As Britain continued to trade with countries across the world, and seized ideas from the countries it colonised during its Empire-building, bedding began to benefit from the use of different fabrics and the construction of new types of bed, including cast iron beds and new mattress construction.
20th Century Bedding
Over the 20th century, bedding changed substantially. The advent of better production techniques and washing techniques as meant that bedding can be kept cleaner and is more durable than ever before. Towards the end of the 20th century, most people adopted duvets as their main bedding, rather than the older bedding of sheets and blankets. Fabrics can be used together to create beautiful bedding that lasts.
If you go to museums where they reconstruct life in an earlier period, the bedding is one of the things that often fascinates people - they just can't imagine having to sleep under rough blankets or on top of lumpy mattresses. But today's bedding has evolved from that historical bedding, and it's important that we can appreciate how lucky we are to be able to sleep in comfort and style every night.
Duncan Stewart Textiles Ltd has been trading online at www.towelsrus.co.uk for over 5 years. With 30 years of experience in the towel and home textiles market, we offer the very best in quality and service both to businesses and individual clients. We give you as much information and advice as we can so that you can make an informed choice when it comes to buying bedding, towels and other textiles. Whether you're replenishing your linen cupboard or ordering personalised towels for a corporate events, we can help. Browse our website to order online, or call us on 0845 123 5880.
