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High-quality bed sheets are the ultimate antidote to broken kip. The average person spends 227,760 hours (!) of their life in bed, and while a luxe bed frame, decent mattress, supportive pillow and sumptuous duvet will all give the gift of a good night’s sleep, they’re nothing if your bed sheets are too hot (or too scratchy).
But how can you know whether bed linen will quality in the best bed sheets category? Is it the thread count? The fabric? The brand? Do you need to spend a bomb on luxury sheets to emulate the feeling you get when you crawl into a hotel bed – or can you get good quality sheets on a budget?
In our quest to give you the best sleep of your life, we’ve compiled a definitive guide to the best bedsheets on the market right now, with a little help from Farah Arshad, Head of Design and bedding expert at DUSK. From Egyptian cotton bed sheets and silk bed sheets (snap up a silk pillowcase to go with them) to the cooling sheets that can regulate your body temperature in the summer, the softest bed sheets are just a click away.
The best bed sheets at a glance:
What is the best sheet material for beds?
When choosing the material of your bed sheets, you should consider both the fiber content and the construction.
1. Fiber content:
- Cotton bed sheets are the most popular, because cotton fiber is durable with a soft feel against your skin. Egyptian cotton bedding tend to be the most popular sub-category within the cotton sheet group.
- Polyester bed sheets are more affordable than cotton, plus, they’re resistant to shrinking and are more wrinkle-resistant than cotton. That said, they have more of a matte finish and don’t feel quite so high-end. If you want the best of both worlds, you can find cotton polyester blend top sheets.
- Linen bed sheets are a popular choice in summer because they’re breathable, light and airy. Linen sheets are also great if you like that laidback, boho feel to your bedroom – and they look on-trend with rattan furniture and complimentary linen bedding.
- Regeneration cellulose – which you’ll likely see referred to as “viscose” or “lyocell” when you’re shopping. These fibres are made using plants to create eucalyptus or bamboo sheets. They’re super soft (sometimes softer than cotton) and more eco-friendly.
2. Construction:
- Microfiber: soft and fairly affordable, if a little flimsy.
- Flannel: brushed flat sheets, often made of cotton or polyster, that feel warm and cosy in the winter.
- Sateen: like cotton sateen, often silky smooth and shiny in appearance.
- Percale sheet sets: percale is a breathable, basic and lightweight weave that’s one of the most popular.
- Jersey: is a stretchy material, similar to what your favourite white t-shirt is made of. You can most commonly pick up cotton jersey bed sheets (which are soft but less durable than cotton sateen or cotton percale).
What is the best thread count for sheets?
On top of the construction and fiber content, when you’re buying bed sheets, you’ll notice the thread count is often referenced, too.
Thread count is a way of measuring the number of vertical and horizontal threads per square inch of your bed sheet. The higher the thread count, the more threads there are within the fabric and the denser the bed sheet will feel.
Generally speaking, bed sheets with a higher thread count will have a more luxurious feel – and the majority of the top-rated bed sheets in this edit fall somewhere between the 300 and 500 thread count mark. That said, you can get some really great 200 thread count sheets that are washable and soft.
How to make your bed sheets last longer:
Farah Arshad, Head of Design at DUSK, says there are a few things you can do to ensure your bed sheets stand the test of time. “Although it’s common to use hot water to wash bed linen, heat can cause damage in the long term, shrinking the fabric, fading the colours and making stains stick,” she says.
Instead, luxury bed sheets should be washed at 30 degrees, which also reduces wrinkling in cotton, making your bed sheets easier to iron. “When washing, ensure you separate whites, treat stains straight away and avoid overloading your washing machine.” Anything else, we asked? “Never use bleach, which can be a tempting short term solution but over time can cause white bed sheets to yellow.”
After more sleep content? We’ve got low platform bed frames, mattress toppers, duvets, bed sheets, weighted blankets and body pillows. Finish things off with the best duvet covers, blankets, linen bedding, silk bedding, the best silk pillowcase, pillow spray, sleep books and cooling pillows. For more from our Commerce Editor Sophie Cockett, follow her on Instagram @sophiecockettx.