Swedish content creator, Cecilia Blomdahl recently took to TikTok to explain a Scandinavian tradition which might come as a culture shock for many around the world.
@sejsejlija The Scandinavian Sleep Method 😃![CDATA[]]>🙌![CDATA[]]>🏻![CDATA[]]>🌙![CDATA[]]>🙋![CDATA[]]>🏼♀️ #svalbard #longyearbyen #scandinaviansleepmethod ♬ original sound - Cecilia Blomdahl
The lifestyle content creator who lives in a cabin in Svalbard, an island close to the North Pole, shared the reasons for hanging her bedding on her outside railings during all types of weather conditions.
“You’ve seen me take out my duvets to hang outside on my railing in all weather and seasons. In the middle of the dark polar night, or on a freezing winter day or during the bright sunshine on polar day, I never miss an opportunity to freshen up my sheets,” she explained.
Blomdahl added that both these customs are part of the Scandinavian Sleep Method. So what is the reasoning behind this?
“I am from Sweden. That’s where I grew up so this is something that my Swedish mother always did. So she would hang them over the railing like this whether it was summer or winter, to get the dust out and things like that,” said Blomdahl.
She added that another benefit to this unusual method was to expose the bedding to sunlight, which helps to naturally disinfect and deodorise the duvets.
It also allows it to breath, releasing trapped moisture and preventing the growth of mould and mildew, whilst the gentle breeze aids in fluffing up the duvet to ensure optimal insulation during sleep.
According to her TikTok users from around the world, airing your sheets outdoors is common to other regions as well.
This included @zlkp3 who commented on Blomdahl’s video: “We do that in Greece also 🇬🇷!But babies sleeping outside???”
@detz.131 added: “The American outside smell is probably not the same as fresh and crisp as the Scandinavian smell 😭”
@razzberrymomz joked: “The way the POLLEN here in the US is, you hang them outside here, and you gon be sleeping with the pollen and maybe a few critters 😂”
@tanarose88 said: “If I did this in Australia my sheets would be filled with spiders.”
Whilst @fathimamohamed0 said: “We do it in South Africa 🤔, I thought it was normal.”