Saturday, March 23, 2013

Liz's Flannel Sheets


Reader Question (my very first one!)

My quilting friend, Liz, posted on Facebook this week:

"The disappointing thing today is that when I washed my flannel sheets, the bottom sheet came out of the dryer with a big hole where the sheet was shredded. I only had them ten years. But, back to Land's End, and I managed to get an order placed. I hope my bottom sheet will hold together until it comes. Maybe Karen can tell me in her Blog "diary of a home economics drop out" how to make flannel sheets last more than 10 years."

Thanks, Liz, for thinking of me. The thing is, I don't really know how to make a set of sheets last more than 10 years. I think mine do, but we rotate two sets per bed. And I'm sure that you've forgotten more about washing sheets and making beds than I ever knew!

Lands' End's Satisfaction Guarantee

What I do know, though, is that Lands' End (yes, that apostrophe is in the wrong place, but that's where they put it) has an unconditional satisfaction guarantee. Even if you've had the sheets 10 years, you ask? Well, there was only one way to find out. 

Highlights of my Web Chat with Lands' End

Home Ec Dropout: My friend has a set of flannel sheets that she feels should have lasted more than 10 years. How does your satisfaction guarantee apply to her?

Lands' End: Our policy is Guaranteed. Period. If your friend feels that our sheets have not performed as expected, she may return them. With no record of the original purchase after that many years, she would receive the lowest price charged for that or the nearest equivalent item.

HED: I'm sure she'll be pleased. Does she just send them to you with a note? Will she receive a replacement or a credit, or will that be determined once you have received and inspected them?

LE: All will be determined in our returns department. Our address for returns is listed on our site for you (here). A note will have to be included with her name, address, and a daytime phone number. She will most likely receive a credit as a gift card.

So there you go, Liz. You may not be able to make them last longer, but you can send them back for a credit! If you could dig up the receipt, I believe you'd get back the full amount you paid. Thanks so much for (indirectly) asking me a question. Good luck!

2 comments:

  1. Karen, you have proved what I've known for a long time - Lands' End is a good company - they back their products & respect their customers!

    Regarding the longevity of Flannel Sheets. If your friend has only 1 set of Flannel Sheets AND she uses them year-round, I would say she got her money's worth out of them - roughly 1-cent per night! (If cost was $36.50 / 10 years / 365 nights.)

    Even if she only used them for the winter months(90 days), that would be about 4-cents per night. Not bad.

    That said, the wear-n-tear on the sheets would be affected by a number of items - How often were the sheets washed (more frequent washings = more wear-n-tear), Type of washing machine (agitator style), Type of detergent (some are rougher on textiles than others), how full the machine was when washing (over-filled washer loads are rough on fabric), the use (or non-use) of bleach, the temperature used to dry (honestly air-dry on the line is easier on fabric), whether she was able to 'rotate' the sheet (top flipped to bottom), and how the sheets, when not in use, were stored (like for storing quilts, plastic is a no-no, and even just storing on a non-treated wood shelf).

    In addition to all of that, other factors that could affect the life of flannel (or any other sheets) would include body chemistry (ok, prespiration), the use of body lotions before bedtime, and whether the bed/sheets was exposed to a lot of sunshine.

    A few years ago, I 'extended' the life of my mother's older/warn flannel sheets, by cutting them up and making bassinet sheets for our grandson!

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    Replies
    1. Great idea about cutting them into smaller items... I'll mention it to Liz.

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