Coolest bed sheets?

[utalkin2me]

I slept on some white bed sheets recently in a hotel in a rain forest jungle on a trip. They were the coolest damn sheets I have ever laid on.

 

It wasn’t an expensive hotel, so I can’t imagine the sheets were expensive. It was almost as if they had been worn so much all the “nap” had been worn off them... I’m not sure if I’m properly describing that, but that was my theory. 

 

I searched this this online and found conflicting results. I wanted to get first hand accounts from people who are actually sleeping here. 

 

Thanks for for any input!! 

[Kwasaki]

White cotton sheets yeah are cool even with patterns on.

[InMyShadow]

They weren't silk and they weren't polyester so that leaves cotton.

Good luck finding quality cotton under 3 times the price in the West.

[samsensam]

 

i took comfortable bedsheets for granted until i came here - which seemed all the more surprising considering the climate. i have found it very difficult to buy decent sheets here so always bring from home - where i can buy decent quality sheets with ease

[robblok]

I am far from an expert but i get my sheets at IKEA as its the same price as back home. To get something similar quality wise you will pay a higher price in a Thai shop. Not sure how IKEA sheets rate among other western sheets back home.

 

https://www.ikea.com/th/en/catalog/products/50375416/

[canthai55]

Silk - nothing else comes close.

[BuaBS]

That high tower hotel in Surin city ( I think Thong Tarin hotel) , had one of the softest cotton sheets I've ever slept in ... but that was a while ago , and then it was only a 400 B /night hotel .(cheapest room)

Others only have the hard polyester mix cr_p they sell at big c & lotus.

[JAFO]

Sateen Cotton with Thread count 600 or better are super comfortable, soft and cool. Here they are quite expensive.  I bring sets over from US every trip.  

 

One thing to keep in mind is typically sheets here are washed in low grade soaps and air dried.  They are crispy and uncomfortable which is why I purchased a western clothes tumble dryer.  Makes all the difference in the world for bedding and clothes. 

[robblok]

2 hours ago, JAFO said:

Sateen Cotton with Thread count 600 or better are super comfortable, soft and cool. Here they are quite expensive.  I bring sets over from US every trip.  

 

One thing to keep in mind is typically sheets here are washed in low grade soaps and air dried.  They are crispy and uncomfortable which is why I purchased a western clothes tumble dryer.  Makes all the difference in the world for bedding and clothes. 

I would say that air drying is better then tumble drying (more wear and tear). Do you have an other explanation (i get the low grade soap). I love to know more because I always thought air dried was the best for stuff as tumble drying would increase wear and tear. 

[torrzent]

12 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Silk - nothing else comes close.

Go all out, get into you Hugh Hefner silk pajamas with pipe in hand and impress the ladies!

[tutsiwarrior]

lazada offers cotton bed linen:

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=cotton+bed+sheets&_keyori=ss&from=input&spm=a2o4m.home.search.go.37ab719ctoi4Ix

 

I got mine at an Ikea in Jeddah some years ago and still going strong...will investigate lazada when they wear out...

 

 

[utalkin2me]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

i sorta went crazy last night and took some info from this thread and ran with it and did some more research. Opinions seem to vary, but many thought that percale cotton sheets were the best. 

 

I found some some of those at ikea. They were called somtuta something or other. They weren’t cheap... 1390 baht for one fitted sheet. I just figured screw it, if this thing works it may help on the ac Bill at nighttime, and the sheet does seem pretty durable and high quality so hope it lasts. 

https://www.ikea.com/th/en/catalog/products/70314506/

 

Washing it it now so I’ll  report on what I think about sleeping on it tomorrow.  

 

Fyi ikea do have some fitted sheets 100% cotton for under 200 baht, but they seemed less than adequate to me. A little thin and looked like something you’d find in a college dorm. 

Edited April 6, 2018 by utalkin2me

[tso310]

6 hours ago, torrzent said:

Go all out, get into you Hugh Hefner silk pajamas with pipe in hand and impress the ladies!

Definitely au naturale is the way to go.

Air drying rather than a tumbler unless you live in a city. Leaving to dry and then get aired over a few hours is best. Unless they are burning the fields.

We have brought in 400+ cotton thread sheets and pillow case from the UK, particularly at sale time at John Lewis. I would like to try silk but like cotton, quality and cost are linked.

I have seen high cotton thread sheets at Robinson and Home Pro but the costs were far higher than the UK.

Edited April 6, 2018 by tso310
More info

[petermik]

There are a couple of "hotel bedsheet suppliers" here in Pattaya cotton thread count from 200 up to 600 and not that expensive.......

There,s also a stall on soi bukhaow market where a lady sells "discarded" cotton sheets from a big hotel chain here for 200 baht....some excellent quality with plenty of wear still left in them,some not so..if you do not object to sleeping on second hand bed linen that is....

