On Thread Count

It doesn't matter.

It's true.

Despite what linen merchants long to seduce you into believing, there's no advantage, from the standpoint of pleasure, to cramming jillions of ever-finer threads into a square inch of fabric.

Think of it this way: the higher the thread count, the closer bed linen becomes to approaching a liquid state. If you could squeeze an infinite number of threads into an inch of fabric — if there were some hellish loom capable of that feat — it would have no body at all. No drape. No crease, no texture. Going to bed at night would be like slipping into a pool of oil.

The people who find that idea alluring are the people who claim to enjoy satin sheets. We will not speak of them again.

Comments

[suzanne]

Exactly. You can have the highest thread count possible, but if you don't start with a high quality cotton (i.e. Egyptian or pima cotton), the sheeting will never truly be high quality. Some companies produce 800 thread count to make you think it's the best, but it's made of a bunch of short yarns twisted together, which just won't hold up for long and are likely to pill. Alternatively, you can have a 200 thread count percale sheet made of Egyptian cotton that is super smooth to the hand and will last forever!

[Sleeper]

You are brilliant. Let's all put the lie to the 800-thread-count marketing machine. Think of the brides-to-be it has in thrall! The money wasted! Worst of all: the inferior sleeps!

A sidebar: cashmere sweaters. Notwithstanding the surely many thousands of bald sheep suffering because of our new and total infatuation, the same holds true: the short fibers, the poor quality, even with expensive brands.

Now, to Egyptian cotton. All my research suggests it is superior because of the long fibers, but I want to believe Indian cotton (which also may be Egyptian cotton; it can be cultivated any number of places) can be good too, depending.

There's also something to be said for nonsmooth (i.e., papery or linen) sheets, the way there's something to be said for a rough or mineralish wine. The distinctions are endless.

[Budovitz]

You should not only consider the quality of the thread, you have to know that the finishing is very important. Almost as important as the quality of the cotton. Italian finishing and dying is the highest quality. And no Indian or Chinese weavers, even if they buy the cotton from the same company, can surpass Italian quality. The finishing gives the hand and the longevity of the fabric.

[Sleeper]

That may be true (though it is hard to believe Indian finishers, who make the most beautiful silk in the world, are not as good as Italian), but there is no way to tell from a package where the threads were finished. Italian weavers buy some of their thread from China too, just like everyone else. Fact of life these days. And there are plenty of Italian sheets that have a poor hand, and pill. Nothing against Italian linens makers. But we shouldn't be romantic about them in the era of outsourcing and global trade.

[Nosh Jewfeld]

Wow, that's quite a revelation! I learned from my mama that thread count was king. As a functional ignoramus about sheets, etc., that's been the one thing I go on when purchasing new bed linens. Now I have to worry about thread quality, finish, crease, drape, and texture? Oy! Will you just come with me the next time I need to buy new sheets? I'll hold the baby!

[Sleeper]

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