Bed-making explained

Bed-making is the act of arranging the bedsheets and other bedding on a bed, to prepare it for use.[1] It is a household chore, but is also performed in establishments including hospitals, hotels, and military or educational residences. Bed-making is also a common childhood chore.[2] Research suggests that unmade beds help to keep out dust mites.[3]

History

Beds must sometimes be made to exacting standards, demanded by nurses or military personnel.[4] In a hospital or other health-care environment, beds must sometimes be made while occupied by a patient. Specialised techniques are taught to healthcare staff to enable beds to be made efficiently with due care for the patient.[5] [6] Moving the patient out of the bed before remaking it is the preferred option.

There are different bed-making techniques, such as "hospital corners" and "mitred corners". Military recruits are often taught how to make a neat and tidy bed with hospital corners. Military personnel are expected to fold the bed very tightly, in some cases so that a coin can bounce off it.[7]

Starting in 2012, many self-making beds that automatically rearrange the bedding are in development and in use.[8] [9]

Record

Guinness World Records reports that the record time for two people to make a bed "with one blanket, two sheets, an undersheet, an uncased pillow, one pillowcase, one counterpane and hospital corners" is 14.0 seconds. This feat was achieved by two nurses from the Royal Masonic Hospital in London in 1993.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Oxford English Dictionary. Make (v. 1): 62. To prepare (a bed) for sleeping in; to arrange bedclothes on (a bed) for future use.. subscription.
  2. Web site: Aguirre. Sarah. Make a Bed. About.com: Housekeeping. 26 June 2012. 2 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202040625/http://housekeeping.about.com/od/bedrooms/ht/makebed.htm. dead.
  3. Web site: Untidy beds may keep us healthy. 18 January 2005. BBC Online. 27 March 2024.
  4. Book: Curtis, Mike. Close Quarter Battle. 1997. Corgi Books. London, United Kingdom. 0-552-14465-7. 1998. 44. Chapter 2. At the crack of dawn, the screaming started again. Beds had to be made, with the sheets and grey army blankets stacked neatly and perfectly square on top.. registration. https://archive.org/details/cqbclosequarterb0000curt/page/44.
  5. Web site: Bed Making. scribd.com. 26 June 2012. A sample training document
  6. Web site: Bed Making Procedure: Definition, Principles, Types of Bed Making . Nurses Class - Nursing guides, Care Plan, Jobs, Question Papers . 11 May 2021.
  7. Book: McKay, Gary. In Good Company. 1987. Allen & Unwin. Sydney, Australia. 1-86448-904-9. 1998. 19. Chapter 2 - Doing Extras at Scheyville. He stepped into my mess of a room and by dinnertime he had run me through the whole gammut of how to set up the room in inspection order, and how to make the bed properly so the drillies could bounce a 20c coin off the counterpane.
  8. Web site: Marable. Eileen. Yes, yes a million times: Bed makes itself in 50 seconds. Dvice. 26 June 2012. 8 June 2012. 2 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131102075412/http://www.dvice.com/archives/2012/06/bed-makes-itsel.php. dead.
  9. Web site: OHEA smart bed . 26 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170301005646/https://myluxurybed.co.uk/blogs/blog/a-chore-no-more-the-self-making-bed-is-here . 1 March 2017 . dead .
  10. Web site: Fastest time to make a bed by a team of two. Guinness World Records. 26 June 2012.

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