Best Percale Cooling Sheets
If you prefer the crisp and airy feel of percale sheets, these long-staple, Egyptian cotton sheets from Parachute are your best option. They're comparable to a button-down shirt in terms of feel, thanks to the one-thread-over, one-thread-under percale weave.
Iron Your Sheets
This is one of the best tricks to keep your cotton sheets feeling crisp. If you want perfectly smooth sheets, ironing them is the way to go. When you take them out of the dryer, iron them on relatively high heat while they're still warm and hot, and perhaps a little damp.
Coolest Temperature
Crisp, percale cotton sheets are the best sheets for hot sleepers. They're a common choice for hotels and guesthouses, thanks to their fresh feel and cooling properties. And you, too, can enjoy a hotel quality of sleep with these cool, white percale cotton sheet sets.
Hotel bed sheets are washed regularly at high temperatures, crammed into high-speed dryers and heavy steam pressed to remove ugly creases. The trick is to press the sheets while they're still slightly damp. This makes them extra crisp, fresh, and ready quickly for the next guest.
One of the most popular fabrics for luxury sheets is cotton. Not only is it super soft and comfortable, but it is also very durable and offers great breathability. The best quality luxury sheets are made from cotton with long-staple fibers that are spun into high-quality, fine yarns.
In our tests, top-rated bed sheets often have thread counts between 300 and 500. Anything above 500 isn't necessarily better (so don't be deceived when you see thread counts over 1,500), and on the flip side, you can still find quality sheets with thread counts under 300.
There are a few different types of sheets that may be considered “cooling.” Some are simply made with breathable fabrics, such as eucalyptus sheets or cotton percale sheets. Others have moisture-wicking properties.
Linen, cotton, and lyocell are some of the best cooling options for sheets. Weave refers to the way the sheets are sewn together. Sateen and percale are typically the best for hot sleepers as they allow for the most airflow.”
For people who get hot during sleep, choosing sheets made of bamboo, cotton, or linen — breathable fabrics that wick away moisture from the body and help maintain a comfortable temperature — can help.
Percale sheets are typically made with cotton fibers, which can lend an extra crisp feel to the resulting fabric.
The bedsheets used on hotel beds accentuate the feelings of comfort and relaxation, so you feel completely at ease. They are not only soft, but also smell fantastic, thanks to special detergents, fabric softeners, cleaners, and other deodorizing agents that enhance the overall relaxation experience.
Appearance: Cotton Sheets tend to be softer and can come with different finishes depending on the weave. Cotton Percale Sheets have a matte finish and a more structured look due to the tight percale weave.
Hotel buyers in the know most often choose percale sheets over sateen or other weaves. Hotels want white. White sheets are bright, clean-looking, and give a feeling of newness, even though they may have been laundered multiple times. Hotels don't want patterns, colors, or designs that may fade or stain easily.
To help the sheet breathe better, cotton is blended with polyester. The tighter weave of polyester creates open pockets and gaps in the fabric – and creates a breathable fabric. This airflow is what keeps hotel sheets so cool.
The Feel — Percale fabric has a cool, crisp handfeel, and sateen fabric feels silky and smooth. The Weight — Percale is lighter and more breathable than sateen; sateen weaves produce a thicker sheet that lies heavier on the body. The Warmth — Percale bedding tends to sleep cooler than sateen bedding.
Types of rayon include viscose, lyocell and modal, which are known for being moisture-wicking and feeling silky and cool to the touch — ideal for cooling sheets!
If linen doesn't work for you, Fountain's recommendation is a percale weave cotton since the “one-over-one-under weave encourages airflow to keep you cool over the course of the night.” For a silky-smooth hand feel and fabric that feels initially cool to the touch, Fountain also recommends Tencel sheets.
Eucalyptus silk one of the best fabrics for night sweats, making it the perfect pick. Not only is it great at keeping you comfortable in any temperature, but it's also made with cool-to-touch technology that stays fresher for longer and keeps you snug and cosy without overheating.
TENCEL™ – TENCEL™ fibers, otherwise known as Lyocell, is a soft, breathable, moisture-wicking, and wrinkle-resistant linen fabric known for keeping temperatures at bay.
Bamboo is a great choice because it's naturally moisture-wicking and cooling. Linen, cotton, and Tencel (a type of rayon made from wood pulp) can also be excellent options for cool sheets.
Yes, bamboo is a very breathable fabric. In most cases, you'll find that bamboo sheets keep you cooler throughout the night. Bamboo stays about 3 degrees cooler than cotton on average. It's breathable enough to allow your body heat to easily escape.
Percale: A smooth, flat, closely woven and combed fabric that comes in 100 percent cotton or 50/50 cotton/poly blends. Finer than muslin, expect thread counts here to range from 180 to 200. Pima or Supima: A high-quality cotton whose long fiber staple is somewhat similar to that of Egyptian cotton.
Percale is a weave of fabric with a simple criss-cross pattern. The yarns go one-under-one-over, creating a tight-knit structure that is smooth and durable. Percale sheets feel crisp to the touch, and they get softer with every wash.
Cotton percale: Cotton is generally quite breathable. 'But a percale finish will make cotton bed sheets cold to the touch.' explains Yusuf Ozkanli, founder of luxury bedding brand Beddable, 'meaning they're ideal for hot sleepers and warm temperatures.'