Linen Sheet Sets

Has anyone researched and tried various linen sheet brands? If so, what do you recommend.
Thank you in advance

2 Likes

I buy Lands End linen sheets from America. Beautiful quality.

2 Likes

Anyone considering that should be aware the standard mattress sizes in the US are different. This commercial site shows the differences for a few countries. Ordering internationally has its ‘perils’.

As an example we have US king fitted sheets that we can use on our king mattress but they are a baggy fit requiring some extra tucking some might not appreciate.Flat sheets are no worry. It is not a deal breaker so long as what you get is the size or bigger than what you need, but the other way doesn’t work with fitted sheets.

3 Likes

I’m a cotton sheet person.
Spotlight, BigW, K-Mart, …. and a plethora of specialty bedding outlets to choose from. We’ve never had issues with returns with the first 3. Plenty of choices of Cotton sheet sets. Admittedly the colour options can be limited if that is critical.

Linen reminds me of my Grand Patents house in so many ways. The house guests got the 50 year old linen, boiled and line dried to an even but still crinkled texture.

Noted linen is associated with being a premium product with China being way ahead of the rest of the world as the dominant producer. Modern linen production uses chemical retting to free the plant fibres. Curiosity is the product often referred to as ‘Belgian Linen’ which many on line stores promote, is not necessarily grown and produced in Belgium. Understandable as Belgium is a small country, less than half the size of Tasmania. Many linen products in the wider market may be blended with cotton etc to produce a cheaper product. Something to be aware of. For authenticity at least of the type of linen, https://www.belgianlinen.com/

For those wondering about cotton sheets Choice takes the spin out of thread counts.

3 Likes

Has anyone had any experience across different brands of flax linen bed sheets? Flax linen is the most comfortable for the hot and cold, dry climate where I live but I’m finding, despite marketing spin that says that flax linen has been passed down the generations, that bottom sheets and pillowcases wear out faster than for any other bed linen I’ve had. I have fed back to the Brand and they sent me two free replacement fitted sheets but they still wear out fast. I am reluctant to go back to cotton but also reluctant to purchase the same brand again.

1 Like

Hi @Mingkiri, welcome to the community.

True flax linen is made from the fibres of the flax plant. There are also materials marketed as flax linen which contain in part flax fibres, or none at all.

The marketing spin suggests flax fibre is 3 times stronger than cotton, inferring it should possibly last 3 times as long. Maybe not. Durability will be dependent on the quality of spun fibres, the weave and what the fabric is actually made of. Good quality cotton like that used commercially will last thousands of uses/washes, where retail cotton sheets have a fraction of the life. Same fibre, but very different when spun and weaved.

There are also claims that most raw flax is exported for processing in China. One website suggests flax linen from China is inferior quality compared to European processed materials (which are substantially more expensive).

There is a lot of hype about flax linen and reminds me of the hype about bamboo fabrics.

I have lived in some very hot and humid locations, along with cool places and find any natural material (inc. cotton) the best all-rounder. I find anything synthetic (inc. bamboo synthetics) very hot to sleep in.

I wouldn’t as you own experience indicates they are of inferior quality with poor durability. I would shop elsewhere hoping to find better quality sheets.

Welcome to the community @Mingkiri

Your first list has been moved to the topic on linen sheet sets. It makes it a little more convenient for others to find and follow keeping like discussions in the one.

You might notice comments in other posts about imitation and variations/blends for products marketed as flax linen, Belgium linen etc. It may help to further discussion if details of the product brand and or description are able to be shared in reply to this post.

The real article is very durable. We have some very old linen sheets now used as drop sheets. They’ve been split, and re joined, hemmed, patched etc until they were no longer suitable as bedding. Date from 1940’s or ?

2 Likes

Hi Mark
Thanks for the reply. I’ve checked the Bed Threads site and clearly stated 100% French flax linen, processed in China. No comment on the type of spinning and weaving. The weight is 170gsm which may be much lighter than the lovely old sheets. Also, I’ve old enough to remember before we had fitted sheets. Flat sheets were rotated from top sheet to bottom sheet and to the wash. Wear was much more even. I’ve started to look into ways to hold flat sheets in place as bottom sheets using elastic with clips :grin:. I have also tried bamboo. Never again.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have Bed Threads French flax linen processed in China. I’ll check other brands to see if they offer heavier than the 170gsm in Bed Threads.

2 Likes

We’ve had a poor experience with Aldi French linen bedding. Bottom fitted sheets have split too easily. I also remember the top to bottom to wash flat sheet cycle. Bottom sheets stayed on firmly with hospital corners. My mother was a nurse.

3 Likes