Better Homes And Gardens 400-thread Count Damask Stripe Sheet Set

Hotels generally use a sheet recipe which prioritises quality over thread count. Confused? Read on...

Businesses generally get decent quality for a decent price by using a low thread count.
Less threads means less cotton, and less cotton often means better quality for the same money.
The resulting sheet is usually finer, crisper and cooler to sleep in (like ours) hence 'cool and crisp'.
Cool and crisp sheets aren't soft or thick (hot) like many sheets found in shops.
Most popular: The classic Hotel Sheet. The 100% cotton sheet used by hotels in Portugal and Europe.
The best: The Egyptian Hotel Sheet. 100% long-staple Egyptian cotton, DNA tested to verifyauthenticity.
Use and wash sheets for up to 60 nights. We pay for returns and donate them to the Women's Refuge.
See good and bad reviews from genuine customers to get a sense of what our sheets feel like.

Hotel Sheets vs Retail Sheets

Why hotel sheets?

Hotels and shops aim for reasonably priced sheets but take different approaches. Commercial sheets generally prioritise quality for a reasonable price, while retailers generally prioritise thread count for a reasonable price, then infer that a higher thread count means better quality.

Retailers prioritise thread count

The problem with the common retail approach is that thread count doesn't determine quality. The quality of the cotton, yarn and manufacturing is what determines quality so retailers can sell terrible high thread-count sheets if they choose to.

But a bigger problem with prioritising thread count is that it's almost impossible to make high-quality, high thread count sheets affordable. Why? High quality cotton is rare, sought-after and expensive. And the more threads used, the more cotton used, and the more cotton used, the more expensive the sheet. So when 1000TC sheets are made from really great cotton, they commonly cost $600-$900 NZD. And when made from the very best cotton, they often cost between $1200 up to $2000 NZD per set. No joke.

So if you're trying to sell high thread-count sheet sets for an affordable price, you have little choice but to compromise the quality to get the price down. And that's what many shops often sell, medium to low-quality, high thread-count sheets.

Fake bargains

Some retailers use a sales tactic (often dubbed 'fake bargains' by media) which makes determining quality via price confusing. For example, when The Hotel Sheet has a sale, we're discounting the retail price which hurts. We hope to make up the difference by selling many more sets.

But some retailers use a pricing strategy where they might import sheets worth say $160 RRP but price them at $400 instead. After six months they have a 60%-off sale which creates a false impression that you're buying a set of $400 sheets for $160. When in reality, those sheets were probably only worth $160 RRP to begin with.

You may have heard The Commerce Commission criticising retailers for these types of sales tactics. But for the purposes of this article, these tactics make understanding what you're buying incredibly confusing, especially when the sheets on sale have a high thread count.

Low thread count sheets at retail are often bad

Adding to the confusion is the fact that in our experience, most of the low thread count sheets at retail look pretty terrible. You can often see bad cotton coming out of the yarn, even through the packet.

This has helped give rise to a myth that low thread count is bad. In our experience, low thread count sheets at retailare bad but they don't have to be. And that's where hotel sheets come in; they're a good quality, low thread count sheet.

So why do commercial sheets generally use a low thread?

Commercial sheets prioritise quality

The commercial world is looking for decent quality at a reasonable price. And because good cotton isn't cheap, hotels looking for quality have little choice but to use good cotton but less of it. And that means fewer threads.

So by using a lower thread count (typically 250TC NZ / 200TC USA), hotels get the quality they need at a more affordable price. Less threads, translates into less cotton, which translates into affordable quality.

The Classic Hotel Sheet

Sets of The Classic Hotel Sheet start from $227

But I like the feel of high thread count sheets?

Firstly, low thread count sheets in the shops seem pretty bad in our experience, so it's little wonder many consumers prefer the feel of high thread count sheets. Secondly, the softer, silkier feel of a high thread count is mainly due to the type of weave used to make them, not the thread count.

Most sheets above 500TC in New Zealand use the Sateen weave, which is softer and silkier. So most of what you're feeling is actually the sateen weave.

