Here at Fresh Design, we’re always interested in the latest products to hit the market, but we wouldn’t have thought there’d be any innovations in the area of bedding. You can choose your colour, size, type of fabric and whether you want fitted or flat, but otherwise a bed sheet is a bed sheet, right? Turns out we were wrong.
A company called Stylefast has introduced Polefit bedding, which could be the biggest innovation in bedding since Bertha Berman invented the fitted sheet in the 1950s.
It’s a method of stretching a top sheet across the bed, and holding it in place with weighted poles so that it doesn’t wrinkle or come loose. Here’s what Stylefast have to say about it:
“We believe Polefit offers the world’s most superior sleeping surface. It can be fitted easily and retains its super smooth quality from night to night with limited maintenance. We believe the Polefit™ bed sheet also offers a smart and stylish appearance which prevents the need to hide the bed sheet under additional covering.”
Polefit: the product
We couldn’t wait to try it, and we had just the place for it. We trialled the ‘Full Monty’ a package retailing at £120.74 for the double size and containing two Polefit™ bed sheets, one set of poles, one set of straps and one base sheet.
One of the beds in our house is a standard double with a wooden headboard and frame, and a very tightly fitting, thick mattress.
We’ve passed many a happy moment trying to stuff the flat sheet between the frame and the mattress, knocking skin off our knuckles and straining our backs – fitted sheets tend not to fit, as the mattress is so thick.
The Polefit kit came in two packages – one containing the bedding pack of a fitted base sheet and two top sheets plus a pack of straps, and the other containing the weighted side poles.
The idea is that you fit the straps right under the mattress, then add the fitted base sheet as normal. The small, neat top sheet goes on top, overhanging by only a few centimetres, and the poles are threaded through special pockets to weight the sides down.
The straps then attach to the poles to tension the top sheet and keep the whole thing taut overnight.
Having been a victim of this bed slowly untucking itself overnight on many occasions, this sounded pretty good, and we were looking forward to a life of never tucking the flippin’ sheet in again.
Polefit: the setup
We washed the sheets before use, and they washed well. The small top sheet would have been a comparative delight to iron, but in fact it didn’t need it as it was tensioned – another plus.
The manufacturers say you should allow 30 minutes to do the initial setup. They also recommend that it’s a job for two people, and it really is – we tried it alone and got embarrassingly trapped under the mattress, so wait until you’ve got someone to help.
We stripped off all the old bedding and lifted the mattress of the bed completely, before laying the straps over the base of the bed – two crossways and two lengthways.
Stylefast give a table of what lengths to adjust the straps to compared to the size of bed, but the figures didn’t seem to make much sense so we adjusted the straps to their fullest extent before lifting the mattress back, making sure the straps protruded at the ends.
Next, we put on the base sheet which was a really good fit, and plenty deep enough for the mattress.
The poles came in halves, and had to be screwed together with a neat little flexible spring in the middle so that they moved slightly with the mattress.
Once the poles were assembled, we laid the top sheet on the bed and threaded them into position. A small amount of crawling under mattresses had to take place at this point, as the straps were too long, but once adjusted they were wrapped into place round the poles and tensioned slightly.
The top sheet looked as smooth as a billiard table!
Polefit: the Fresh Design verdict
So how did we find Polefit?
The bad bits
The kit was fiddly to assemble. The manufacturers say to allow 30 minutes to set up – it took us over 60, partly because the instructions didn’t seem very clear and partly because the poles came shrink wrapped in plastic that had to be carefully removed with nail scissors before they could be assembled.
Obviously the set up only has to be done once, though.
We also felt the dark grey straps were a bit intrusive, although they couldn’t be seen when the bed was fully made up.
The good bits
The sheet held taut throughout the night, was comfortable and looked neat.
Changing it was a bit of a fiddle as it involved removing the straps and poles and replacing them, but it was easier than wrestling with a flat sheet. The top sheet was very easy to care for and took up no space in the cupboard when not in use.
All-in-all, a really interesting idea and practical too. Great if you’ve got a difficult-to-fit bed, struggle with fitted sheets or like a slightly unusual contemporary look.
For more information, visit Stylefast. Prices start at £96.98.
Reviewed by Sara Walker
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At last somthing that will keep your bedding in place.