[tutsiwarrior]

an interesting story...a gay couple that were friends and neighbors in Brighton went to Egypt in 1997 to sight see and to buy genuine percale bed linen (they were wealthy 'dinks' - dual income no kids) and they took a side tour to Luxor...they got caught up in the tourist massacre there but survived as they were outside in the parking lot and hid behind some vehicles when the shooting started and then managed to flee...these guys were no bullshit (middleaged like me) and well paid professionals and I had no reason to doubt their story...never seen them do much more than lift their glasses at the corner pub...

 

they eventually made it back to Brighton...without the bed linen...and their story was never revealed publicly...

 

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[torrzent]

15 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

looked like something you’d find in a college dorm. 

does this mean they are vomit proof?

[utalkin2me]

15 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

Thanks for all the replies!

 

i sorta went crazy last night and took some info from this thread and ran with it and did some more research. Opinions seem to vary, but many thought that percale cotton sheets were the best. 

 

I found some some of those at ikea. They were called somtuta something or other. They weren’t cheap... 1390 baht for one fitted sheet. I just figured screw it, if this thing works it may help on the ac Bill at nighttime, and the sheet does seem pretty durable and high quality so hope it lasts. 

https://www.ikea.com/th/en/catalog/products/70314506/

 

Washing it it now so I’ll  report on what I think about sleeping on it tomorrow.  

 

Fyi ikea do have some fitted sheets 100% cotton for under 200 baht, but they seemed less than adequate to me. A little thin and looked like something you’d find in a college dorm. 

Slept on these last night. It’s difficult to know how objective you can be after spending a little money on something, but I certainly liked the sheet and it did feel a bit cooler than our others.

[galt67]

I, too, am in seeking 'cooler' bed sheets and considered bringing them over from the USA.

 

The 'Thai mattress' size (king) however is smaller than a USA (king) thus what size USA 'size' is appropriate? A 'queen' from the US?

 

Ty!

[utalkin2me]

49 minutes ago, galt67 said:

I, too, am in seeking 'cooler' bed sheets and considered bringing them over from the USA.

 

The 'Thai mattress' size (king) however is smaller than a USA (king) thus what size USA 'size' is appropriate? A 'queen' from the US?

 

Ty!

I went through this at ikea too. 

 

The only advice vice I have is do what I did... measure the top surface of your bed, and maybe how deep (tall) the mattress is too. At ikea we asked about 3 employees if these or these would be a better fit... the five of us all ended up deciding the smaller of the two choices would be better, and we got it right (somehow). The actual dimensions I measured were 10cm shorter than the sheet I bought width wise (I measured 160cm and the sheets were 150; numbers were identical lengthwise at 200cm). The Thai employees at ikea were great btw. 

 

Thats is the best I can advise. I feel like there should be some sort of international standard for these things. Lol.

 

If I had to guess I’d say just buy USA king size? Queen seems it may be too small?

Edited April 7, 2018 by utalkin2me

[JAFO]

On 4/6/2018 at 10:12 AM, robblok said:

I would say that air drying is better then tumble drying (more wear and tear). Do you have an other explanation (i get the low grade soap). I love to know more because I always thought air dried was the best for stuff as tumble drying would increase wear and tear. 

Tumble drying removes the nap in bed sheets and makes the cotton softer.  Air drying absolutely reduces wear and tear but its minimal versus the trade off in comfort. 

 

My wife was the best gauge as she had never had a tumble dryer until we lived in the States. Everything was hand washes and hung out to dry in sun.  Then she would iron them.  After washing and tumble  drying she said we have to get a dryer when we move back to Thailand.  Funny now my FIL no longer hangs out his clothes. He uses the dryer and says his cotton T shirts are super soft.  

[Gulfsailor]

The higher the thread count, the closer the yarns. That means softer, but also less breathable and thus warmer. 

In Thailand I use bamboo linen. Much much cooler than high thread count cotton and still very soft. 

[JAFO]

1 hour ago, utalkin2me said:

I went through this at ikea too. 

 

The only advice vice I have is do what I did... measure the top surface of your bed, and maybe how deep (tall) the mattress is too. At ikea we asked about 3 employees if these or these would be a better fit... the five of us all ended up deciding the smaller of the two choices would be better, and we got it right (somehow). The actual dimensions I measured were 10cm shorter than the sheet I bought width wise (I measured 160cm and the sheets were 150; numbers were identical lengthwise at 200cm). The Thai employees at ikea were great btw. 

 

Thats is the best I can advise. I feel like there should be some sort of international standard for these things. Lol.

 

If I had to guess I’d say just buy USA king size? Queen seems it may be too small?