However, no matter the quality, the Sateen weave is usually weaker, sheds more (often referred to as pilling by consumers) and is hotter. And because people think higher thread counts are better, many struggling with heat at night don't realise they're sleeping in some of the hottest cotton sheets available.

And this is an area where thread count plays an important role; heat at night. Put simply;

The higher the thread count = the hotter the sheet.

The lower the thread count = the cooler the sheet.

One final note on high thread count sheets; depending on the cotton, yarn and weaving, a high thread count can improve general wear issues with the weaker Sateen weave. Issues like shedding and general longevity can be improved with good cotton, yarn and weaving because good cotton, yarn and weaving is the foundation for quality bedding, no matter the thread count. However, you pay a higher price because higher thread counts consume much more cotton.

This is why Hotels generally avoid the weaker sateen weave and instead opt for the stronger percale weave. It allows them to use less threads which means less cotton, and less cotton means they get decent quality for a good price.

So where does that leave us? Well, if you're cold at night, a good quality high thread count Sateen sheet could be your perfect sheet.

But if you're hot at night, it's almost the worst sheet you could buy.

What do hotel sheets feel like?

A good hotel sheet feels beautifully crisp, primarily because of the percale weave used to make them. If you've ever slipped into a hotel bed and loved the crisp feel of the sheets, what you're generally feeling is a good quality, low thread count percale sheet - typically 250 threads.

Commercial sheets generally use the percale weave because it's often stronger, sheds less and lasts longer than sateen. The percale weave is also an open weave that releases heat and circulates air. By contrast, the sateen weave used to make higher thread count sheets is a closed weave that traps heat. For more on weaves, see our article; Percale vs Sateen.

One last note about the classic hotel sheet recipe; the resulting sheet is usually finer than most expect. This can be disconcerting, especially if you're used to thick, high thread count sheets. But rest assured, the sheet is strong despite being fine. While finer sheets are super fast to dry and press, the benefit to a consumer is that they're the coolest cotton sheets you can buy.

The Classic Hotel Sheet

Sets of The Classic Hotel Sheetstart from $227

But I thought hotel sheets use synthetics?

Our 100% cotton hotel sheet is used in hotels throughout Portugal and Europe and is the top-selling hotel sheet in our manufacturer's commercial catalogue. It's true that most five-star hotel rooms use sheets which contain at least 50% polyester, especially in our part of the world. And as the star rating goes down, the amount of polyester goes up - motels often use 100% polyester for example.

While polyester makes sheets last longer (and thicker), polyester feels slippery as it wears which many people hate. And even a little polyester makes sheets hotter which hotel air conditioning tends to counteract.

But when you pay more for a room (like a high-end suite), some hotels provide higher quality amenity like cotton sheets. And that's the hotel sheet we sell; a cool and crisp, 100% cotton hotel sheet.

My head hurts!

We realise that was a lot of information so to sum up:

Thread count has almost nothing to do with quality
Retailers prioritise thread count for a decent price
Hotels prioritise quality for a decent price
The higher the thread count, the hotter the sheet
The lower the thread count, the cooler the sheet
Hotel sheets generally feel crisp and when made from 100% cotton, are cooler
Most retail sheets feel soft/silky and are generally thicker and hotter

If you love your sheets, that's all that matters at the end of the day so who cares what we or anyone else says. But if you've had a confusing sheet experience or are hot at night, we hope this article helped.

If you'd like help figuring out which sheets are right for you, check out our ultimate guide to getting sheets you'll love (a work in progress). Or click the chat icon bottom right, we'll get back to you ASAP.

Or, if you're interested in sheets, check out some of our more popular articles:

The truth about Egyptian cotton
The truth behind 1000 thread count sheets
Sheets that stay cool
Sateen vs percale: hot vs cool sheets
What is OEKO-Tex Certification?

What to buy

Most popular: The classic Hotel Sheet. The 100% cotton sheet used by hotels in Portugal and Europe.
The best: The Egyptian Hotel Sheet. 100% long-staple Egyptian cotton, DNA tested to verifyauthenticity.
Use and wash sheets for up to 60 nights. We pay for returns and donate them to the Women's Refuge.
See good and bad reviews from genuine customers to get a sense of what our sheets feel like.

Our reviews