If a freshly made bed with cool, crisp percale sheets is your idea of heaven, keep reading. (Lisa Schweitzer/Yahoo)(Lisa Schweitzer/Yahoo)
Say what you will about cooling sheets and linen sheets, but if you ask me, there's nothing better at the end of a long day than slipping into crisp 100% cotton sheets. Percale is an excellent choice if you're a hot sleeper or simply love the feeling of breathable bedding. And the best percale sheets look and feel like what you'd find in a luxury hotel.
I credit my mom with passing down a discerning eye for the best percale sheets — she was a stickler for excellent quality, softness and details like continuous elastic on a fitted sheet and perfect edging on pillow cases. Percale sheets are made from long-staple cotton and tend to feel crisp, cool and durable, especially compared to more informal jersey sheets. For this story, I tested 11 percale sheet sets from trusted brands, including L.L.Bean and Brooklinen, over several months, washing them, drying them and sleeping on them.
Percale sheets are woven from long-staple cotton. This enhances the fabric's breathability and creates its crisp texture and cool feel. When shopping for percale, here are some things to keep in mind:
Feel: Percale sheets are considered the coolest due to an airy, crisp feel that hot sleepers swear by. Some feel rougher than others at the onset, but the material does get softer with time and repeated washing and drying. If your family prefers cozier bedding, you may want to try sateen or flannel sheets.
Durability: Percale's tight weave makes it quite durable. I found that only one sheet set of the 11 I tested seemed flimsy in its construction.
Appearance: Percale sheets should have a clean, crisp look with few wrinkles, but that's generally only possible if you fold them fresh from the dryer.
Care: You'll find that most care instructions for percale sheets are similar. Expect to wash the sheets in warm or cool water with your favorite laundry detergent and tumble dry low.
Price: Percale sheets vary tremendously in price. Our testing pool ranged from $70 to $250 and beyond for a queen-size set.
Thread count: Percale sheets tend to feature a 200 to 400 thread count, and anything higher does not necessarily mean better. What matters most is the quality of the long-staple fibers used to create the fabric.
Because we tested these sheets at home, using our own washers and dryers and sleeping on them in our own beds, we wanted to get a professional take on how best to gauge quality, durability and more without the benefit of professional equipment or a lab. We consulted three fabric experts: Kim Romine, a fabric care scientist at P&G; Liz Eggert, a senior textile scientist at P&G Fabric Care; and Meredith McQuerry, associate professor and director of the ThermaNOLE Comfort Lab and Textile Testing Laboratory at Florida State University. To rank on this list, the sheets had to excel in the following:
First impressions: I carefully surveyed each set of percale sheets upon arrival, taking note of design elements, softness and coolness, as well as excessive wrinkling, loose threads, snags and any other imperfections. I also measured the pillowcases from each set and set one aside as a control for post-laundry assessments.
Spill test: I used a dropper to apply the same amount of water to a sheet from each set to gauge how well it might handle the occasional spill or moisture. The quicker the water absorbed and spread, the better the indicator of moisture-wicking.
Laundry test: I put each set of sheets through one cycle in the washer and dryer after opening it, and again after my sleep test, following the label's care instructions. I then reassessed them for any signs of wear, as well as shrinking or color fading.
Sleep test: I made my bed with each set to confirm that its various pieces easily and securely fit my pillows and mattress. I slept on the sheets for three nights straight to see how well they stayed put, keeping notes regarding softness and breathability.
Brooklinen Classic Core Percale Set: I didn't love the feel of these sheets — they were a bit rougher than others I tried, though still very cool and breathable. Like the Quince set, they're made with 100% long-staple cotton and feature a 270 thread count, but they weren't as soft and cost almost twice as much. That said, I appreciate that they come in 20+ colors and patterns, so you're bound to find something that works with your decor — and they often go on sale with significant discounts.
L.L. Bean Pima Cotton Percale Sheet Set: L.L. Bean has always been synonymous with quality and durability, and its 100% long-staple pima cotton sheets do not disappoint. Available in nine colors, they're a solid pick for anyone who values function and softness over breathability. I would not recommend these for hot sleepers, though.
Target Threshold Organic Percale Sheet Set: I've owned the Target Threshold Solid Performance Sheets (which are sateen, not percale), for the past five years, and have had an overall pretty positive experience. So I had high hopes for these very reasonably priced Target sheets. They were fairly disappointing in their look and feel. They were rough, scratchy and thin and generally not enjoyable to sleep on. They were also quite wrinkly after washing and drying. Their best feature is the extra elastic band midway down the fitted sheet pocket, which helps keep them from creeping off the mattress.
Parachute Percale Sheet Set: These were a close second to The Citizenry Stonewashed Cotton Percale set — our best percale sheets for hot sleepers. Their cool, lightweight feel comes from 100% long-staple cotton fibers that allow for good airflow on warm nights. The pillow cases are available with either a traditional side opening or a flat back envelope, which encases the pillow completely and gives it a more polished look. At about $100 less per set, The Citizenry won out.
Coyuchi Organic Crinkled Percale Sheets: The Coyuchi sheet set is made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton and has a rumpled look. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment, not just because it is extremely wrinkly, but also because they were the roughest percale sheets we tried. The sheets are available in 16 colors and patterns, and the fitted sheet can accommodate up to a 16-inch mattress.
Saatva Organic Percale Sheet Set: Saatva's percale sheets are made from 100% long-staple cotton with a 200 thread count. They should tick all your boxes at $205 for a queen-size set, and they do look crisp and polished out of the packaging. But once I washed them, it was nearly impossible to reclaim that look. The sheets are lightweight and breathable, but not particularly soft and quite wrinkly. They come in white, ivory and gray as well as three white styles with a band of color at the edge.
I also have a set of percale sheets from The Company Store, which I'll be testing soon.
Cotton percale sheets run the gamut in terms of price and quality. Queen sets can go up to $200 and beyond, and be made from different kinds of cotton, such as extra long-staple pima cotton, which is known for its softness. It might sound silly to invest in a set of luxury sheets, but when you consider that the average person spends about a third of their life sleeping or trying to sleep, it seems like a worthwhile investment.
It comes down to personal preference. "Percale is crisp, smooth, and breathable. It’s great for warm sleepers who want to feel cooler. If you want something with a subtle sheen and silky feel, then sateen is for you," explains Kym Maas, chief creative officer at Lands' End.
Maas clears the confusion: "Pima cotton is a type of fiber; percale refers to the way it’s woven. Pima makes bedding soft, percale makes it crisp." A percale sheet's fibers are woven one over, one under, which results in a more matte look. Pima cotton's fibers are extra-long and are grown in Peru and other countries where pima cotton seeds are planted.
Liz Eggert, senior textile scientist, P&G Fabric Care
Kym Maas, Chief Creative Officer at Lands' End
Meredith McQuerry, associate professor and director, ThermaNOLE Comfort Lab and Textile Testing Laboratory, Florida State University
Kim Romine, fabric care scientist, P&G
We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.
If you love the crisp, cool feeling of this cotton bedding, you'll find a pick for every budget from brands like Quince, Boll & Branch and Sweave.
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