You have an issue with Frette?

Sure I'll look at serious bedding forums, instead of every 5-star hotel in the world. I definitely think you're right, that people who's job it is to provide excellent sleeping experience are using the wrong products.

Never said down should be used for mattresses. Horsehair would be my pick there.

Concrete? You're strawmanning a pillow discussion. Steel is also a bad pillow material. Down is widely regarded as an excellent pillow fill. You don't like it. That's fine.

Quality sheets are, tops, 200-400 thread count. 1000 thread count sheets are marketing nonsense of poor quality cut staple multi-ply yarns.

A fold test is far more simple than you think. Fold the pillow in half. If it returns to flat by itself, then it's still fine. If it doesn't, then you can launder to revive, or at worst case after a decade, add some ounces of loft. Cotton mite proof pillow protectors aid in maintenance and add years of use.

You said that down gives you no support and sleeps hot. It's the opposite for us. Our high FP goosedown regulates temperature very well, wicks humidity, and are very supportive. I think we're into personal preference and that's fine, we don't need to agree as comfort is subjective. Saying down is "simply not a good pillow material", when it's the top pillow material used in five-star hotels and by luxury bedding companies, is your opinion. You have every right to it, but mine is different.

Regarding cotton, I noted the temperatures for laundering out chemicals and pesticides. I guess I wasn't clear that if you wash over those target temps, with extended soak and double rinse, the majority of finishing agents, fire retardants, and pesticides are removed. Almost all the textiles that come into our home are are cleaned with that method at 175f prior to being used, to remove the maximum amount of finish product. Everything from shower curtains to dish towels and undies gets a hot wash hello, only protein fibers are excluded from the process.

I do understand how ubiquitous it is, it's impossible to avoid completely, but I also perceive it to be a danger and minimize exposure wherever possible.

You're not doing something correctly if you're only getting five years on a down fold compression test. It should be longer.

If you don't think people have to worry about offgassing you are the same sort of person who said leaded gas and paint are fine. You don't know. It's okay to not know things. Also it's okay for me to only put organic products next to my families breathing holes, as people have done for thousands of years, and ignore petroleum byproduct foams that have existed for, like, a minute.

You also said that you are sleeping on goosedown. If you believe in foam so much, why aren't you sleeping on it?

To end, why do you think chemicals are on any cotton in my home? Even basic fire retardants dissipate at above 140f, that's industrial standard for production, other pest mitigation for shipping transport might be higher at 160f. I don't have anyone in my home wear or sleep on any material that hasn't been properly cleaned to remove all of that residue and chemical washes on the textile.

Your last edit is a stretch and also bringing up products I don't use. We're talking about pillows and you're bringing up time release aspirin and some gel?

Let's just have pillow talk.

Pillows made of dead bird down, covered in a very specific weave of ticking.

That's interesting, however I'd still get a weirdo or two, like above, talking at me and suddenly I'm in a conversation with a petroleum lobbyist who is still sleeping on down pillows that they're tossing too early or not maintaining properly while they espouse the benefits of petroleum (that's quite a take).

Anywhooo! I'm high, awake, filled with multiple years of study of textile sciences and sustainable materials. Ask me anything.

However, the easiest guide to not buying plastics, is to not buy them. It's not cheap, but it is an option. I'm still filled with frugal tips though.

I have a vintage glass pitcher waring, it has seven speeds. I don't know what the rpms are, but it does everything I need it to.

It was a wedding present for my parents in 1975, which was passed on to me after my mom couldn't stand the Harvest Gold color anymore, but it's been in use over forty years. I bought a second one in Avocado green to use in my cabin.

If washed and maintained properly it's far more than 5-6 years. I have pillows over a decade old that are still great. As with any BIFL object it requires thought of care.

I don't use Vaseline and last I knew pill capsules are mostly made of gelatin or cellulose, neither of which are petroleum byproducts.

Microplastics and petroleum offgassing is a real issue. Sleeping on unknown polymer should be a concern.

750 fp goosedown in cotton ticking will last 15+ years. All organic material.

Foam offgasses and is mostly made of petroleum byproducts. Not great to spend a third of your day on.

Rowenta Steam Station. There's a separate reservoir for water which is great, so you don't have to fill it up everyday and it creates excellent even steam.

If you don't care much about that you can save money and get a basic Rowenta consumer model.

If you want to spend more than $15-$20, you can buy Rosle, but it won't increase any function or longevity from an unbranded rolled steel scraper.

When was that? But you said "lifetime" and that's why you were no longer interested in them. They build for twenty, but you said they used to guarantee for life. What is your source?

How many Miele appliances do you own that you are upset about no longer having a lifetime warranty?

I'm not aware that they ever had one for whitegoods. The most I've ever heard was ten, now an optional 5 in the US, but they still do twenty years build tests and guarantee parts availability for ten.

