"Making the Bed" by Elizabeth Roehrig - Country Living

The perfect bed beckons you to get under the covers, close your eyes, and drift serenely off to sleep. Here's how to select the right mattress, pillows, and sheets to help you create that cozy and comfortable environment you've been dreaming of.

Selecting the proper pillow to help align your head and neck is essential to a good night's sleep.

1. First, choose the right firmness for your preferred sleep position. Side sleepers need firm support, medium is just right for back sleepers, while stomach sleepers require a softer pillow.

2. Synthetic is best for allergy sufferers. Shopping for down? Check the fill power-the volume an ounce of down takes up. Higher fill power equates to better insulation. Also, look for tightly woven cotton covers.

3. Synthetic pillows last one to two years; down can last five to ten. Always use pillow covers to help extend a pillow's life. Wash the covers regularly, and your pillows will need less washing.

New advances have created more options than ever, with each type offering a slightly different feel to suit every body. These choices illustrate some of the categories. Keep in mind that a mattress is designed to work with its matching box spring (also called the "foundation"). If you buy a mattress separately, it may feel different than it did at the store, or even affect the warranty.

INNERSPRING: The W Hotels Plush Top mattress has internal coils for support topped with layers of upholstery and padding; www.mattress.com; www.whotelsthestore.com

AIR: Select Comfort's Sleep Number mattress offers chambers of air that adjust to provide just the right amount of support to each side; www.selectcomfort.com

MEMORY FOAM: Made of a special viscoelastic material, Tempur-Pedic's ClassicBed conforms to your body's shape to relieve pressure; tempurpedic.com

GEL: Specially designed zones in Simmons' BackCare with Technogel mattress support each area of your body, with a gel layer in the back-support zone; www.simmons.com

There are also luxury handcrafted mattresses available. Hästens creates beds with natural materials to allow for air circulation to keep the bed a comfortable temperature. Guaranteed to last 25 years, the Superia has a pine frame with hand-tied springs and layers of flax, cotton, wool, and horsehair for comfort; hastens.com. Also handmade: shifmanmattresses.com and vispring.co.uk.

Mattresses don't last forever. "Many people confuse the warranty period on a mattress (often 10 or more years) with how long a mattress is meant to last," explains Nancy Shark, of the Better Sleep Council (bettersleep.org). After five to seven years of nightly use, it may be time to evaluate whether your mattress still provides the support and comfort you need. If it shows visible sagging or lumps, or if you awake feeling stiff, you may need to replace your mattress. Go shopping with your partner to test-drive a number of models. Look for a set that makes you feel cradled yet supported, paying special attention to your shoulders, hips, and lower back.

Body heat and moisture make a bed a haven for dust mites, so do some prevention.

COVER: Covers help ensure a mattress's life by protecting against mites, dust, stains, and body oils. Cover your box spring to keep it clean, too.

CLEAN: Use your vacuum's upholstery tool to reduce dust on the mattress's surface. Dyson's Mattress Tool attachment has a wide head for better coverage; dyson.com.

Laundering Tips: Good sheets are an investment, so be sure to care properly for them. Use a mild, natural detergent such as The Laundress Signature Detergent (thelaundress.com), and dry on low heat, or line dry if possible. Avoid bleach, which can break down fibers over time.

Having trouble navigating the bedding departments at stores? It's no wonder, given the increasingly wide selection of fabrics and thread counts that are available. Keep the following factors in mind when you go shopping.

Fabric content: Look for all-natural fabrics, such as 100-percent cotton Lustrous Cotton Sateen Sheets from the Eileen Fisher Home Collection by Garnet Hill (garnethill.com). Natural-fiber sheets allow the body to breathe and, with care (see Laundering Tips), will last a long time, making them worth your investment. Cotton sheeting feels smooth and soft to the touch, and Egyptian and Pima cottons, which have a longer fiber, have a slightly more luxurious feel.

Construction: The way a sheet is woven is another important factor to consider. Cotton percale has a clean, crisp finish, while cotton sateen has a more fluid, satiny texture. Flannel has a soft nap to it that many people like for winter use.

Thread count: Fabric content and construction are as important as thread count-which means the number of threads in a square inch of fabric. A very high thread count may be overconstructed (a high thread count marked "2-ply" may be a sign) and fall apart with wash and wear. Remember this: Find what feels best to you at a price you can afford.

Originally Published: Making the Bed

EXERCISE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT - Sweat it to protect it

Most of us know the basics of being environmentally friendly: recycling, conserving water and electricity, avoiding products with excess packaging etc. A new "Powered By You" program is allowing users to improve their health as well as the environment- one step at a time.

At California Fitness in Hong Kong, 24-Hour Fitness Worldwide's Asian subsidiary, gym-goers are powering the gym. When members exercise, the machine channels the energy created as electricity as opposed to losing it as heat. Gym member, Rita Wong, is a fan of this new program, "It's very good motivation. You can watch yourself burning fat to turn the light on".

On average, humans typically produce 50 watts of electricity during an hour-long workout. Adam Boesel, founder of The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, estimates that 20 people working out for 24 hours would be enough to power a four-bedroom house for a month. Cardio machine workouts are now operating stereo systems, computers and other plug-in gadgets. Working out for just an hour could prevent the release of 4,380 liters of carbon dioxide per year.



