[Songvely Review: Korean Stone bed & Soil bed] 겨울에는 뜨끈한 돌침대/흙침대! [EN]

Have you ever used stone bed or soil bed? :)

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Hi, I'm @songvely [SSong-bly]
Today's posting is a little bit late to help my sister's moving. There were not many stuff, but her stone bed gave me back pain!! haha I'd like to write about stone and soil bed in Korea, and also curious about if other countries have that kind of bed.

My mom is a fan of stone and soil bed. She who will be 60 years old a few years later grew up in traditional Korean house. Of course, she did not use a bed for a long time. Maybe that's why she still loves sitting on the floor and "Ondol", Korean floor heating system.

Original source of picture is linked
(Do you know "The Flinstones"? I loved it when I was young, and Flinstone slept on a stone bed! haha)

In my parents' house in hometown, all of the beds are stone or soil beds except mine. (I prefer soft bed so I begged her not to change it to hard one. :p) To spread her love for stone/soil bed to others, she sent the beds as presents to the uncles and aunts. :)

Original source of picture is linked

In my opinion, the biggest adventage of stone/soil bed is Ondol. *Ondol is a Korean traditional heating system. Korean ancestors made the floor hot instead of using fireplace or heater that puts out hot air. Even in these days, in most of the Korean houses, there are water pipes under the floor. When we turn on the boiler, hot water passes under the floor warming up the whole house from the ground. In that basis, Koreans say "fry ourselves on the floor" when we lie down. :)

This is the first house of me and my husband in the USA. :) I love the house and alway will, but I missed warm floor of Korea in winter.

It takes quite time to warm up a stone/soil bed, but it doesn't cool down easily. It doesn't use much electronic, so my parents turn it on all night. (There is thermostats separately for right and left side, so you can change the degree for yourself) One of my aunt use a single size soil bed that my mom sent as a couch, which is cool in summer and hot in winter.

Original source of picture is linked

The other merit is that stone/soil bed blocks electromagnetic waves and it feels good after sleeping! When I have some body aches, I feel refereshing after deep sleep on the hot stone/soil bed. Especially in winter, when you go to the bed, the inside of the blanket is cold at first so body shrinks with tension. On the other hand, the soil/stone bed, warmed up before sleep, makes me relax and allow deep sleep. We can use electronic blankets nowadays, but I always worry about electronic waves. Stone/soil bed prevents the wave to rich the person. It is also known that the elements, such as jade or charcoal, contained in special stone/soil beds give beneficial energy.

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However, the weak pont is that kind of bed is stiff.
(Of course, It might be a strong point to someone.)

There are some behaviors you don't want to do on a stone/soil bed.

Last year, my mom(again!!) sent a good stone bed my cousin as her marriage gift. I'm not sure if it was a good choice for a couple who got just married... You can use cushioned blanket or thin mattress on it but be careful the materials vulnerable to heat like latex.

In addition, one more thing that I realized today is stone/soil bed is really really really heavy!! We had to throw my sister's stone bed out from her house. In Korea, the stone/soil bed company sends professional people to move a bed. Yet, it was short distance so my family thought it would be easy to move the bed. In conclusion, it was definitely not. My husband's back was almost sprained!!

There are pros and cons on Stone/soil bed. How about your thought? I'd like to have one not for everyday but when it is really cold!! :o

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