I think you're confusing them with Bosch, which is manufactured globally.

Only the lower end Miele C1 swing, and I think, C2 vacuums are made in China, and Miele owns all their factory's in Europe where their whitegoods are made.

Miele makes the best products for textile care and your clothes will last longer with their machines. That makes it worth it to me.

I only buy Miele for water appliances, laundry/dishwashers, and have sets in both of my homes.

If you're looking for something that is also a heatpump dryer that has less programming options go for a German manufactured Bosch (make sure Germany, not Turkey), however if you do a lot of ironing the steam finish on the Miele may well pay for itself in saved time. And Bosch builds for a ten year use, Miele builds for twenty, so lifetime use is less money over time.

There's an optional 5 year warranty for an additional fee, but anything that goes wrong that isn't user error, will generally be in the first six months. I've never called in a problem and am still under warranty for two machines. Also happy people don't write reviews as frequently as unhappy people, so online is always weighted toward poor performance for any product.

To only comment on my own thing about cobbler's: LET'S GO OFF!!!

I would like to be hyper defensive about shoe care and my local community craftspeople.

Oh, so none of what you said is salient, and we agree that you don't know anything about lady cobblering. Great!

Somehow got redirected to this.

That is not what cobblers cost. I'm in NYC and at most I've spent $60 when I really fucked up, generally 20-40usd for prevention and maintenance.

Maybe that's true in weird places that don't have any cobbler competition marketplace where people also buy pricey shoes and don't walk anywhere, but even then, that's only like Dallas? Not indicative of any real life thing outside of YouTube.

Fix your shoes, it's not expensive.

That's crazy. I live in NYC and have, tops, spent like $60 at a cobbler.

Are they just making custom shoes at that point?

A ladies pump is very different than a redwing boot (I know, I own both). I've had Prada heels done for $40 in NYC.

I will admit though, in our walking city we pay for cobblers like other places probably pay for oil changes, it's sort of a fixed rate that you just pay for maintenance every couple thousand miles.

You're welcome! I'm mostly on BIFL to learn and make small suggestions, but when I saw your question I was like "Oooo, I got this!"

Don't get patent leather to start (or ever, blister city), and don't wear them two days in a row. Like any leather shoe they need a day to breathe with a cedar sachet inside the toe box between wears.

If where you live has hard streets, and you walk more than a normal person, get the leather soles covered in Vibram instantly and a brass toe step plate on the bottom.

That particular shoe runs quite narrow, so walk around in the store a bunch to make sure it's okay and good for you, wear for a few months (then buy many more pairs in different colors from RealReal or ebay for around $150) :)

Super classic though, if it works for your feet then it'll be great, with care, for decades.

Adding one more care thing. If you live in a place where they use salt to de-ice, when you get home in the winter, brush them with natural bristle brush (boar), then lightly wipe them down with mild vinegar/water solution to remove all salt. Otherwise residual salt will have the leather will prematurely have fails and cracking.

I mostly go by country of origin and construction style. Italy or east EU or Brazil. I also only buy steel shank shoes. Plastic shanks fail after a couple years. Steel shanks last at least a decade.

Giuseppe Zanotti

David Pliner

Miu Miu or Prada

Louboutin

Ferragamo classic short bowed heels, like Viva or Vera are great. Haven't tried other styles.

Also this is very dependant on how much you walk, your foot shape, posture, and local weather.

It's both a quality issue and it's care. You'll need to learn to care for the skins properly and then begin a lifelong relationship with your neighborhood cobbler for technical upkeep and sole replacement.

Edit: Adding that I only buy full skin heels with steel shanks. Calf/pig lined, natural upper, leather soles. All is repairable and super breathable. Moisture is death for how technical the structure of heels are.

I'll admit in advance that this level of construction is going to be at minimum $500usd a pair, plus about $50usd at the cobbler to Vibram the natural leather soles before you even wear them. It's cost prohibitive, but a worthy investment if it's an object of need.

Timbuk2 has a stability strap, that you mentioned, to keep it placed correctly on your back. I bicycle commute about 15-20 miles daily, all year, in all weather, and it's very comfortable. Mine's like 5 years old.

People think bedding is disposable. They don't think it's bilf accessable as microplastic sheets are marketed as doorbuster deals at $25usd a set with a 1500tc, when a proper set of 250tc sheets cost $500usd.

Bridge pricing is worse, when people flex their spending and buy something at $250usd then those sheets don't close the quality gap and fail, those people then say expensive sheets are bad. There are multiple examples of this on this thread. Literally, a decent percale is $500, a decent linen is about $700-1000. There are people here complaining that their $300 linen sheets failed, but they have no understanding of Belgium or Ireland flax protocols, or staples and weaving.

Sorry for the rant, but you are soooo correct that a third of life is sleep. Good sheets are healthful.