We went through all of this before we moved here.  A Queen U.S. sheet will not fit a Thai King.  If you have a Thai King sized bed use U.S. King size.  I recommend getting standard pockets. Do not get deep as the fitted sheets might be a little loose. The flat is no problem.

 

FWIIW...

 

US king measure 76" x 80"

Thai King bed measures 72" x 77"

[Airalee]

11 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

Slept on these last night. It’s difficult to know how objective you can be after spending a little money on something, but I certainly liked the sheet and it did feel a bit cooler than our others.

I have a set of the Somntuta sheets and although they are ok, (and probably the best value I’ve seen in Thailand) I think you can do much better buying sheets from Macy’s (or somewhere similar) during one of their sales.  I just brought a set of these back with me for the same price as the IKEA sheets.  They even ship to Thailand although shipping, duties and taxes will roughly double the price.  However, IMHO, even at double the price, they are well worth it.

 

https://m.macys.com/shop/product/hotel-collection-embroidered-sheet-sets-525-thread-count-cotton-created-for-macys?ID=2829309&CategoryID=9915

 

and the queen size fit the mattress I purchased at ZEN better than the IKEA sheets

Edited April 7, 2018 by Airalee

[Airalee]

29 minutes ago, Gulfsailor said:

The higher the thread count, the closer the yarns. That means softer, but also less breathable and thus warmer. 

In Thailand I use bamboo linen. Much much cooler than high thread count cotton and still very soft. 

Sheet manufacturers have gotten “creative” with their thread counts.  More important is the quality of cotton.  Pima/Supima/Egyptian cotton is what you want to look for.  Also, many of the high thread count sheets are sateen (yuck)

 

here is an article discussing the “thread count scam”

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jimmy-macdonald/threadcount-why-everythin_b_9244244.html

 

 

 

 

[Airalee]

39 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Tumble drying removes the nap in bed sheets and makes the cotton softer.  Air drying absolutely reduces wear and tear but its minimal versus the trade off in comfort. 

 

My wife was the best gauge as she had never had a tumble dryer until we lived in the States. Everything was hand washes and hung out to dry in sun.  Then she would iron them.  After washing and tumble  drying she said we have to get a dryer when we move back to Thailand.  Funny now my FIL no longer hangs out his clothes. He uses the dryer and says his cotton T shirts are super soft.  

My girlfriend says the same thing.  We have a couple dryers in our condo and now she never wants to go back to hanging her clothes to dry.  

[KMartinHandyman]

We went through all of this before we moved here.  A Queen U.S. sheet will not fit a Thai King.  If you have a Thai King sized bed use U.S. King size.  I recommend getting standard pockets. Do not get deep as the fitted sheets might be a little loose. The flat is no problem.
 
FWIIW...
 
US king measure 76" x 80"
Thai King bed measures 72" x 77"

There is a California king and queen size option that can match Thai sizes closer. The pillow cases needed downsizing in our case.

[utalkin2me]

2 hours ago, Airalee said:

I have a set of the Somntuta sheets and although they are ok, (and probably the best value I’ve seen in Thailand) I think you can do much better buying sheets from Macy’s (or somewhere similar) during one of their sales.  I just brought a set of these back with me for the same price as the IKEA sheets.  They even ship to Thailand although shipping, duties and taxes will roughly double the price.  However, IMHO, even at double the price, they are well worth it.

 

https://m.macys.com/shop/product/hotel-collection-embroidered-sheet-sets-525-thread-count-cotton-created-for-macys?ID=2829309&CategoryID=9915

 

and the queen size fit the mattress I purchased at ZEN better than the IKEA sheets

thanks for the report. the link didnt work for me. very curious maybe i can pick some up next trip back, or even order them as you say. 

[Airalee]

2 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

thanks for the report. the link didnt work for me. very curious maybe i can pick some up next trip back, or even order them as you say. 

Try this link...I think the first one I posted is only for mobile devices.

 

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/hotel-collection-embroidered-sheet-sets-525-thread-count-cotton-created-for-macys?ID=2829309&CategoryID=9915&stop_mobi=yes&cm_sp=mew_navigation-_-bottom_nav-_-full_site

 

 

[utalkin2me]

25 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Try this link...I think the first one I posted is only for mobile devices.

 

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/hotel-collection-embroidered-sheet-sets-525-thread-count-cotton-created-for-macys?ID=2829309&CategoryID=9915&stop_mobi=yes&cm_sp=mew_navigation-_-bottom_nav-_-full_site

 

 

awesome. thank you.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I've never tried bamboo, but Egyptian cotton high thread count (300 to 400 or more) have been my go to sheets here, usually ordered from the U.S. and reshipped here.

 

As far as line/air drying, since most people here don't have dryers, using a couple capfuls of Downy fabric softener in the final rinse cycle in the washing machine makes a world of difference.