#069 Problems encountered with new bed sheets (solved, but I wanted to share) (24/09/2023)

Photo: I went to the store to look at shops one of the days this week.

Hello everyone! It's time for another weekly journal entry, continuing with this week's developments and the latest product updates. The truth is, preparing for winter products at the end of the year is quite demanding. And since we're new to business, there are many things we don't know, leading to constant setbacks and obstacles over the past six months, resulting in less than ideal progress. But just as we're working hard to overcome one difficulty after another, new ones seem to appear. It's like taking a step forward only to have the road blocked again, requiring us to calmly persevere and try to climb over it once more. Difficulties keep arising.

Moreover, because it's a small company, there aren't many colleagues on the same team as me . Therefore, I have to face and solve problems alone, and I can't talk to my family and friends about it, because they probably wouldn't understand anyway. Sometimes, especially when I see my classmates who graduated around the same age, they have several male and female colleagues of similar age working with them and sharing the workload, which makes me feel incredibly lonely. I'm someone who's very afraid of being alone, but it seems that I often have to walk my own path and face different problems alone. And I understand that doing business is really like that, so I can only work hard silently and wait until I achieve some results before making any moves.

Since we're on the topic, I'd like to use the upcoming new bed sheet, Re Bedding , as an example to discuss the difficulties encountered during product development. Readers might need some basic understanding of the product's design; I suggest watching the short video in Weekly Journal #066 , where I demoed a prototype design. Because the entire product comprises many components and categories, it's difficult to discuss them all individually. Below, I'll focus solely on the difficulties in selecting materials for the top sheet .

1. Texture and Comfort: As the outer fabric of new bed sheets, the material that will be in contact with the user's body every night, texture and comfort are naturally the primary considerations. I recall that the reason Re Pillow was able to attract a group of users who loved it and would actively recommend it to others was because of its comfortable texture. No matter how appealing the story is or what celebrities endorse it, it can't compare to the actual comfort of the product. I think we can never forget that. Therefore, comfort must come first when making bedding. In the case of bed sheets, this means softness and smoothness, and it must be suitable for the humid and hot climate in Hong Kong, so it must be breathable and not stuffy. This is very important.
2. Fabric Structure and Durability: Next is the fabric structure and durability. Unlike fashion items, bed sheets are generally not used for just one or two seasons; they are often used for several years. Therefore, the durability of the bed sheet fabric is very important. Some fabrics may feel comfortable to the touch, but after a few washes, the structure loosens or even deforms, which is undesirable. Many people may not realize this, but many bed sheets on the market exhibit this behavior. However, the loosening of the structure and the thinning with each wash are not so easily noticeable. Furthermore, if the sheet deforms, because it drapes over the mattress, the excess fabric will gather at the bottom, and most people won't notice that the sheet may stretch out after each wash ( e.g., a 200cm long bed sheet may stretch by 10cm due to loosened fabric). (However, because the excess fabric is stored under the mattress, most people won't notice.) But our new bed sheet design absolutely cannot allow this. Firstly, it's my requirement for quality. Secondly, because of the design, the new bed sheet's surface must be the same size as the mattress surface so it doesn't bunch up. Therefore, the size must be very accurate, and it can't loosen or stretch after a couple of washes. Finding the right fabric is quite difficult because it's quite common in the industry for bed sheet fabric to loosen or stretch after washing, as users won't notice. So we put a lot of effort into finding suitable materials and researching how to ensure the surface fabric maintains accurate dimensions. It's very difficult because no one has ever made bed sheets that require such accuracy before; we are the first.
3. Color and colorfastness: The material should not bleed color after washing, and the color should be vibrant and glossy, with even and accurate color distribution. All of these are very important. Different materials react differently to color after being woven, and different dyeing methods will also produce different effects. Some are more beautiful, some are less so, and of course, the cost is also different. I've seen many bed sheets on the market that fade easily after washing after a while, and the dyeing is not done well. The colors of the newly bought sheets are too bright and not beautiful, and the dyeing and printing process seems rough. Well then, this time, all the new bed sheets must be done well, beautiful and presentable when you show them to your friends at home.
4. Shrinkage: This is related to the durability mentioned earlier, where the fabric becomes thinner and looser after washing. New bed sheets require very precise dimensions; the fabric cannot shrink, otherwise, the job won't work . However, this is a very common problem with bed sheet materials on the market. After several washes in a washing machine, the shrinkage rate often reaches 5% or even more. Of course, 5% on a 200cm sheet only translates to 10cm of excess fabric, which will be buried under the mattress and unnoticed by the user. Finding fabric with a shrinkage rate of less than 5% is not easy, and the price is usually high. Therefore, only very expensive bedding sets on the market typically achieve this. Of course, we also need to achieve this for our design requirements. Researching this process is extremely difficult … Currently, the fabric we choose has a shrinkage rate of less than 3% .

The above points are all about the fabric of new bed sheets. You can probably imagine that I constantly discovered and solved new problems, and at the same time, I had to constantly research how to do it well. I thought a material wouldn't loosen with each wash, but after spending time researching all the colors and how to use it, I found that the size changed after several washes, and I had to start all over again, researching where the problem was, changing direction, falling down and getting back up, falling down again and getting back up again. The process was very demoralizing. That's how it is sometimes; that's how things are when you do something. Everyone tries their best, and that's all for today.