What is the purpose of using a top sheet on your bed? Do you use a top sheet when you sleep?

Where did this tradition start? Is it for warmth, sanitation, comfort, tradition?

I use a top sheet. I use it for comfort and warmth. My step-daughter doesn't use one at all. Good luck. 2D

My husband and I had that fight for 30 years, even though even his mother pointed out to him that he'd grown up using a top sheet because sheets wash a whole lot easier than blankets, and it makes the blankets last longer. We got separate bedrooms 10 years ago, and he can do as he pleases. What he pleases is to sleep between 2 comforters. But he also has to take care of his own bedding. I hate to even walk into his room because of the smell. But he can still visit me any time he wants to.

I can't go more than seven nights without washing the sheets on my bed. Washing the quilt my grandmother made for me (which is the next layer up from the top sheet) would ruin it in no time. Same thing for the microfiber blanket that is on top of that (I get very cold!). A top sheet is also great in the summer when you only need a light layer.

It seems to me mostly for sanitation. It keeps your sweat and dead skin (which is more significant than one might think) off the blankets (whose primary function is to keep you warm).

Personally I prefer to use a one piece quilt with a removeable cover that can be washed regularly. Otherwise I do use a top sheet for sanitary reasons. (spider mites live in the dead skin and many many people are allergic to these tiny tiny insects)

i believe the purpose it to keep your blankets clean. you can wash your sheets all the time, but blankets don't hold up as well always.
yes, i always use a top sheet...

I use a top sheet. The tradition could have started with the need to impress overnight guest, when the bed is turned down, that the sheets and pillow cases were all co-ordinated
That way people would talk about "what a beautiful bedroom,
they slept in, or something to that effect.
I really have no idea, but based on experience, I figure this is probably the reason.
2nd possibility: The early blankets were scratchy

i dont know what the purpose is. lol. i dont use them, but some people do..

It's really about sanitation as you change and wash your sheets more often than blankets. But there also is the fact that there is nothing more soothing than sliding between two high count sheets. I can't think of a single blanket that I would want touching my skin either.

I remember hearing about this on NPR several years ago. The purpose of a top sheet is to put a barrier between you & the blanket, which is often scratchy (if it's wool) and because the blanket doesn't get washed as often.

I didn't use a top sheet for years, but now I do. Sometimes, in the summer, that's all I need.

I used to use a top sheet. My husband doesn't like to use a top sheet so we have stopped. If we didn't have a very soft blanket I would use a top sheet though. It makes making the bed so much easier.