Why do hotels tuck blankets under mattresses? And should you do it?

It may seem as if this is a special torture invented by the maids for vacationers: if you want to lie down, first try to pull the blanket out from under the mattress. But no. All for your comfort.

The way to tuck a blanket deep under a mattress is called au carré or in Russian «envelope». There are several versions of the origin of this method. According to the first, this way of cleaning the bed was spied on by the military, where discipline and cleanliness are the basis of the foundations. So the blanket does not touch the floor and, accordingly, does not get dirty.

Another version says that tucking a blanket under a mattress is a tradition that came from France and England, where the hotel industry appeared much earlier than more or less modern heating systems. In such an “envelope” from a blanket, the maids put a heating pad to heat the bed for the arrival of the tenants. Then the guests slept in the “envelope” and kept warm until the morning. And even though today no one offers heating pads to residents in hotels, the tradition has remained, because thanks to this method of filling the blanket, the bed looks as neat as possible.

If you want to make your bed at home as in a hotel, follow the instructions below:

• put the blanket on the right side of the bed;
• fold it so that the central vertical fold is exactly in the middle of the bed;
• tuck the blanket from the side of the legs, tuck the top edge and smooth;
• take the blanket by the hanging tip and attach it to the top edge of the mattress;
• holding the tip of the blanket on the edge of the mattress, tuck the rest of the blanket under the mattress, and then the tip itself.