The 13 Best Sheets to Buy in 2021

For sub-$100, the Riley Home Percale Sheets are a steal, especially with their premium features like long-staple combed cotton and an understated baratta stitch. On a humid summer night, these sheets stayed crisp and cool. The sheets are not made of supima, but you’d be forgiven if you thought they were. The range of colors, the smoothness of the sheets and the overall feel-goodness of them make these the best sheets for your money whether you’re a broke college student or a billionaire.

After sleeping on a number of rough and scraggly linen sheets, we found Cultiver's sheets had a shorter break-in period, thanks to a pre-enzyme wash, compared to comparable linen sheets. Cultiver offers its linen sheets in a wide array of muted and understated colors, which is the result of a first-rate dye process. The weaving, sewing and dyeing are all exceptional, a given considering the price point. At $385 for a queen set, they’re certainly an investment, but they're still nowhere near as expensive as other linen sheets that are of a lesser quality.

This one wasn’t even close. Target’s hyper-affordable Threshold-branded sheets easily outclassed the likes of Amazon’s best-selling Mellani sheets, the AmazonBasics line itself, two sets of sub-$50 Walmart sheets and two Ikea sets.

Cheap sheets make their cheapness known in a variety of ways — some show lousy stitching and begin to fray after one wash; some arrive with an off-putting chemical smell; others simply feel crappy to lie on. The Threshold sheets set themselves apart by retaining the basic reasons you’d buy a percale set in the first place — they’re crisp, cool, easy-to-clean and reasonably moisture-wicking. And at $46 for a queen and no weird chemical smells, there’s little to no competition at this price point.

Though not the sheets that made it famous, Boll & Branch’s percale sheets are stellar. They launched in April of 2018, and out of the mountain of percale sheets I tested, this set stood out for a couple reasons: The sheets are a bit airier than the company’s signature sheets, which are made for a cooler (but still cozy) sleeping experience. The percale sheets are made using a plain weave (one-under, one-over) with the brand’s signature organic long-staple cotton, and utilize two very fine plys (layers) that give structure while maintaining maximum breeziness.

It seems everyone on the internet has crowned Cuddledown’s (try and ignore the name) 400-thread count sateen set the champion of sateen. We should note that sateen is not our favorite bedding material — far from it — but for those who take to the buttery softness, heavier, warmer feel and an admittedly gorgeous sheet drape, Cuddledown is pretty damn great. These sheets are made with length to spare (a feature to accommodate all mattress heights), and they proved themselves to be absurdly wrinkle-resistant. The long-staple cotton used makes for a sheet that won’t wear out as quickly as most sateen sets.

West Elm's Tencel sheets are famous on TikTok after one social media user praised its silky smooth texture. Tencel as a fabric is one of the best bedding materials for hot sleepers for its ability to wick away moisture and stay cool to the touch, even in severe heat situations. West Elm's sheets are good for those with sensitive skin, and it lacks the scratchiness of cotton or linen sheets, while also lacking any of the crinkly noises that may arise when you move around in bed.

Cool weather calls for flannel sheets. L.L. Bean makes the best ones you can buy. They're soft, and they'll only get softer with wash and wear. Available in eight colors, the sheets are the perfect way to bring some flair to the bedroom, while keeping you warm when the chill is just unbearable.

Linen sheets are notoriously expensive, so “affordable” is relative here. Starting at $269, Brooklinen’s set is as airy as you’d want it to be, but the weave isn’t too loose either, as was common in testing cheaper linens. When compared with the other linen sheets we tested, the Brooklinen set was significantly softer from the get-go (other than Parachute’s garment-dyed set). The low cost, less aggressively-textured feel and a great variety of colors make Brooklinen’s set a rock-solid linen starter set.

Similar to the budget percale category, there isn’t much competition here. Target’s sateen offering blew other similarly-price sateen sheets out of the water in softness and looks. In fact, apart from a bit less natural wrinkle resistance, they were on par with the Cuddledown sheets. The biggest marks against them pertains to breathability, where they’re easily eclipsed by more premium options. But for less than $50 for a set, not everything can be perfect.

Extra-long staple Supima cotton is the crème de la crème in the cotton world, but you typically have to spend half a month’s rent to the real-deal stuff. Not so with Authenticity50’s absurdly well-reviewed Supima percale weave sheets. Made completely in the U.S. (“seed-to-stitch,” the website notes), these sheets were our runner-up for best overall percale sheets due to a body that’s light enough to stay cool in the summer, but not so light you’d need to change them in the winter. You’ll be hard-pressed to find the same mixture of craftsmanship, materials and company-wide transparency for less than $200 — and these start at $139.

Frankly, buying sheets on Amazon is annoyingly tedious. The all-caps descriptions are fluffy, figuratively speaking, and there’s virtually no way to reprimand brands that try to bullshit you. The “Pima” cotton these sheets are made from is not Supima-certified, but it is extra-long-staple cotton nonetheless — and for a really, really solid price at that. Peru Pima has been making these sheets for quite some time, too, and has its own website that’s manned by people who respond to customer service requests. These sound like low bars to hop, but Amazon may very well be the biggest remaining offender in the old bedding-misinformation scheme.

Like a well-plated dish can make food taste better, a bed that calls us to it makes sleep better. Coyuchi’s crinkled percale product uses a proprietary low-thread-count weave to create these lightweight, “worn in” sheets. The lower thread count makes them exceptionally airy, yet still heavier on the body — almost like a linen sheet might feel. Pair the sheets and pillowcases with Coyuchi’s traditional percale duvet cover for the coziest, most-photogenic bed imaginable.

Yes, they’re comfortable, too. Alterra Pure’s percale was the runner-up to Authenticity50’s percale in “Best Sheets for Hot Sleepers.” The sheets are wonderfully light, but they’re also the most responsibly raised of any I tested. Alterra uses only recycled and reused water during production and emits a whopping zero gallons of wastewater during production. These 100 percent organic cotton percale-weave sheets are made from Fair Trade-cotton bought from farm co-ops that Alterra Pure works with on various sustainability projects. The materials are GOTS-certified and even produced in an eco-friendly, LEED-certified factory.