During the latest cold snap, Cubby started complaining that his bed was cold when he got in it at night. His room does get some heat, but it's not exactly a tropical paradise in there, so yeah, the sheets were maybe a little chilly.
Now, I know all about the particular discomfort arising from cold sheets. So when Cubby requested that we get him a heated mattress pad like ours, I was stricken with guilt.
I was not so stricken, however, that I failed to realize the consequences of an electric mattress pad in Cubby's room: plugs pulled out, electric wires dissected from the fabric, inevitable chaos and disorder.
So that's a no on the electric pad.
But then I remembered the soapstone.
God only knows how old the soapstone is. It's been around here for at least a hundred years. It looks just like this. Soapstones are large rectangles of, uh, soapstone, which is a stone that heats up fast and cools down slowly. This heat retention makes it a perfect bed warmer. The soapstone is put on the woodstove to heat up, then wrapped in an old t-shirt and laid on Cubby's bed while he brushes his teeth. This creates a little hot spot in the middle of his bed. It's not much, but it's enough to have a good psychological effect anyway.
Hooray for ancient soapstones!
The other antique floating around that's been pressed into service of late is a pair of old silver candlesticks. I use them as boot racks for Cubby's waterproof winter boots when he crashes through the ice in the stream up to his waist and fills his boots with water. The only way to dry them in less than a week is to put them over the forced-air heating vent in the living room. The boots go upside-down over the candlesticks and dry overnight.
Whatever we need, Blackrock can supply. Albeit in a weird, antiquated way.
I never heard of soapstone! That's a good idea about bed warmers.
ReplyDeleteYou need to give your sister/niece a shout and ask if Gabby can make some socks for Cubby and Charlie. She takes long tube socks fills one with rice, ties it off, put another sock around it, ties it off and you then put it in the microwave for a few minutes. It stays warm for about 15 minutes or so and can go into bed to keep his feet/body warm....
ReplyDeleteInteresting, both the info about the soapstone and the Gabby socks. I can think of someone else who might need those socks, if there wasn't an electric bed warmer in place.
ReplyDeleteOn the site they talk about dragging the stone over the sheets. Guess you need a bigger or more stones to have a warming effect overall.
Have you tried fleece sheets? Or flannel? They hold in body heat quite well. Together with soapstone, he'll feel so awesome he might even sleep in some day.
ReplyDeleteHe has flannel sheets and a down comforter, so no lack of bed covering. It's just the initial warm-up that needs some outside help.
ReplyDelete