# Why do you have a bare mattress? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721 "2016-02-10T16:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/41 "2016-02-11T20:34:12Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Wait - you leave a bare mattress in the guest bedroom, find a place to store comforter/sheets/etc for it, and only make it if someone is going to use it? I have never heard of anyone doing this before, everyone I know that has a guest bed leaves it made up, partially to save effort and partially to keep things like cats from messing up the mattress. I don’t, but it looks to me like that is what those folks did. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/42 "2016-02-11T20:47:59Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Wait - you leave a bare mattress in the guest bedroom, find a place to store comforter/sheets/etc for it, and only make it if someone is going to use it? I have never heard of anyone doing this before, everyone I know that has a guest bed leaves it made up, partially to save effort and partially to keep things like cats from messing up the mattress. > > You can get new cheap sheets for less than $5, I’m not sure how you’re finding a sleeping bag that’s ‘cheap’ by comparison. You might already have a sleeping bag. But in that case buy the sheets and use the bag unzipped like a blanket. > [@gigi](#): > > I don’t, but it looks to me like that is what those folks did. I don’t either, but I will admit to letting it go unmade longer than my own bed, and sometimes it takes a guest arriving in t-minus 10 minutes to make it happen. It still has a mattress pad on it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/43 "2016-02-11T22:49:33Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > In this particular case, it looks like a guest bedroom no one is using – waiting for the bed to be made when a guest comes. Of course now the mattress has cat hair on it for that poor guest. :dubious: That is the situation I’m in. I have 2 bedrooms and the 2nd is a guest bedroom. I leave the guest bedroom mattress bare because I don’t want to dress it just so it can collect dust (because I’ll end up changing the sheets when I have a guest over anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/44 "2016-02-11T22:52:21Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > That is the situation I’m in. I have 2 bedrooms and the 2nd is a guest bedroom. I leave the guest bedroom mattress bare because I don’t want to dress it just so it can collect dust (because I’ll end up changing the sheets when I have a guest over anyway). Aren’t dusty sheets easier to clean than a dusty mattress? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/45 "2016-02-11T23:00:12Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > You need classier porn. For whatever reason I find they often lack sheets on porn studio beds. I find it kinda disgusting and it ruins my mood when I notice. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/46 "2016-02-11T23:05:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Aren’t dusty sheets easier to clean than a dusty mattress? The new sheet set will cover the dust. However I may need to rethink my approach to the guest bedroom situation because you do have a point. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/47 "2016-02-11T23:19:20Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > You can get cheap sheets for under $5, Where the heck have you seen sheets for under $5? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/48 "2016-02-11T23:26:25Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I’ve seen it too, and can’t wrap my brain around it because after you sweat a lot and get the mattress all stinky, there’s no way to clean it really. That’s the purpose of sheets: to keep your body oils and fluids off the mattress. I’m pretty sure that these people are sleeping in clothes or pajamas, especially since they have so little in the way of sheets and blankets. My brother (who did at least have _some_ sheets on the mattress) used to put warm sweatpants/sweatshirts on and sleep on top of it all. In that case, the clothes would be protecting the mattress from most dirt/oil. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/49 "2016-02-11T23:35:36Z")
I didn’t even have a bed for several years. Slept nude in a large cardboard box on my living room floor. . ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/50 "2016-02-11T23:42:23Z")
I’m guessing they took the sheets off the bed because they’re too filthy to sleep on, but they don’t have another set to put on because they haven’t done laundry in a month. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/51 "2016-02-12T03:15:40Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Where the heck have you seen sheets for under $5? I swear I did a google search this morning and found a bunch for prices like $4 with at least one at Walmart, but the cheapest I can find now are just under $10. They’re still not hugely expensive, but I must have either made a weird search or hit an unannounced 8-hour sheet sale. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/52 "2016-02-12T14:21:16Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I guess none of you guys just uses a cheap sleeping bag instead of buying sheets? I do when I visit my mom. A very nice portable air bed and two down sleeping bags. I love it. Don’t do it at home because washing down sleeping bags is a bitch. For my mom’s set up the whole bed and covers can be put away in about 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/53 "2016-02-12T16:08:21Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > As others have said, though, my sheet tucks all the way over the edge of the bottom of the mattress. I wonder, too, if it helps that we have a queen size bed - the mattress is pretty heavy and thus no matter how much we move, it doesn’t really budge. Maybe you all have lighter beds so they move easier with your bodies? No, I have a queen sized bed. I even bought larger sheets and tuck all the excess fabric underneath the mattress as close to the center of the bed as possible and the corners still pop off. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721/54 "2016-02-13T10:26:29Z")
I didn’t bother with it in college. Our mattresses were the type that easily wiped off. And trying to find a sheet that actually fit the nonstandard mattress size was nearly impossible. They were too thin and light. I did use a sleeping bag for a while, but it was too limiting of movement to use zipped up. And then too hot during the winter when they cranked up the heat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-have-a-bare-mattress/745721.md?page=2)