Surely you’ve heard of “Earthing”?
Earthing is the practice of electrically grounding yourself to the Earth. Primarily for me this means sleeping on grounded sheets. For other people it’s walking barefoot on a sandy beach.
About 13 years ago I read Clint Ober’s book “Earthing” and decided to try it. This is an ideal concept for an “indoor” guy like myself. Yes, I’m not proud of it but I’m mostly a “desk jockey”. I’ve recommended Earthing sheets to clients and I’ve had some impressive feedback. Most impressive is when someone puts them on the bed without their spouse knowing that it’s anything other than a normal sheet. Thus we know the health benefits aren’t just “placebo effect”.
I’ve always been a fan of buying things instead of renting them. I can sell you a bottle of supplements and that’s great nutrition but it’s a cost month after month after month (sort of like subscribing to Netflix). Obviously I consider supplements very valuable since I take so many myself! However purchasing Earthing sheets is far more cost effective. Depending on how well you take care of them, you can get many years of usage out of a sheet.
Years ago, it was very difficult to find and buy Earthing sheets. The original source is “Earthing”:
https://www.earthing.com/
“Earthing” is still my favorite kind / brand, their new sheet approach uses a mattress pad that you plug into a grounded outlet. Yes, make sure you actually test your outlets! You’d be surprised how many homes have incorrect wiring! The original sheet design plugged directly in, without any mattress pad.
If you can actually catch Earthing with sheets in stock, they are my number one recommended brand.
After waiting a year, unable to buy another sheet since they are out of stock, I searched on Amazon and discovered there are now all kinds of companies selling Earthing sheets. So I bought a couple other brands.
From Amazon I bought a “PANBMAO” brand sheet. These are on sale currently at $90 each (Queen size). I’ve got no real complaints, this is a perfectly fine Earthing sheet. This sheet is a bit loose but fits okay.
After contacting Ground Luxe, I decided to give their brand a try too. Their customer service is awesome. I’m definitely happy to recommend them. One thing that impressed me about Ground Luxe was their active interest in getting recommendations from me on how to improve their product!
However Ground Luxe pricing is not low. Price for a Queen size sheet is $180 (currently there is a “Black Friday” deal for an extra 20% off). So are they worth basically twice the price? That’s hard to say, they claim to be organic and higher quality (thicker fabric), but honestly the PANBMAO and Ground Luxe sheets are so similar you might think they came from the same factory. There are only a few barely noticeable differences. The one very noticeable difference is the Ground Luxe sheet is too big and loose! It works but it is not snug, it’s significantly bigger than the PANBMAO sheet.
https://groundluxe.com/
Size of the sheets has always been a problem. Sometimes they are perfect, sometimes they are so small you can hurt yourself straining to put them on your mattress, and sometimes they are huge (what’s the point of a fitted sheet if it doesn’t fit?). I think my problem with the sizing is that many specify a 12 inch pocket but my mattress is only 10 inches tall.
A huge challenge is how to launder Earthing sheets! If you just toss them in the wash with standard detergent and roast them in the dryer they will lose their functionality faster. There are a number of recommendations on how to wash them but I think the best approach is to wash them with vinegar! Yes, just pour in some vinegar as if it was laundry detergent, wash gently and then let them hang dry. I use potent 30% vinegar.
Earthing sheets are made with silver wires woven through the fabric. Silver is great because it is antimicrobial (kills bacteria and viruses), but silver thread is obviously a bit fragile and will get coated by typical detergents rendering it ineffective.
Cotton sheets are designed to last two to three years, but most people actually use them much longer. Depending on your budget, regularly buying new Earthing sheets is a good idea.
So what does the cost turn out to be? Assuming we spend $200 per sheet (half that if you are willing to buy the cheap brands) and they last three years, that’s 36 months of usage, thus $5.55 per month. Far cheaper than even a low cost supplement. And if you sleep with a partner then you get double the benefit for the same cost (except perhaps more wear and tear).
So John, what’s the science behind this? Well, despite all the tests that have been run which show good benefits (and my own personal experience and the experience of my clients), I’m not sure humans really comprehend exactly how it works. Personally I think it is an antidote to all the EMF we bombard ourselves with from cell phones and WiFi. Of course I also sleep in a completely blacked out bedroom with minimal electronics.
Read Clint Ober’s book if you want some details on the physics and health effects. Earthing is anti-inflammatory. Beyond the fact that it works, the details, of exactly how Earthing works, are at the fringe of human understanding. We have done a lot more research on the chemistry of our metabolism. Relatively little research has been done on “energy medicine”.