Sweet dreams start with soft sheets. Or, at the very least, great sheets mean I sleep better, whether my dreams are peaceful or a hallucination of failed superpowers and the internet. There’s a lot to navigate when buying sheets for your bed, from understanding percale and sateen to thread counts. But the right set of sheets can make your old bed feel like a hotel, or be the perfect pairing with a brand-new mattress. (Because what’s the point in pairing your new mattress with stale sheets?)
We’ve tested dozens of options to find the best sheets in nearly every style. However, there’s an endless supply of sheets out there, so we’ll keep updating this guide as we test more. All of the prices shown are for queen-size sets. Be sure to read our Best Mattresses, Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, Best Organic Mattresses, and Best Pillows guides for more bedding recommendations.
Updated November 2024: We’ve updated our linen, percale, organic, and bamboo sheets sections with new picks and honorable mentions.
Table of Contents
Linen Sheets
Why buy linen sheets? Linen is a woven fabric made from flax plants. It’s a highly breathable material and doesn’t trap heat, so it keeps you cool during the summer months. It’s great for people who sleep hot. It’s rougher at first than a simple cotton set, but it should soften up the more it’s washed. Linen is often expensive, but it’s also more durable than cotton, so a good sheet set should last a lot longer. Linen sheets are not for everyone, but if you love linen clothing, you’ll probably love linen sheets.
Our Favorite Linen Sheets
I’ve slept on a lot of linen (don’t miss my entire guide to linen sheets), and the Citizenry’s linen set are my Goldilocks sheets. They’re lightweight and breathable but still have a nice drape and softness you don’t often find in brand-new linen. It usually takes a little breaking in to get to this stage, but the Citizenry’s sheets feel like you’ve already washed them and soften them up. Thanks to great airflow, these sheets are cool enough for warm nights but not so cool that I wouldn’t use them year-round. They’re also Oeko-Tex certified, meaning they’ve been tested for harmful substances and have been deemed harmless.
The Citizenry’s linen sheets not only feel fantastic to sleep on but come in lots of colors to go with any color scheme your bedroom might have. Parts of the sheet set (just the top sheet, pillowcases, etc.) can be purchased individually if something happens to one of your pieces.
The Softest Linen Ever
These sheets are the softest linen I’ve ever tried—so soft that my husband didn’t even realize I had swapped out a soft flannel set for these! They’re super comfortable to sleep on but still have that light linen feel. The Cultiver sheets feel a little silkier (a word I never thought I’d use to describe linen) and drape a little more nicely around my body and on the bed. These sheets are a splurge, but if you want extra-soft linen, these are the way to go.
The only thing I didn’t like about them was the overflowing lint tray after drying them. My husband noted that they were “slippery” compared to other sheets we usually slept on, adding to the almost-silky experience of these sheets. But such softness doesn’t come cheap, and these sheets are a splurge. You’re able to buy pieces individually if you want to work your way up to a full set or worry that one piece could get shredded by your cat (though my cat has yet to do any damage to these).
Other Great Linen Sheets
- Pottery Barn Belgian Flax Linen Sheet Set for $299: These are my favorite cooling linen sheets, as they have the most breathable weave I’ve slept on. The airflow is great with these sheets, keeping me nice and cool. These sheets are a little thinner than the Citizenry’s but not quite as soft.
- Quince Linen Bamboo Deluxe Sheet Set for $240: These aren’t 100 percent linen, but I love the combination of bamboo softness and linen breathability they offer. They’re a great pick if you want the benefits of linen but are uncertain about the roughness or texture of standard linen (or about spending too much!) The original sheet set is sold out, as is this deluxe set, but you can get on the wait list for the deluxe. Quince’s European Linen Sheets ($170) are also a great price if you’re looking for affordable all-linen sheets.
- Thuma Flax Linen Sheet Set for $275: These linen sheets were solid all-around linen, keeping me nice and cool, and had a good weight and structure to them. They’re not quite as soft as our top picks but are a little softer than other options like Brooklinen.
Looking for more linen? Read about every set of linen we’ve tested and our shopping advice in our guide to the best linen sheets.
Percale Sheets
Why buy percale sheets? Percale is a type of cotton weave, not a type of fabric. It’s also referred to as a plain weave. It looks how you might picture a classic weave to look, with an over-under style like a checkerboard. These sheets tend to be crisp, cool, and lightweight, and they make for great cooling sheets. Think of hotel sheets or your favorite button-up shirt. They’re a good middle ground if you sleep hot but don’t want to spring for linen and its higher prices.
Our Favorite Breathable Percale Sheets
I shouldn’t be surprised how much I loved these percale sheets, after how much I loved the Citizenry’s linen sheets. The Citizenry launched its percale line this summer, and it has become one of my favorite cooling sheets to sleep on. I’m usually not a huge percale fan, since I don’t like a super crispy sheet, but the Citizenry’s percale manages to be soft without losing the airflow and slight stiffness that makes percale, well, percale.
While these aren’t as super soft as Supima or Egyptian cotton—more options with those below!—the Citizenry uses long-staple cotton that helps these sheets feel softer than regular cotton percale sheets. This sheet set is also organic and is Oeko-Tex and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified.
Another Great Percale Set
Buffy is famous for the alternative materials behind its bedding. Specifically, Buffy usually uses eucalyptus-based lyocell to make its sheets and comforters. But Buffy now has its first cotton bedding on the menu: Supima Cotton Percale Sheets. The name gives away that it’s not made of just cotton, but Supima cotton, which is a higher quality cotton that has a longer fiber and better strength. That longer fiber helps make these cotton sheets softer than your standard percale without sacrificing the airflow and structure that makes percale so nice to sleep on.
Buffy runs a ton of sales, so while these sheets are usually a similar price to the Citizenry’s, you might be able to find them for even cheaper.
Other Great Percale Sheets
- Saatva Percale Sheet Set for $205: I love these sheets as much as the Citizenry’s above. They cost a little more, but both are fantastic percale sets that keep you cool and are crisp while still being soft.
- Pure Parima Ultra Percale Sheet Set for $230: These sheets are super soft thanks to their Egyptian cotton. They’re a little more expensive and a touch heavier than other percale, but if you want something super soft without going full sateen or bamboo, these are a great choice.
- Riley Percale Sheet Set for $260: Riley makes nice percale sheets, but they’re pricey—a fitted sheet and pillowcases cost $135, and the flat sheet costs an additional $85. We liked their crispness, but Brooklinen’s are cheaper for even the organic set.
- Parachute Percale Sheet Set for $269: WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu says these sheets feel rough at first but soften up the more they’re washed. They’ve held up extremely well after years of use, even with a dog sleeping in the same bed.
Looking for more percale or cooling options? We’ve got a whole guide to cooling sheets that includes more percale picks and testing notes.
Flannel Sheets
Why buy flannel sheets? Flannel sheets are made of cotton, but the cotton fibers are brushed out to create a fuzzy texture. Those fluffed-out fibers also are what make flannel so warm and cozy to sleep on—the teased layers of cotton do a better job of retaining heat than other styles of cotton sheets, so you’ll stay much warmer sleeping on these than other sheet styles. They’re great for cooler climates.
Our Favorite Flannel Sheets
The Company Store’s flannel sheets initially threw me off with how pink the cream color looked, especially when placed next to other white sheets. But once I saw past that, these sheets felt the softest to the touch compared with the Coyuchi and L.L. Bean flannels I tried (see below). They’re a little stiff initially, but soften up with each wash.
They’re cozy to sleep on and definitely warm—these were the warmest I slept on out of the bunch. If you’re looking for soft and warm at a reasonable price, these sheets deliver.
