Has anyone tried to get good cotton comforter and had it be sandy or not of good quality? How do you shop for sheets and comforters and make sure it’s not a waste of money? I like them to be smooth and soft but not flannelly or too warm.
Apparently thread count is not a guarantee of anything. Egyptian cotton may not be what it implies.
Most products are coming from China or India. I just got a comforter and sheets in the mail from india. 1000 thread count, and 100% egyptian cotton supposedly. The label is not specific though and doesn’t remind me of a label attached to a good product. I’m going to give it a wash and see.
I’m wondering if it would be less risk to just buy a microfiber covered comforter. It’s smooth and I have already had one.
I have seen great material on things at Goodwill, but in wrong size, color, condition etc. But if you try to shop for one on ebay it’s a minefield of variables.
Personally, I buy my bedsheets from Lands End and have been happy with them. I started to order from them when extra-deep fitted sheets were hard to find. Other brands had sheets with pockets so shallow that the fitted sheet came undone before morning. Deep pocket sheets are more easily available now, but I still order from Lands End.
If you want really soft, silky feeling sheets that wear more quickly, get cotton sateen.
If you want crisper, cooler, tougher feeling sheets that feel like they will never wear out, get cotton percale.
Higher thread counts tend to be softer, but as the link above points out, beyond a certain point it really doesn’t make a difference.
Sheets are very subjective. I like a good cotton percale, and don’t need anything above about a 250-300 thread count. According to the reviews of my favorite sheet set, some people think they feel like sandpaper or plastic.
Thanks for this thread, drad dog. I have the same problem. I’m not super picky about it (my sister-in-law is like the princess and the pea with sheets – they’re seemingly all too rough/slippery/warm/etc) but I do like just a nice, soft, fresh material and am often marginally disappointed with what I buy. Price point doesn’t seem to be a guarantee that they won’t be sandpapery (though does have a definite impact on longevity), and as you mention thread count seems practically meaningless. I hope to glean some wisdom from this thread!
I’m with you. I can’t stand warm sheets, nor sandpapery sheets. I always was OK with poly cotton blends. I washed my new 100% egyptian, 1000 thread count, cotton sheets and comforter yesterday and it’s just unacceptable. I wonder how we can go to the moon but not be able to get OK bedding for any amount of money. They came from India.
I have started buying sheets at goodwill, and I have a lot of them now, checking out the labels for clues. But I need a new comforter. The best names in the western world are very expensive and don’t seem to know that people would like variety in color and thickness. I’m starting to think of going to microfiber. It’s what I have now and need to replace. LL Bean doesn’t sell this item anymore though. Shopping on ebay for this takes hours and hours.
I feel like I’ve lost this battle. I’ve found no reliable way to identify if sheets or comforters will work for me. Even if you are buying them in store and able to touch them it doesn’t give a good indicator of what they’ll feel like after washing them. None of the labeling information seems to matter, thread counts have become a meaningless term.
My most recent set of sheets were from Costco and while not perfect I’m much happier with them than the previous purchases.
My comforters are all getting ratty but I’ve been failing at finding replacements, eventually I’ll have to buy something. I expect to be disappointed.
Since this is looking for personal experiences and opinions, let’s move it to IMHO (from GQ). Factual information about bedding is of course still welcome in this thread.
I don’t buy sheets if I can’t feel them first. It helps to feel just one layer of the sheet–when they’re folded in the package, sometimes they feel okay, but they’re not so good if you just feel one layer. My favorites right now are bamboo–they’re soft and a bit warmer than cotton. Very cozy.
If you have a TJ Maxx or Marshall’s, those are good places to get good quality sheets cheap. Target has some good sheets, too.
There is a downside to having nice sheets. It does make it harder to get out of bed in the morning.
A couple months ago I bought a new mattress and got so frustrated trying to choose sheets that I just ordered the cheap microfiber set for about $20 from Amazon. They are are very soft and very thin – they sink into the seams in the mattress pad. They are also surprisingly warm, which may be a problem when the weather warms up. I don’t hate them, but I don’t really like them.
I am currently thinking about trying linen sheets. They’re expensive but apparently last a lifetime and are warm in the winter but cool in the summer. Anybody have any experience with linen sheets?
Would that be the $15 dollar sheets that say ‘Egyptian cotton’ or the $400 dollar set? How do you identify the difference between good quality Egyptian cotton sheets and the knock off that includes 10% cotton from Egypt and still calls their product ‘Egyptian Cotton’ The term has become meaningless.
I used to struggle with all the variations, too. Seemed like a crap shoot if your sheets would wear well or get sandpapery after washing. Some would shrink very badly, too. It didn’t seem to matter if they were cheaper or somewhat more pricey.
I finally gave up and paid a wad of money to try out some Wamsutta Dream Zone sheets. They’re 100% ultra-fine cotton, high thread count, and they have a sateen finish. They’re crisp and smooth at the same time. They wear very well and don’t pill up or get rough or flannel-y after washing. Now I’m addicted to them and have them on both beds in the house. My only fear is that they’ll stop making this high quality sheet and I’ll have search for an equivalent using trial-and-error again.
It’s yet again an example of getting what you pay for. Yes, they cost more. But I’ve had them a few years now and they’re not wearing out a bit, so you have to factor in the cost of replacement.
