Not only does Citizen’s linen sleep, but there are plenty of colors to match with whatever your bedroom may have. If something happens to you, you can buy a portion of the sheet separately (only top paper, pillowcase, etc.).
More linens we love
- Extra soft and splurge linen: The Cultive Linen Set ($480) is so soft that you may not realize it is linen. My husband doesn’t, he’s a certified flax hater. This set is a splurge, but if you want the benefits of linen and feel softer, it’s worth it. They are silky in the borders and are almost wrong when describing linen.
- The best breathable linen: The most breathable weave of pottery barn Belgian linen ($299). The airflow is great and I can keep me cool even during the hottest time of the year. These sheets are slightly thinner than the Citizen, but not too soft.
- Best Heavyweight Flax: Rough linen boonie sheets ($540) are perfect for serious linen lovers who want heavier linens. These are the heaviest, approximately 260 GSM (g/m²) linens our team tested – most of the ones we have tested and most of the recommended ones are 160 GSM.
Looking for more flax? Read about every set of linens we’ve tested and our shopping tips in our best linen guide.
The best silk sheets (and pillowcases)
The silk stays cool and smooth when you need it, so you shouldn’t heat it up in the middle of the night and stick to the bed. But this also insulates you well to keep you warm during the winter. Silk is also better suited for your beautiful rest, and it is also the reason why silk scarves, hats and pillowcases are so popular. It absorbs less moisture from hair and skin, so you can stay hydrated and don’t throw all your expensive beauty products to your pillows. This will also cause less friction and pull less friction to your skin at night. If you are a face or stomach sleeper and your face is in direct contact with the pillow, silk is a great choice. You will also find that using the word “Momme”, silk is not counted by thread count, but is graded by weight and density. Higher numbers equal more lines, higher density and higher durability and higher price tags.
Our favorite silk bedding is these pieces by Lilysilk. They are soft and smooth without freezing and cold. Lilysilk is the only brand we’ve tested to get a full set, and it’s very expensive to get a full set – a flat sheet, a sheet and two pillowcases cost just over $500, but the brand offers each piece separately. Former wired reviewer Medea Giordano tried out the fitting paper with the Percale top layer and found it cool and comfortable. If you can spend more money, Lilysilk can offer 22 sets and 25 mom sets. They are more durable, but the 19 is still tall.
Other Silk Beddings We Love
- Our favorite silk pillowcase: The Quince Silk Mulberry pillowcase ($45) is worth $40 and is priced at a better weight than other brands. Quince’s silk pillowcase is 22 Momme, and others usually have 19 moms at that price, and it’s heavier, making it slightly thicker and softer to touch. It has a zippered fence, which I love because it keeps the pillowcase looking polished, and I don’t have to worry about the pillow getting rid of the box swaying when I throw it away and turn around at night.
- Silk pillowcase without zipper: Lilysilk’s 19 debris pillowcase ($45) costs the same price as the Quince pillowcase, but also has a lighter weight, although it’s not the same. But if you don’t like zippers, then this is the silk pillow case for you. It does have several colors and prints that Quince doesn’t have, so you may want to read the two brands carefully and choose according to your color preferences.
- Budget options: Kitsch’s satin pillowcase ($19) is satin, not silk, but former wired critic Medea Giordano says it’s better than a silk choice with similar prices. If you don’t want to spend more than $20 to $25, she says to choose it instead of the cheap silk pillowcase you find on Amazon.
The best flannel sheets
Flannel bedding is made of cotton, but the cotton fibers are brushed off to create a blurred texture. Those fluffy fibers also make the flannel so warm and comfortable to sleep – the mocking layer of cotton is better than retaining heat than other styles of cotton paper, so your sleep is much warmer than other sheet styles. They are perfect for cooler climates and seasons.
These flannel sheets have a long name, but this is an exact name. This end from Lands is really comfortable and super soft, and is the perfect combination of comfort without being too heavy. I love that they are so soft and warm that they don’t make me sweat – it’s a high task for a popular sleeper in San Diego, although I did test it at the coldest time of the year. I also like that if something needs to be replaced, it is easy to buy the end of the land as a set or a separate top or pillowcase.
More flannels we love
- If you want brushed cotton: Riley’s brushed cotton kit ($160) is soft and not as heavy or hot as full velvet, as brushed cotton can only brush out the cotton on one side of the cotton, not the cotton on both sides for regular velvet. This set is a great choice for popular sleepers. Large sizes are sold out, but you can buy one without one.
- Worth squandering, organic flannel: Boll & Branch Comfortable Flannel Watch Kit ($299) works with its soft bedding name. Not only is it the softest flannel kit I’ve ever tried, it’s also organic. It’s also a little warm, so it’s perfect for colder homes and climates.
- Popular Choices: LL Bean’s Ultrasoft Flannel sheets ($139) are absolutely soft, but not as soft as our top velvet pieces, and they feel lighter, too. They are almost like a warm jersey, not a flannel. If you are looking for bedding that has light but still soft, this is a great option.
Looking for more comfortable flannel? Check out our guide to the best flannel sheets.
The best organic paper
If you are buying an organic mattress, you may want to use it with organic mattresses. Otherwise, non-organic paper can bring you chemicals and materials that you avoid, including anything from formaldehyde and TCEP (flame retardant) to phthalates, to return to your life. Even if you have regular mattresses, you can still benefit from choosing sheets made from natural organic materials. Almost any type of organic paper can be organic, but it depends on how its materials are sourced and what chemicals the fabric is exposed to.
Wired reviewer Scott Gilbertson tested organic mattresses, which are his favorite organic sheets to pair with them. They were soft, but not too silky, which was a feeling he didn’t care. I also found that organic Percale is softer than regular Percale in Brooklinen. Brooklinen Organic Cotton Panels are made of organic cotton certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and are certified by Oeko-Tex. They also have 300 thread counts.
Other excellent organic paper
- Soft, Organic Perkal: Citizen’s Organic Stone Thin ($179) has everything I like, in a soft percale, using a long cover cotton to make it soft while keeping it super soft.
- The best organic flax: Citizens also make organic plaster ($299), one of our favorite sets of organically started linens. These are lightweight and breathable, but still softer than your usual set of startup linens.
- Affordable organic bamboo: The Koons Bamboo Slice Set ($130) uses organic bamboo and weighs well. It’s not as breathable as other sets I’ve tried, but it’s really silky and it’s expensive.
The best cooling paper
This is another category, which is not limited to some type of fabric or braid, but rather any general category of bedding that feels breathable and keeps cool at night. I found that the best competitors to stay cool at night are Perkar, linen and bamboo sheets, but not every set is equal.
But this set is not these. SlumberCloud’s performance Tencel board set uses Tencel, the brand Tencel of Lyocell Fabric, and Slumber Cloud’s patented Outlast Fiber, which uses a phase change material (PCM) gel to absorb heat. These sheets are a side braid with four threaded structures, but feel like lightweight silky hair. The cooling and breathability of these sheets, even with this weave, I was surprised, while soft. I was impressed by the coolness and comfort of these sheets when a popular sleeper sleeps on the third floor of Southern California.
