Two German tourists have been left completely baffled by the way many Australians make the bed – admitting they have never seen or heard of a top sheet.
The young women, Elisa and Sarina, were so confused by the extra piece of linen on their beds they posted a video to TikTok in search of answers.
‘Can someone please tell me what this is?’ Sarina asked – pointing to the sheet.
‘Am I the only one who doesn’t understand this?’ she asked again.
They went on to question if they were supposed to sleep on top of it or under it in a video which captured the attention of thousands of Australians.
It’s not the first time the use of a top sheet – or confusion over it – has sparked a fiery debate online with Millennials often trying to take credit for getting rid of them.
One such top sheet hater commented on the young travellers video: ‘It’s an old people thing.’
But others were keen to answer her questions about the divisive linen and offer their own opinion on using it.
‘Top sheets are to make it so you don’t have to wash all your bedding every few days, not using a top sheet is like wearing pants but no underwear,’ one woman wrote.
‘It’s a top sheet, AKA the most uncomfortable thing ever,’ another added.
Some Aussies were shocked to find top sheets aren’t common place around the world after the young women revealed they’d travelled through Europe and Asia without seeing the,.
‘Did I just find out top sheets are cultural.
While others revealed they’d learned that the hard way – on the road.
‘It was my biggest pet peeve travelling the UK and Europe over summer,’ one woman said.
‘I travelled in the UK last year and every hotel (12 hotels) had doonas and no air conditioning so I had to ask specially for a top sheet at all of them,’ another one fumed.
Some people described top sheets as a sensory nightmare and told the young women to get rid of it and get on with their lives.
‘I was raised with a top sheet but quickly discarded it as an adult, they are uncomfortable,’ one woman said.
‘It’s like suffocation,’ a man added.
But others claimed they’d prefer to sleep rough than without one.
‘If people do not give me a top sheet, I’m going to sleep on a park bench,’ one woman joked.
Fans of top sheets also argued that they were especially useful in warmer weather when a doona was too hot to use.
Another pointed out that the average person sheds roughly 1.5 grams of skin each day and top sheets act as a barrier protecting the doona from the build up of dead skin cells, bacteria and oil.
‘You don’t have to wash your entire bedding every few days,’ she said.
Top sheets are common across some of the US, South Africa and Canada.
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