Penrose Blogs

With Christmas just around the corner it's time to get your shopping 'wrapped up'. Perfume is great, slippers are obligatory but how many of you know someone who would simply love a good night sleep? If you’re looking for luxurious, sustainable, practical and British made gifts this Christmas, look no further. We've put together a shoppable gift guide of our bedding that we promise will make your all sleepy Christmas wishes come true. We’ve got gifts for interiors lovers, sustainability champions, for young and old and gifts for the person who has already got everything! Switch the xxx's on your cards for zzz's this Christmas.

Our Gift Guide

As we wave goodbye to the summer months and the record breaking high temperatures, we know lots of people will be beginning to think about winter and this year more than ever, how to keep warm economically, due to the increasing cost of living and energy crisis. With the cost of energy spiralling people are rightly considering how to save money, from batch cooking to reduce energy usage in the kitchen and swapping out high usage appliances for more efficient alternatives to simply preparing to wear more layers. But what can you do to keep warm at night?

Winter Bedding

We all look forward to our holidays and those weekend breaks. Last year and a worldwide pandemic saw many miss out on a holiday away from home. 2021 may, for many, become an opportunity to go away once again. With the vaccination programme well underway in the UK, as we write this, holidays should become possible once again. You and I, though, may still worry about catching Covid and passing it on to others. Staying in hotels, B&B's and self-catering accommodation means coming into contact with people; though, we can still live by the principles of face, space, hands. However, the question that many ask is, who's been sleeping on the pillow? Hoteliers can wash bedding, change it for each guest, but the stuffing in the pillow will not have been. Viruses are transmitted through the nose, eyes or mouth, all of which come into contact with a pillow.

Pillow Protectors

Penrose Products are proud to announce the launch of our new linen collection, a range of naturally soft bed linens specifically designed and crafted to complement the properties of our alpaca wool pillows, duvets and toppers. The fabrics we chose for our linens were extremely important, and it was critical that they aligned with our core values, providing a high quality product that embraces natural resources, whilst still being affordable and environmentally friendly. All of our linen ranges are made from cotton, a soft, absorbent and breathable natural fibre that is non-allergenic and contains no chemicals. It’s these properties that make our pillowcases, duvet covers and sheets the perfect match for our alpaca wool bedding ranges, all products working together with your internal thermostat to keep you at a comfortable temperature at night.

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Here at Penrose our family team continues to operate with the health and wellbeing of our community the top priority at all times. As a company our core value is to care for others, and we take our responsibilities very seriously during these challenging times. We’re doing all we can to continue operations at a reduced capacity, following government guidance and advice, whilst listening to our customers, colleagues and experts. Our team continues to be committed to getting deliveries to you quickly but in the safest possible way for all. With this in mind we've introduced a number of important measures that we want to share with you.

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After years of investment and development, Penrose Products are proud to launch an exciting new range of bedding products, including new pillows, protectors and mattress toppers. We have timed the launch of these products in conjunction with the opening of our new showroom in Bawtry, alongside our existing showroom in Retford, where customers can tailor their whole bedding experience, and try all of our products side by side in one place. Our new showroom is available to visit by appointment only, and we look forward to welcoming you soon. We’d now like to introduce our new products to you, so please read on for a full round up.

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Storm Keating, an established producer, director, designer, brand ambassador and the wife of Ronan Keating, recently received an alpaca wool bedding set from Penrose Products. Impressed by our products, you can read her thoughts and recommendation, along with others, on our recently updated testimonials page. Do you already use our alpaca wool bedding products? Why not share your experience on social media or through our online feedback form? All comments are valued.

Testimonials

At Penrose Products we have a proud history of heritage, and were thrilled to have our luxury wool bedding in Harrods headlining their annual Made With Love campaign. We are delighted to have had our products on display alongside prestigious brands in an iconic store with such provenance and heritage. Celebrating luxury craftsmanship, the Made With Love campaign is a celebration and appreciation of exceptional craftsmanship, distinctive design and personalised touches, putting quality at centre stage.

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Anna Magee, a multi award winning journalist and editor at Healthista, recently received an alpaca wool bedding set from Penrose Products. She was having issues with sleep temperature, regularly waking up at 3am in a cold sweat, overheated and generally uncomfortable, worrying about how she was going to get back to sleep. We decided to help and supplied Anna with an alpaca wool duvet and pillows, and she has written all about her experience in a blog at the Healthista website. Read an extract from the blog below, read the full blog here, and visit our recently updated testimonials page for more great feedback about our products.

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Watch tonight as Penrose Products wool bedding features in a new television series on More4. A programme focussing on people with severe sleep disorders, the Secrets of Sleep is a four part series, with experts working together in a bid to fix their troubled nights sleep. In episode one, our bedding is used by Nancy, who sleepwalks her way into danger almost every night. Can our bedding and advice from the sleep gurus help? Watch the programme now and see how our products could help you.

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Penrose Products luxury wool bedding was recently featured in The Sunday Times, in a weekly interior design feature called The Edit. In the article, interior design guru Katrina Burroughs described our products as the perfect pillows, and declared Penrose Products as the star of the night at the recent unveiling of Walpole’s 2016 Brands of Tomorrow. Read the feature in full below and browse our wool pillow, duvet and topper sections for more information about our products.

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Penrose Products, a family owned UK natural fibre bedding manufacturer based in Retford, Nottinghamshire, has been selected as one of the 2016 Brands of Tomorrow to take part in a unique networking and mentoring program within the luxury industry. In 2012, entrepreneur and Dragons Den regular Theo Paphitis selected the company for his coveted Small Business Sunday award on Twitter. In 2013, Penrose was recognised by the Lincolnshire Sustain programme for its unique attention to detail in sustainability whilst producing luxury bedding. In 2014, Penrose had pillows recognised as the luxury gift of the year by the Retail Gift Association, and following this House Beautiful awarded Penrose with a Gold Award for their sustainable approach to luxury bedding in their annual awards.

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Penrose Products are proud to be registered with the British Alpaca Society, and all the wool used in our alpaca bedding is grown, sheared, processed and finished here in the UK. This fibre is a natural, renewable material that we source from sustainable breeders around the country. All the wool used in our bedding comes from UK based Huacaya alpacas, Suri alpacas, or a blend of the two.

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Alpaca wool is the preferred material that we use here at Penrose Products, and so we thought it would be good to tell you a little more about this wonderful fibre. Sheep’s wool has long been used in many products and you can read more about it in our how wool works blog. However, for our bedding products alpaca has some real advantages, giving our customers some great benefits.

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As with many items that we own, it is easy to take them at face value and enjoy the benefits they give us. For example, most of us will own clothing made from natural fibres such as wool. We appreciate the quality of the garment and that not only can it look good, but it will keep us warm too. Before you buy an item of clothing, you might spend time checking it for faults and seeing how well it is made. Do you, however, give much thought to the actual way that the fibre itself has been prepared before being made into a garment? Like most people, probably not.

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It can be said that dry cleaning got its start back in Roman times. In the ruins of Pompeii, cleaning shops (Fullonicae) have been discovered and were a very common part of Roman life. The cleaners used fullers earth, lye and ammonia (derived from urine) to remove stains from clothes. In the 19th century a process called dry scouring was filed with the United States Patent Office in 1821 by Thomas Jennings, the first African American to be granted a patent.

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Penrose Products was invited to one of two preview events in London for a series of short films collectively entitled Meet My World and Sarah and Mark from the Penrose Products press office attended. The films are the work of children from the Ccorca region of Peru and have been made with the help of Amantani, a charity that supports educational opportunity in the region. We have been a supporter of Amantani since the charity began.

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We all need sleep. It’s a mechanism that our bodies need to recover to be ready to face a new day. Many adult sleep problems can be self made by poor sleeping habits, created by staying up late and getting up too early. This type of problem can be remedied by developing a proper sleep pattern. There are a number of common reasons for sleep problems in adults and we will review these in this article. Also see our article tips to sleep well for more helpful advice.

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Babies require a great deal of sleep. A newborn baby will sleep up to 16 hours per day. At first they will wake up every 2 to 3 hours to feed, but gradually as the weeks go by, they will sleep for longer periods. From around 6 months old they will sleep 5 or 6 hours continuously, giving parents much needed rest. If your baby keeps waking up every 2 to 3 hours from the age of 5 months, you will need to train them to have a regular sleep pattern. The baby should no longer require feeding as often as before.

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There are many everyday objects that we take for granted and the pillow is probably one of them so let’s take a look at the history of the pillow. The use of pillows can be traced back thousands of years to the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia the area where Iraq is today. Archaeologists have discovered what we would call hard pillows, that is pillows usually made of stone. Many other civilizations also used hard pillows. The Chinese believed that soft pillows stole energy while you sleep.

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Parents will know and tell you that if you have a child with a sleep problem it can be very stressful. Adults need their sleep too, and being woken by a child during the night is very wearing. We all have a cycle in sleep of moving between REM (rapid eye movement) light sleep when we are dreaming, and NREM (non rapid eye movement) which is a deep sleep. It is during the REM stage that we or a child is most likely to wake up. Read on to find out more about children and sleep problems.

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Doctor Andrew Mayers, an established psychologist specialising in sleep problems at Bournemouth University, recently took two alpaca wool pillows on trial from Penrose Products. You can read his recommendation, comments and review, along with others, on our new testimonials page. Do you already use our wool bedding products? Why not share your experience on social media or through our online feedback form. All comments are valued.

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We all know the value of getting a good night’s sleep. There are many reasons for not getting one and we have blogs and articles on our website that discuss many of those reasons. There is however a factor that we should all take into account and that is our temperature whilst sleeping. Many of us find it difficult to sleep when it’s very hot or we are cold. When the temperatures are extreme this is quite noticeable and can lead to tossing and turning and an interupted night of sleep.

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The British Alpaca Society has been formed to help with the welfare of alpacas and to educate owners throughout the UK. As written in its website, the British Alpaca Society provides information, support and events for alpaca owners, breeders and those interested in alpacas, as well as maintaining the pedigree register for the national herd. Membership is reasonably priced and includes an annual subscription to Alpaca Magazine.

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The duvet has become a part of our everyday lives and have become the most popular form of bed covering in northern Europe. The days of blankets, bedspreads and many sheets are now over. Duvets make it far easier to make a bed than before. Did you really ever learn how to make hospital corners? The duvet is such a practical way to make a bed and if you choose the appropriate duvet for you, makes for a really good nights sleep.

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Alpaca wool has some wonderful qualities and as we examine them you will see why we here at Penrose Products love this fibre and use it. One of the reasons and a very important one for us is that alpaca wool is a good insulator and yet helps regulate temperature in our pillows and duvets. Alpaca wool is also naturally anti-allergenic so allergy sufferers will not suffer using alpaca wool products. There are many other reasons too, so please read on.

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It is so frustrating to get into to bed and be unable to fall asleep. 25% of the population in the UK suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness. That means that 1 in 4 of us do not sleep well. If you are suffering from a lack of sleep, there are some things that you can do that will help you, but please do be prepared to consult a doctor if this is becoming a serious problem. Here are some top tips that sleep experts recommend that will help you to sleep well.

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Alpacas are domesticated members of the camelid family, the others are llamas, camels, guanacos and vicunas. They are native to South America, living in the higher altitudes of The Andes, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Alpacas are mainly kept for their fleece and have been farmed for thousands of years. There are two breeds of alpaca, the Huacaya (pronounced wakaya) and Suri. The Suri is not common in the UK and has a wool fleece which can be compared to dreadlocks which are long and loose.

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