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We are a nation obsessed with a good night’s sleep. You may have tried tricks like a weighted blanket, wake up light alarm clock or earplugs to help you sleep more soundly, but have you got the basics sorted? Studies have shown that thermoregulation is one of the most important factors affecting our sleep, so bed linen that keeps you at a comfortable temperature could have a tangible impact on sleep quality. As well as a comfortable mattress and pillow, the right duvet cover or bedding set can help you drift off quicker and sleep better.
Plus, upgrading your bed linen is an easy route to an interior refresh that’s less commitment than painting a wall or buying a new piece of furniture.
What type of duvet cover is best?
The main materials used for pillow cases and duvet covers are cotton, polyester, linen or, if you’re feeling really decadent, silk. As the founding director of the MFA textiles programme at Parsons School of Design in New York, Preethi Gopinath is the foremost expert in their pros and cons.
Most bed linen is made from cotton or a cotton-polyester blend. Gopinath prefers bedding that’s made from natural fibres (ie. cotton or linen), but says it’s “a personal thing… The advantage of sheets that are synthetic or a cotton-polyester blend is that they don’t require ironing at all.”
Gopinath personally opts for cotton sateen (often used in luxury hotels) or linen bedding, which has rapidly risen in popularity and has “almost a buttery texture and a softness to it that comes after several washes.”
What is the best duvet cover to keep you cool?
Both cotton and linen duvet covers are cooling, says Gopinath, but if you tend to get overly warm while sleeping then linen is likely the best choice for you. “Linen stays cool on your skin; it has an extra special capacity to stay at a lovely temperature.”
(We reviewed the bedding sets below in spring, so we focused on cool and breathable sets for summer sleeping. If you need a toasty bed, read our guide to the best electric blankets.)
What about the weave?
When shopping for a duvet cover, you may see the terms “percale” and “sateen,” which refer to the different ways the fabric is woven. Again, the choice comes down to personal preference. Classic percale cotton bedding feels crisper, whereas sateen fabric is smooth and silky-feeling.
“[Cotton] percale is a plain weave with the simplest structure,” says Gopinath. “If you look with a microscope, you’d get a chequered pattern. It’s basically as simple as every alternate yarn goes over and under.
“In contrast, satin or sateen fabrics are woven with cloth or yarns that with long “floats”, meaning the yarn is not bound down. The yarn goes over three or four [threads] before it’s locked, so it’s much smoother.”
What is the best quality bedding?
Thread count is traditionally the metric used to explain the quality of bedding, but as Gopinath explains, a very high thread count can’t always be trusted. There’s no reason to look above a 300-350 thread count for cotton percale or a 400-600 thread count for sateen bed sheets.
“What we’re really counting is the “fabric count” – the total number of warp yarns (vertical yarns) and weft yarns in a square inch of fabric,” she says. “If I have very fine yarns, I will pack more into one square inch, and if I have thick yarns, I will pack fewer. Based on that logic, more threads per inch means you have, by default, used a finer yarn. That’s the default assumption of quality – that a finer yarn is of a higher quality.
“But it’s also a marketing tool that cheaper manufacturers use – When people start saying it’s 1000 thread count and it’s cotton yarn, I’m suspicious. There’s a minimum thickness to cotton.” The reason Egyptian cotton is so popular is that it has a longer “staple length” (ie. fibre length) than other cottons, which means it feels smoother, she adds.
How we tested the best duvet covers and bedding sets
Each set of bed linen was hand-tested by a member of the Telegraph Recommended team over the past two months. The bedding sets were slept in and rated for looks, comfort, fabric feel and quality. We also paid attention to how easy they were to launder and keep crease-free.
At a glance – the best duvet covers and bedding sets
Best duvet covers and bedding sets
1. The White Company Santorini Bed Linen
Pillowcases £20, double duvet cover £85, The White Company
Best cotton bedding set
We liked: the chic details on the Oxford-edge design
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