Hi Community,
Is anyone else noticing that quilt covers and pillowcases advertised as standard AU bedding sizes are actually a few centimetres smaller? I know the term ‘shrinkflation’ is usually applied to packaged grocery items, but this is the exact same monkey business in a different sphere.
These small covers have a really marked effect on the comfort of your quilts and pillows. Quilts don’t sit snugly into the edges of the cover, so they lie folded and rippled and they slip about inside the cover. And pillows become harder because they’re stuffed into the pillowcase more tightly than they are in their own casings (infuriating considering the care I take in choosing a pillow to be just so).
I dumped Adairs some years ago for this practice, but the brand Morgan & Finch at Bed Bath ‘n’ Table (I presume M&F is BBnT’s own brand) has done it for the last two sets of quilt covers and pillowcases I’ve bought there.
The other trick M&F/BBnT used in the same shrinkflation move was to reduce the quality of the fabric. Their cotton sateen is advertising the same ‘thread count’ as ever, but the fabric is undeniably thinner and flimsier than it used to be. I have old sets to compare. The thinner fabric also reduces the comfort, especially of the quilt.
I plan to let BBnT know I won’t be buying their M&F gear any more, which is the bulk of their range, but I’d love to know that others are similarly unimpressed and prepared to arc up about it a little.
Ecosa have done their own version. I bought sheets and pillowcases from them and really liked them, but when I bought extra pillowcases a bit later on they had stopped sewing them with the pleated cuff at the opening, and left a plain hem instead. Same price of course, but a tad less fabric, a tad less labour, and a blow to the finish and quality.
It may be that the smaller Chinese sizes were delivered and not the Australian. This may or may not have been deliberate.
It great that you will be giving feedback, but it would be more productive if you give them precise information about where you see the shortfall in quality. If they are too small for the bed size marked you are within your rights under the ACL to return them.
I’ll second @DeNaz but I am not sure which is going bad, the quilts, etc, or the sheets and pillow cases and covers.
We have a super king Creswick Woolen Mills quilt in a Sheridan super king duvet cover and the quilt bunches up inside, etc, per the OP.
While it might not be germane we still have some US origin US sized linens (and a US sized mattress set) where everything about it is ‘generously sized’. To wit quilts fit nicely, pillow cases allow the pillow to fit comfortably sans compression, and so on.
In contrast our more recently acquired Australian sized king bed linens are not at all generously sized, to be polite.
My motive in posting here is to raise the issue, and to flag how varieties of shrinkflation are underway in more fields than groceries. Being sneaky about price-per-unit for breakfast cereal is bad enough, but undersized bedlinen pulls in basic issues of truth in advertising, quality and standards. And it actively undermines the value of your other goods (quilts and pillows).
Plus I’m genuinely interested to see if anyone else has noticed this one, and keen to prompt people to take notice, if they haven’t (tape measure revolution!).
BBnT are advertising standard AU measurements, but they’re selling covers that measure smaller than stated, at least in their M&F range. There’s no way it’s an accident – BBnT is a dominant AU retailer, and M&F is a huge chunk of their range (80% or more, rough guess).
Yes I plan to give them precise feedback about their shenanigans. I know I’m entitled to a refund – I’d rather have proper-sized bedding than my money back, though. Super productive would be (my tape measure revolution, and/or) someone suggesting that Choice investigate to see how widespread this practice is.
Keen to see what your tape measure says, PhilT.
The AU standard size for Super King is 270x240cm. Both Sheridan and Creswick are advertising AU standard sizes (I just looked them up – with the price you paid for the quilt, I’m hopping mad on your behalf if Sheridan, also $plenty, is messing with it).
