1,000 Thread-Count Sheets: Be Careful What You Wish For

[peterh770]

Friends of mine alway buy the highest count sheets they can find, yet out of the other side of their face, they complain that high count sheets always pill.

Anyone else have pilling issues with high count sheets?

 

[sudsman]

If you dont know the brand names

Don't buy them God alone knows where they are made and he is not sure. All Ways stick with a trusted name JC PENNEY own brand is not a bad sheet at all. And not that bad on price either.

 

[launderess]

Percale sheets shouldn't pill. Sateen, flannel or other weaves because of their nature. Cotton/polyester can and often does pill.

Pilling can also be caused by polyester rubbing against cotton, such as if one wears polyester or coton/poly blend night attire on certian cotton or blend sheets.

Have seen some Frette and other sheets with really bad pilling. Usually sateen and one can tell from the area of pilling that it is where the body comes into contact with the sheet (such on bottom sheets), and one moves about allot.

L.

 

[xraytech]

I agree to only buy sheets from aname you know. I personally almost exclusively buy the J.C.Penney sheets, same goes for bath towels and rugs and draperies, best value and quality for the money. The only exception is when on a few occasions I have been able to find N.I.B. Sears Harmony House or Perma Prest sheets.

Sam

 

[sudsmaster]

It's not necessary to go vintage to get durable high quality bed linens.

I've have very good luck with Kirkland brand 600 count Pima cotton sheets. Quite soft and don't show many wrinkles after line drying. And very sturdy. Been using the same set for the last four years with no sign of wear. Wash in hot water very week (Neptune @130F) w/o chlorine. Have also washed them at 160F in Miele with no ill effects.

I've never seen an all cotton sheet pill.

I have seen some "high thread count" sheets at Walmart and other places that are really a cotton poly blend. I avoid those like the plague.

 

[whitekingd]

I have 5 sets of Martha Stewart Everyday sheets from K-Mart ranging from 180 to 300 thread count. Very high quality sheets at a great price. After four years or so, they literally look like they just came out of the package!

 

[westie2]

Jersey Sheets

Pete we have used these for a few years and won't go back to the regular sheets. So soft to sleep on and so easy to put on beds. Wal Mart and Target here carries them.

 

[michaelman2]

Sprinkled Down and Ironed

I like sheets that have been hung to dry then sprinkled down with regular tap water and ironed via ironer/mangle. Really any all cotton or natural fiber sheet can be pressed and will stay nice until laundered again. I have not purchased linens in several years and mine are still sleeping well.

 

[brisnat81]

Are Jersey sheets the same as what we call Flannelette?

Or is it a knit fabric?

 

[ronhic]

Jersey...

...from what I recall is a knit fabric. Feels a little like light weight flannelette to the touch, but is a completely different beast...

Lovely to sleep in though....

 

[geoff]

OK, now I feel out-of place.

Am I the only on who uses satin sheets?? I absolutely cannot sleep on anything else. Once I bought them that was the end. I even bring them with me when I travel LOL. No wrinkles whatsoever and they are like sleeping on a cloud. The only thing that's sometimes unpleasant is they are COLD when you first get into bed, other than that, they are a dream..

 

[gansky1]

I haven't had any sheets with thread counts that high - usually around 400 or so. I hang all sheets to dry so they usually are a bit wrinkled but I generally iron most of the pillowcases.

Jersey is a knit, like a t-shirt, usually all cotton. I had some for a while but they stretched out terribly and were a struggle to keep on the bed properly.

My son likes flannel sheets but I find them too warm with a down comforter, quilts, etc. so I stick with cotton. There's nothing like a crisp, ironed cotton pillowcase.

 

[scott55405]

Frig, I have the exact same sheet set you have and have been overall fairly pleased. Previously, I had a 600 ct set I bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond, those were sateen and I liked those as well. Eventually, the bottom sheet wore out from being stretched and got a big ol rip. They were labeled "Sateen" and I think they were softer than what I have now.

We have Speed Queen toploaders here, and it definitely fills the machine up, although I don't wash sheets with anything else in any event. They do wrinkle, but I find they settle down once on the bed.

They are crisp, which I think they're supposed to be, but I don't find them scratchy or uncomfortable (I do use fabric softener).

I think a person can get carried away with the hype of a high thread count, in spite of my liking these. I remember when 200-250 was the gold standard, and they were certainly more than acceptably comfortable.

 

[jeffg]

Scott, try rinsing the sheets in warm water instead of cold. That should eliminate (or at least reduce) the wrinkling.

And please, if anyone is going to chime in with "cold water rinsing reduces wrinkles", I know better. Cotton and cold water don't mix.

 

[sudsman]

Jeff

Cold water rinsing reduces wrinkles ;

Somewhat true. While cold water will set stains it will also set wrinkles if it is too cold just as hot water will also.
The ideal temperature for rinising is actually no lower than 75F and no higher than 100F . A warm load extracts better and dries faster than a cold load does. Sometimes saving as much as 15 mins in a dryer. We even sometimes run a hot last rinse if in a pinch for time we can then go right to the ironer without any wasted time pre-conditioning the work. Warm loads will unload from the washer quicker that cold loads do . And a warm load will "pull" from the carts easier too. In colder water fabric softners will not penetrate the fabric as well as it does in warm water either.

 

[jetcone]

wow familiar

I bought a set of 100% TC 750 sheets at the Home Show. They were in a word "tinny"! Awful feel awful to sleep on (one night ONLY!!) and they shrunk like a dick in cold seawater!

Never again, I have a linen duvet that I just love, its thick, it fights me and I know it will wear forever in smooth comfort!

I didn't know natural cotton was 240 thread count thats interesting!

 

[frigilux]

Update: The sheets have been washed four times. I'm using a stiff dose of fabric softener, which seems to help. They feel less like a canvas dropcloth, at any rate. I'm getting used to their "heaviness", and am beginning to appreciate their relative bulk.

Have taken to drying them one at a time in the dryer. That makes THREE loads---two with a sheet each; one with the six pillowcases. The sheets are less wrinkled that way. I'll be glad when spring weather settles in and I can hang them all on the line.

We're having a freak spring snowstorm today/tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a good day to get taxes and baking done.