Get the Sleep You Need: How Organic Linen Can Help

Sleep is vital for health and wellbeing—learn how organic linen bedding can elevate your comfort and improve your sleep quality.

Why Sleep Is Important

These days, it seems like everyone's obsessed with getting that "perfect" eight hours—but we rarely talk about exactly why sleep is important.

It's often easier to recognize the benefits of sleep when you've not slept well. You're groggy and grumpy, you can't focus, and it becomes far more difficult to work, socialize, and exercise. If you're feeling like this, you're not alone—one in three American adults isn't getting enough sleep.

Sleep is when the body heals, rests, and consolidates memories. According to the Sleep Foundation, a good night's sleep helps with the following physical and mental functions:

• Learning and memory
• Emotional regulation
• Judgement and decision making
• Problem solving
• Energy conservation
• Growth and healing
• Immune function

Needless to say, if the benefits of a good night’s sleep came in pill form, it’d be hailed as a “wonder drug” and prescribed to everyone!

Sleep Hygiene: the Basics

Your habits while awake influence how well you sleep: this is known as "sleep hygiene." A large part of sleep hygiene is light exposure (or avoidance)—this regulates your circadian rhythm, ensuring that you feel sleepy when you're supposed to. Getting outside into daylight for 20 minutes first thing in the morning is the best way to reset your body clock; if (like in Scandinavian countries!) the sun doesn't rise till later, just get outside as soon as you can. This technique works even when it's cloudy outside.

Conversely, being exposed to light just before bed will also disrupt your body clock—which is why many scientists suggest switching off all electronic screens and dimming the lights at least an hour and a half before bed.

Maintaining the Ideal Sleep Temperature

One of the most important aspects of sleep hygiene is your sleep environment. Your bedroom needs to be dark, quiet, and cool—around 65-68°F (18-20°C).

That last part is where organic linen bedding can help. Linen bedding—such as The Modern Dane's organic linen duvet covers—is made from the flax plant, which has thousands of tiny pores along its length. This means that linen is the perfect bedding fabric for keeping you cool, as excess heat escapes through these pores.

That said, it's also important that your bedroom isn't too cold. In colder, northern climates, the ambient temperature can fall well below 65°F if it's not carefully controlled. Linen can help here, too—those same pores trap warm air against your body when the temperature drops. Linen, therefore, is what scientists call a thermoregulating textile—it keeps you cool when it's warm and warm when it's cool.

The pores also wick moisture away from your body, keeping you dry as well as regulating temperature. This is a real help for people who struggle with night sweats, such as perimenopausal women.

Soft Bedding for Sleep

Another important aspect of your sleeping environment is how comfortable your bed is. Given its reputation as a "scratchy" fabric, linen might not seem like the most obvious choice for comfortable bedding—but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are two main factors that determine the softness of linen: fiber thickness and washing.

After the flax is harvested and the linen fibers are separated from the rest of the plant, they’re sorted into two categories: long, fine fibers, which are used for bedding; and short, coarse fibers, which are used in sacking and upholstery. It's this second type of linen that tends to be scratchy.

Even so, fine linen bedding still feels a little stiff, due to residual pectin (a type of soluble polymer) in the fiber. At this point, manufacturers have a couple of options. They can garment-wash the linen—just as you would at home, but in a bigger, industrial machine—or they can use chemical softeners. This latter approach has two problems: first, the artificial chemicals may cause skin issues (more on that later); secondly, the softeners clog the pores in the fiber, compromising linen's thermoregulating properties.

At The Modern Dane, we garment-wash our organic linen duvet covers, ensuring that when they reach you, they're free from artificial chemicals and soft straight out of the box. Don't believe us? Try before you buy by ordering one of our linen swatches. What's more, further washing dissolves more pectin, meaning that your organic linen bedding will get even softer over time.

Calming Sensitive Skin and Allergies

Living with a condition such as eczema, psoriasis, asthma, or a dust allergy can make it difficult to achieve quality sleep. Obviously, we recommend getting advice from a healthcare professional first. But organic linen bedding can help to complement whatever treatment you're receiving, thanks to its unique properties.

Due to its breathability, linen stays dry and prevents the growth of mold and the breeding of dust mites, which exacerbate skin conditions and allergies. The weave of linen bedding, though looser than some other fabrics, is still tight enough to further prevent dust mites from penetrating.

Chemical-Free Bedding for Long-Term Health

Non-organic bedding—particularly cotton bedding—is often treated with all manner of harmful chemicals. Though you may not notice their effects after a single night's sleep, over time they may cause long-term health complications. Chemicals used in cotton bedding production include dyes containing lead and arsenic, carcinogenic flame retardants, and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (one of the two ingredients in the Agent Orange herbicide used in the Vietnam War).

The Modern Dane is proud to state that our organic linen bedding is certified free from harmful chemicals by OEKO-TEX, an independent testing body with rigorous standards. All our products carry Class 1 certification: the highest available standard and the only one deemed safe for babies.

Have you been convinced to make the switch to linen? What other sleep tips would you like to share? Let us know on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter!