Heather Latter
A member of Rainy River First Nations is seeing success with his company’s patented special bed sheets.
Adrian Campbell said he and his wife invented “Rip n Go” because of the hassle of changing the sheets in their baby daughter’s crib every time her diaper leaked.
“I remember having to undo the bumper pads, take the mattress out, untuck the sheet, and do all that stuff,” Campbell remarked, noting between the time their daughter was one and two-and-a-half years old, they were changing the bedding at least four times a week.
And to make it worse, the sheets needed to be changed in the middle of the night.
“We were so tired that we decided to look online to see what we could find,” he explained.
While there were waterproof mattress covers, he couldn’t find anything that would make night-time sheet changes more efficient.
“There was nothing on the market where it was a quick-change product,” Campbell said.
With his wife, Louise Miner, having 15 years’ experience in the textile business, she decided to make her own product.
So she designed a system that incorporated a fitted sheet that stays on the mattress with a high-quality absorbent removable pad that attaches to the sheet with Velcro.
The pad can be washed hundreds of times at high temperatures.
The couple wanted to make sure their product also didn’t crack, shrink, or wrinkle.
“The first one we made is still on her bed,” Campbell said about his now three-year-old daughter.
“It’s been washed about 250 times and it’s still in great shape.”
After making the “Rip n Go” sheets, the couple shared the product with their friends, who loved them.
Soon they patented the idea and then did a trade show in Toronto, where they sold all 130 units they had brought with them.
“We did really great and got more orders by word of mouth,” Campbell enthused.
“So it sort of flowed from there.”
With the success of the “Rip n Go” crib sheets, the couple expanded the business, adding a junior line for kids aged three-nine, which helps with bed-wetting, and adult line for those with incontinence issues.
“Night-time diapers prolong bed-wetting,” Campbell insisted, noting studies have been done.
“It teaches your little one a bad habit,” he reasoned.
The adult line caters to seniors. It incorporates a detachable bottom sheet, with easy-grab corners, for more protection and convenience.
“We made an incontinence product that doesn’t look or feel like an incontinence product,” Campbell explained.
Campbell grew up in Winnipeg and now lives in Ottawa, but he is a member of Rainy River First Nations.
His mom, Janey Biggs, still lives in Fort Frances.
Rainy River First Nations provided financial assistance to Campbell through a trust fund to help get the product to market.
In return, Campbell is supplying the band with “Rip n Go sheets,” giving them 85 units every year.
“We want to make sure the babies and elders are taken care of,” he reasoned.
“It’s just paying it forward.”
Campbell also is hoping his product will be available soon in Fort Frances.
Until then, anyone wanting to purchase “Rip n Go” sheets can order from their website at www.ripngo.ca
