About a year ago, I boastfully declared that the savior to any and all relationship problems was to adopt a two-blanket sleeping situation. While it might sound somewhat puritanical, sleeping with two separate blankets allows both parties to toss and turn without fear of any kind of blanket stealing. The Swedes do it, after all, and in my youthful naivety, I believed Americans should do the same.
Doing the math, however, I’ve come to realize that perhaps I was being fiscally irresponsible, as one blanket per sleeping partner is at least twice as many blankets as you’d historically need, and therefore, twice as expensive.
Thus, I am now stumping for a different solve/hack to the blanket-thief conundrum: Buy a comforter or duvet that’s a size larger than that of your bed.
LPT: If you or your partner are a blanket-hog, buy a blanket one size up from your bed so there is enough to go around from LifeProTips
But don’t take it from me — clearly, I’ve been wrong about these things in the past — listen to Jacob, a 28-year-old in Houston. “I didn’t know I was partaking in a ‘life hack,’ I just found a good deal on a big-ass blanket that was much cheaper than its queen counterpart,” he tells me. “The first night with the blanket had me testing out its bigness by rolling around and kicking on purpose to see how much of it would keep me covered, and it was nearly impossible to shake.”
Besides getting used to the heat, “since the blanket stays draped over the edges of the bed trapping in all the body heat,” Jacob will likely never go back to an appropriately sized comforter. “A more comfortable sleep changes any man,” he says.
As a taller guy, not only does Jacob finally have a blanket that completely covers him head-to-toe, “which is hard to come by, but also, when I inevitably start moving in my sleep, the blanket still covers me without uncovering my wife and vice versa.”
Ultimately, Jacob rails against people (like, you know, me) who might argue that he and his wife should just get separate blankets. “That’s wack — anyone who sleeps with blanket hogs will surely get why bigger blankets are superior to their smaller counterparts,” he explains. “A giant blanket can do everything two blankets can and more, since there’s enough material in an oversized blanket that two people can roll up in it, tuck themselves in it or leave a leg out in it without disturbing the other person.”
Better yet, he adds, “It’s much easier for sex. Being under the same blanket makes it easier to heat things up and stay covered over multiple positions on those cold nights. Two small blankets just wouldn’t cut it in such scenarios.”
LPT: When buying a duvet for your bed, buy one size larger (or more) than your current bed size. The extra duvet will provide greater comfort especially when sharing. from LifeProTips
For what it’s worth, too, per Aaron, a 33-year-old in New Zealand, the king-size blanket on a queen-size mattress is a must-have even for solo sleepers who needn’t worry about blanket hogs. “If you toss and turn quite a bit while sleeping like me, having the size-up blanket prevents you from having to constantly re-adjust everything,” he says. “You can bundle up into a little cocoon, or kick your leg to the side and twist around all you want without having to worry about an uncovered foot.”
LPT: Buy a comforter that’s at least one size up from your bed size. For example, king size blanket on a queen size bed. You’ll never fight over covers again. from LifeProTips
But again, that’s not all. “There’s a little more weight to the bigger blanket as well, which feels nice,” Aaron continues. “My favorite part is that it helps in the laziness department, since the blanket is often still overhanging the bed a bit so it doesn’t get so messed up over night.”
Simply buying one big-ass blanket might seem too easy at a time when Big Blanket is bursting at the seams with double-duvets, climate-cooling comforters and weighted blanket mania. But given so many different options, doesn’t some simplicity sound kind of nice?
Quinn Myers
Quinn Myers is a staff writer at MEL. He reports on internet culture, technology, health, masculinity and the communities that flourish within.