Check out this You-Tube video to see how we could soon be saving energy by staying in shape!
Equinox gyms are committing to becoming more eco-friendly by using low VOC, recycled and renewable finish materials, using low toxic cleaning products and have launched initiatives to reducing their paper consumption. They also have partnerships with green technology providers Trion Air and Lutron lighting bringing the latest "eco-friendly" technology to their gyms.
If only Gwen and Lindsey could channel their workout energy at their local Equinox. At least we can all wash our “energy” clothes with our new Sport Detergent.

By: Mari Haughey

SAVE 20% ON THELAUNDRESS.COM WITH LINDSEY'S BIRTHDAY COUPON!

Just enter coupon code "lindsey09" thru August 5th to save!

Don't forget to visit Lindsey's Birthday Things We Love here!

THE LAUNDRESS JAPAN

The following videos are from the press event “Fabric Fresh Meister” in Tokyo.

Our Laundress Japanese distributor had a special guest, stylist Mr. Masaru Kondo who helped out the famous store SHIPS. Mr. Kondo introduced how to be a fabric fresh master and also our new Sport Products and Bleach Alternative.

The Laundress & Le Labo Signature Detergent will be exclusively sold at Isetan.

The Sport Products and Bleach Alternative will launch initial sales of Tomorrowland.

CLICK TO WATCH:
INTRODUCING SPORT PRODUCTS AND BLEACH ALTERNATIVE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoXWbTdEiv8

TALK SHOW 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNJnww2xz08

TALK SHOW 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir4-L0A7QCQ

TALK SHOW 3:
http://www.youtub:e.com/watch?v=LU-qzU4iN4o

Introducing our NEW Sport Collection!

SPORT DETERGENT:

We know how tricky it can be to get your work out, sport and high-tech clothing clean and smelling fresh. The Laundress Sport Detergent is formulated to remove bacteria in perspiration, body oils and odors. Our Sport Detergent is designed for moisture wicking, breathable, insulated and water repellent fabrics. Use on cotton, nylon, spandex and more.

SPORT SPRAY:

We know how important it is to keep your activewear clean and fresh. We developed The Laundress Sport Spray to freshen up everything from your sneakers to work-out clothes to gym bags and more. This product is non-toxic and has anti-bacterial properties to remove odor. Spray in the air, spray yourself, gym bags, lockers, sneakers, mats and sports equipment!

SPORT SCENT:

New Sport scent is a combination of leafy greens, orange, rose, jasmine and musk undertones.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT - Brain Wash

The Bite:
Want laundry detergent fit for a kidnapped heiress? Repeat after us: Use the Bite's fave detergents to avoid unhealthy chems. It's a better kind of behavior modification.

The Benefits:
• Oil (not mind) control. If every U.S. household replaces one box of 48-ounce, petroleum-based powder laundry detergent with a vegetable-based one, we'll save enough oil to heat and cool 5,300 homes for a year.
• Coercing less irritation. Fragrances and harsh solvents such as ammonia in some conventional detergents can trigger allergies and asthma, and cause skin irritation.
• Joining a cult of fresh fragrances. You'll wanna take a nice, long whiff.
• Not losing concentration. All our fave liquid options are concentrated, so their production and transport uses less energy and packaging.

Personally Speaking:
As our resident laundry product tester, Jenifer (a devoted Laundress fan) has the cleanest clothes on the team by far.

Wanna Try:
Liquid
• Mrs. Meyer's Laundry Detergent - concentrated, works like a charm, and we love the lavender scent ($15/64 loads).

Powder
• Ecover Laundry Powder - powder's always a nice, cheap bet; this version works almost as well as our fave liquid ($7/19 loads).

Whites
• Laundress Whites Detergent - solid bleach-free detergent that brings out the brightness in your whites and smells superfresh ($20/32 loads).
• OxiClean Free - for tough whitening jobs, it gets whites whiter without the fragrance in typical OxiClean; you can also use as a booster for colors ($10/28 loads).

For the Laundromat
• Dropps - portable (read: great for travel) liquid detergent in packets that biodegrade during the wash cycle; approved by the EPA's Design for the Environment program ($7/20 loads).

For more, click here.

Introducing The Laundress All-Purpose Bleach Alternative!



We created The Laundress All-Purpose Bleach Alternative because we do not like what bleach does to our fabrics and our environment. Safely whiten, brighten and disinfect everything in your home with our Classic-scented alternative. Our All-Purpose Bleach Alternative is a non-toxic, non-abrasive & environmentally-friendly multi-purpose household cleaner. The Laundress All-Purpose Bleach Alternative is a natural water softener, stain remover, disinfectant and deodorizer. Safe for all colors and fabrics except for wool and silk. Clean your entire home with just 1/4 cup and water. We clean our kitchens, bathrooms, hard surfaces and non-wooden floors.

Order here for $14 for 32 ounces!

The Laundress at The Atlanta International Gift Show

We have new products on display and to be on our website soon....

The Laundress NEW Clothespins and Lavender Sachets...