Sheets - Laughing Hyena

There’s a lot of terminology thrown around in the world of cooling sheets and cooling mattresses. Temperature regulating! Airflow! Moisture wicking! Phase-change material! Most of the time, these features come back to how breathable the sheets are. Breathability means moisture can better evaporate, and “temperature-regulating” usually means the sheets are breathable enough to release the heat and moisture from your body.

What makes sheets breathable? Cotton, flax linen, and bamboo have great breathability, but not all sheets are made equally, so material alone isn’t a guarantee. Weave, as in percale’s one-over-one threads versus sateen’s three-over-one, and weight (including thread count) of the bedding comes into play. Higher thread counts are less breathable, and tighter weaves will be less breathable too. The yarn within the fabric is also important, as well as how twisted it is—a higher twist makes for a smoother, cooler feel to the fabric, while a loose twist isn’t as smooth and can trap heat.

Some companies treat sheets with something called phase-change materials, or PCMs, which are substances that absorb and release energy to either heat or cool an area. “PCMs create a microclimate,” says Karen Leonas, a professor of textile sciences at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University. Excess body heat is absorbed by these materials and then released to the body when it’s cool.

These treatments can raise the price of cooling sheets, but they’re not super popular yet, and it’s hard to determine how well incorporated it is into the fabric. “PCMs go through thermal cyclic testing and have shown to last a long time,” Leonas says. “If this is a surface treatment, there is the possibility that some of the microcapsules will be lost due to abrasion.” Parima Ijaz, CEO of Pure Parima, agrees and says these treatments sometimes only last up to 10 washes. There are only a handful of sheets on the market that tout their use of PCMs, and our guide focuses on breathable materials and weaves rather than these treatments. It’s worth noting that PCMs will last much longer on a foam mattress, according to Leonas. If you’re still sweating at night after switching to cooling sheets, try a cooling mattress.

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What to Look for in Organic Sheets

Organic means many things. It’s often used to confirm that food was grown without toxic pesticides and chemicals, and doesn’t have things like growth hormones or GMOs, in order to label it as organic food. For bedding, it should mean both that organic materials were used to make the fabric—no toxic pesticides used in farming, etc.—and that they were produced organically with nontoxic chemicals.

You’ll want at least two certifications to prove this. Most sheets have a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification to certify that the material sourced is organic (it’ll say organically grown cotton, for example, but should have a certification to back it up), and you’ll usually see either an Oeko-Tex or a Made Safe certification certifying that the process to make them was a safe and nontoxic one. If you only see an Oeko-Tex certification, that means they were manufactured organically, but not sourced organically. You’re more likely to see a sole Oeko-Tex certification than any others, which is still a good certification, but not enough to be a fully organic bedsheet.

Is it the same as eco-friendly? It depends on what eco-friendly means to you. Some processes are more eco-conscious, like lyocell’s process over nylon and rayon based on chemical output, but producing anything has costs on the planet. These organic certifications usually only confirm toxicity and chemicals included, not necessarily how much waste was left over or whether the chemicals can be reused.

Honorable Mentions

There are a lot of great organic sheets out there. Here are a few more organic bedding sets we tested and liked.

Boll & Branch Signature Sheet Set for $279: Boll & Branch’s Signature sheets use GOTS-certified cotton and have an Oeko-Tex certification. These sheets also level up the sateen weave from a three-over-one pattern to a four-over-one pattern. I tested the textured stripe pattern, which still felt breathable even with the heavier weave, though not as soft as a regular sateen sheet since it had the extra texture.

Coyuchi Flannel Sheets for $278: These organic bedsheets are fantastic and soft, and are made from 100 percent GOTS-certified organic cotton (except for the stripe pattern, which uses a mix of recycled cotton and GOTS-certified cotton). The Boll & Branch flannel is a little softer, but Coyuchi’s sheets are a little cheaper if you want to save a few bucks.

Ettitude Luxe CleanBamboo Sateen+ Sheets for $400: Ettitude’s Luxe bamboo sheets promise that they’re Ecocert organic and use 100 percent FSC Certified Bamboo, and are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified. I found them a little heavy for my liking as a hot sleeper, but they’re a fantastically soft and silky set that’s organic.

Not Quite Organic

Avocado Natural Linen Sheets for $549: These linen sheets are some of the heaviest and most expensive we’ve tried. These linen sheets will likely last you many years, thanks to the heavy weight, and will get softer with every wash. These sheets were previously GOTS-certified, but now are only Oeko-Tex certified, which is why they aren’t a pick. Avocado doesn’t list them as organic anymore due to this.

Quince Bamboo Sheet Set for $130: These affordable bamboo sheets from Quince claim to use 100 percent viscose from organic bamboo, but only have an Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification that proves no toxic chemicals were used, not the source of the bamboo itself. They’re a nice, soft set, but they don’t have all the certifications we look for in organic sheets. We’ve reached out to Quince to ask whether they have any certifications to prove the bamboo is organic.

Quince Sateen Sheet Set for $100: Similar to the bamboo set above, these sheets are marketed as 100 percent bamboo but only have an Oeko-Tex certification, which only confirms that the chemicals are nontoxic. We’ve reached out to Quince to ask whether they have any certifications to prove the cotton is organic.

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