I buy only 100% cotton sheets and don’t wash them with anything but sheets and they still pill. I can relate, Renee.
I’ve had good luck with Target Shabby Chic 100% cotton. Cheap, smooth and comfy. I do miss the higher threadcounts, but that’s not in the cards for the next couple of years.
We’ve had a set of sheets from BBBY on the bed for almost a solid year with weekly washing and they’ve not pilled a bit. We went to get more last week as we were tired of the color, but sadly, that particular brand had been discontinued, so no point in trying to recall what kind they were other than they’re in the 400-count range. We got another of their many house-brands and have our fingers crossed.
There’s been a huge crisis in the cotton world with entire countries’ production being wiped out due to floods or draughts. For the past year or so, the mass clothing industry (eg: everyday brands like Hanes, Wrangler, Levi, Fruit of the Loom) has been valiantly trying to keep prices down. Unfortunately, if the price of raw cotton has doubled, about all they can do is use less (lighter-weight fabrics) or use a lesser grade of fiber. Undoubtedly, this contributes to products just not wearing and lasting as well as they used to.
Huh, that’s so strange. I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you. I’m also surprised - I’m like a magnet for pilling sheets, so I thought for once I had the answer!
I wanted to give you a recommendation from my mother, the ultimate sheet snob (what she pays for sheets is literally unprintable) but she has so many good sets - 7, 8 maybe? - that they never get enough use for me to say they don’t pill. None of them pill, but when you only use a set 6 times a year it’s not like real usage for everyone else!
Oh - Renee - are you washing your towels with your sheets? If so, that’s a big no no…wash your sheets alone or with plain tshirts and the like.
ETA: Just echoed/confirmed what Maatricht said.
Does the type of wash machine matter? Do the new side loaders pill the sheets like the old top loader with rotating paddle?
We haven’t been washing towels with the sheets, and our washer and dryer are the fancy-pants front loading type, only about a year old, so I don’t think it’s that. I ended up buying some percale weave sheets from Wal-Mart today (because I was there, they said “percale” on them, they’re a cute print, and I know Wal-mart won’t give me any shit about taking them back if they fall apart). I’ve kept the receipt and the packaging, I’ll report back in a few months and let you all know how it goes. I appreciate all the input, thank you!
Can’t say I’ve noticed a difference personally…I use an old top loader 90% of the time but perhaps someone can jump in with the experience of front loader exclusively.
Yay 
I love hearing the “results” from threads.