Exceedingly Mundane

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Nov
11
Posted by Stace

Sheets

I bought a new set of sheets for our bed a couple of weeks ago. Exciting, huh?! Believe it or not, it’s not something I do often. I change our sheets weekly, but I take the set off, wash and dry them, and put them right back on! I don’t change them out to a different set very often (I’ve blogged about this in the past, here, three years ago), and really – I only have a couple of sets that fit our bed (ours is a queen and the guest room is a double).

Anyway, I was always under the assumption that the higher the thread count, the softer the sheets were. I never paid any attention to the type of cotton – 100% cotton, cotton blend, Egyptian cotton, sateen, etc. Apparently I should have!

I washed our new sheets and put them on the bed, excited to have nice new crisp clean soft sheets. WHAT? Soft, you ask? They’re 450 thread count (100% cotton sheets), so I assumed they’d be soft. But — they’re not! They’re rough, scratchy and not at all what I had hoped for. So, what have I been doing?

Washing them. Repeatedly. The first week I had them, I washed them 3 times! And they are getting softer. Of course, not fast enough for me 🙂 To be fair, I had some old jersey knit sheets on our bed, which are very very soft. And I’m sure my last set that I used regularly before that have been washed so many times, they can’t help but be soft. But I was really hoping for these to be soft, right out of the package.

So – help me out for the time in the future when I venture out to buy new sheets again. What do you use? The highest thread count you can afford? Are you sure to buy Egyptian cotton? Sateen cotton? Some kind of blend? Leave me a comment and let me know!

P.S. Please note that flannel sheets aren’t “allowed” here, because I live with the human heater (aka Tim). Mr. Hot Natured thinks flannel sheets and electric blankets are horrid creations and aren’t allowed in the house under any circumstance! 😀

  1. mamichelle Said,

    Ha, too funny! This is me to a “T”!! I have no clue what to buy. I have one set that fits my new deep king mattress. I love them but hubby says they feel wet in the summer (I guess soft = wet?!). I got them at Linens N Things and they are striped (off white but striped, KWIM?). I forget the name but they are so worth it. I found them buy feeling the little sheets they have on the displays.

  2. Laura Said,

    I don’t pay much attention to that, either. I usually just pick sheets that are a good brand and have a decently high thread count. But then again, I have 10 or so sets for each season! 🙂 Most of my sheets come from JC Penney, although I think I might try Kohl’s.

    By the way, I don’t buy jersey knit anymore because they get so stretched out and they fit miserably after a few washings. They are fantastically soft, but just not worth it. I prefer the regular soft cotton. 🙂

  3. Tracie Said,

    Bamboo!!! I know it sounds a little crazy, but my mom bought some bamboo sheets that were on sale and they were the softest sheets that I have ever touched….they are amazing!!!! SO much better than cotton, no matter what the thread count…and after she washed them they just kept getting softer…I am seriously in love with those sheets (I always put them on the bed I use whenever we go to visit her!)

  4. Lynne Said,

    I just got a new set of sheets at WalMart. Our mattress is really thick, so I have to find some that will fit. I found some, but I went for cheap instead of high thread count. I washed them before I put them on the bed, but they are still stiff and scratchy. Dom calls them tin foil sheets because they make so much noise whenever you move in the bed. I’m going to have to get others – I can’t stand these.

    I’ve heard that bamboo sheets are really soft, but I have this thing about anything bamboo. I want all the bamboo in the world reserved for the precious pandas. I do like Egyptian cotton though.

  5. Sadie Said,

    I have some bamboo sheets from Target that were not very expensive and are sooo sooo soft.

    Bamboo grows very very fast, you can actually see it happen, and is much better for the environment than cotton. But pandas do need it too. 🙂

  6. jen Said,

    I get my sheets at TJ Max. I go high thread count…and I also like Egyptian.

  7. Jill Said,

    I like Egyptian Cotton percale sheets (not sateen). I like a little crispness to my sheets. I usually go for 300-350 thread count. I love the Hotel brand at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

  8. Cheryl Said,

    I usually buy Egyptian sheets of at least 400 thread count. I have purchased them at Walmart and they are soft right out of the package.

    [WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.

  9. Kara Said,

    I am clueless about such things. And I am probably not the one to ask anyway as I can’t sleep on jersey sheets – too soft. They make me feel like I am trapped in and sticking to the bed!

  10. Desert Songbird Said,

    I’ve never heard of bamboo sheets, or maybe I’ve seen them and never paid attention, but Sadie is right – it grows very, VERY quickly, so no fears about not feeding the pandas.

    We use high thread count, Egyptian cotton sheets. The are so soft, and now that we added a pillow top to our mattress, I never want to get out of bed!

  11. Claire Said,

    I like Egyptian Cotton, prefer not Sateen but I think I bought some on clearance that ended up being that…they are fine now.

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