Bed linen?

Geez I know some useless info. Still upholding my vow to add to the vast amount of useless knowledge in my posts

 

One day your powers will help you win a meat tray at pub trivia, then you'll know you've made it and been all worth while!

 

Here's my net experience in purchasing bed linnen...

Age 0-19: Mum did it. I had no clue it was even happening except that new sheets would occassionally show up. I might get asked an opnion if she'd bought several different sheets.
Age 19-25: Took my bed linnen with me when I moved out of home.
Age 25: Realised my bed linnen was getting ratty so when my girlfriend asked what I wanted for my birthday, I indicated this would be a good thing. She did quite well.
Age 30: Mum asked my wife if we wanted some bed linnen, wife accepted.
Age 30-now: Mum still occasonally sews some bed linnen and hands it out, wife occassionaly purchases something. When asked for an opinion I go for bland designs and colours, I like sheets that are soft but otherwise wouldn't have a clue.

@Vultures I love that you're building a business, but guys with partners probably have negligible market presence.

... I just realised how much my Mum controls my bedroom experiences. F***!

 

Yes, education about thread count etc will be a must.

Black sheets - eeek! All the stains would show up and make your bed look like an SVU crime scene

The crazy number of options out there is what made me want to start this in the first place. I hate having to trawl through an endless variety, on poorly designed websites and with limited information as to what you're actually getting.

Small/inadequate images on websites are one of the things that makes me leave without buying!

Given that many people indicated that the feel of the fabric is important when choosing sheets I should probably mention that this can actually be misleading. Many manufacturers coat their sheets in enhancers so what you're feeling is probably a silicone coating which will wash out after the first run through the machine.

Organic will be something I would love to add to the range later on but to start with the product will be Oeko-Tex 100 certified (tested for presence of harmful substances). It is telling however that of all the survey responses, nobody picked "chemical free" or "environmentally responsible"!

If you want super crispy you need to look for Egyptian cotton in a percale weave. Most sheets out there seem to be sateen weave which makes them soft/drapey with a bit of sheen. I prefer my sheets to rustle - that's percale. I do also like a little bit of weight to mine and a higher thread count will do that - you just have to make sure it's not a low quality cotton because then not only is the thread count not accurate but the sheets will feel scratchy after a while, pill and generally not last as long. Hence why 100% Egyptian Cotton.

This is probably not so bad if it's grown where there is plenty of water available, but cotton is a crop that is heavily dependent on the use of pesticides. The only way around that is to buy organic cotton but even then it's hard sometimes to know if the claims are genuine. It should be certified but then you have to trust the certifier... and so on.

@Peter_Tersteeg clearly you're not my target customer. Maybe you could send my survey to your mum?

 

@Vultures I will definitely refer my Mum to you, she's been wanting to learn how to, "Buy and sell things online". She's a complete ludite but wants to learn.

Let me know the website, my wife will devour it.

 

Hang on, I didn't know this. Put that in the website

I guess rather than subjective descriptions, more on stuff that indicates it will feel good/ smooth/ whatever. Whether it's thread count/ type of cotton/ type of threading (if there such things). The sheet my mum gave me doesn't have thread counts (I don't really care), but it's very nice and silky even after several wash. She said they are from Europe. You bet I told her to give me more (minus the pink and flower design)

 

@Peter_Tersteeg You'll be the first I send it to! Maybe your mum will buy you some sheets!

 

@EN710 some manufacturers purposely don't mention thread count because they consider it such an insignificant indicator of quality. The things that matter are:

• fibre quality - long staple cotton
• yarn size - typically 40-100 yarn count threads are used for bedding. Higher is better (finer) but also expensive.
• finishing - eg serging and mercerizing
• construction - single ply, single pick (ie one horizontal for one vertical thread)

Once you get over 300 thread count there is very little change in comfort. But I've found that I prefer sheets that are slightly heavier than even a 400tc will provide so I'd be happy to buy something myself that might be advertised at 750tc as long as it's a long staple cotton such as Egyptian. To get that many threads you need to use "multi pick" construction which is multiple weft (horizontal) threads for every warp (vertical) thread (or super fine ie expensive yarn). But this is a matter of preference rather than quality.

Edit:
I should add that it is technically possible to get up to ~1000 true thread count but that requires superfine gauge yarns, advanced machinery and textile technology which is only available at a couple of mills in Europe. You're looking at over $1000 for sheets like that. And those sheets don't feel like canvas tents! They will be lustrous, smooth and fine, that's why they're so expensive.

 

Who the heck irons sheets!?

 

Thanks heaps for all the info - the feel is really important, and your customers will love you for explaining it all to them in plain English.

As for "heavy pesticide" - fortunately, in Australia at least, we have developed a cotton plant that doesn't require drowning in pesticides and water anymore ... still not great ... but a heck of a lot better than it used to be

Cotton breeders take out CSIRO 2011 Chairman’s Medal recipient | Cotton Australia

 

The same person who irons tea towels, table cloths & undies.

 

That used to be my mum! Then she acquired some sense.

 

@Vultures will you be selling linen sheets? Is linen pure flax? How is the quality of linen determined?

 

I resemble that remark.

How can you put a scrunched up snot rag in your pocket? You just can't tell where your fingers will land when you put them in your pocket.

 

Target is my favourite.
Especially when they have half price off sheet sets.

 

People sleep in sheets without washing them first?

This is all I will buy for sheets: white, minimum 1000 thread count, 100% cotton, sateen.

I tried percale in the past but went back to sateen. I found the sateen are longer lasting.

 

No, but I do "try them" on the samples hanged in Myer

 

People who rent out fully furnished properties.... I've spent more time ironing sheets than I care to think about.
Definitely do NOT iron our own sheets though!! Who has the time for that?!

 

Male hat on

Pet hates for males is doona covers. Why do the quilt and the quilt cover separate and moosh around. For this reason males love quilted coverlets that can be washed all in one - they would be bulky to post though. Alternatively sell quilts and covers with buttons inside which you button your quilt to.

I agree patterns are out unless they are some nice geometric ones.
Texture is ok but not on pillow cases
The flat sheet is never used
The fitted sheet is used the most.
Tactile/texture variety. I adore a super soft velvet coverlet I have.

Who bought the black sheets? I have to admit to buying some last year as I was sick and tired of my 'clean' husband getting some hidden car grease onto sheets. I just needed some 'until the new house' sheets and got some 50% off Sheridan and there wasn't much choice in colours besides white and that wasn't going to happen.

Some that I like

The quilt not the pillowcase - don't want diagonal stripe creases on my face