Bed sheets: size, fiber content, thread count, price range, and care for.
60%Cotton/40%Poly King size bedding set (a flat bed sheet, a fitted bed sheet, and two pillowcases) with unspecified thread count costs $35 in Kmart. Egyptian cotton 500 thread count Wamsuta King size bedding set costs $230 in Linens'n Things. And it doesn't stop here. I tried to figure out what makes bed sheets so different before my recent shopping for new ones.
Design: obviously, bed sheets can be any color. They used to be white or white with some pastel floral pattern, but for quite a while now they come in all patterns and colors. I still feel that colorful bedding are "not for real", like a children's thing or a novelty. I believe bed sheets don't have to be entertaining. And it seems that I'm not the alone in this: quality bed sheets, with high thread count and designer names, usually come in calm, subdued colors.
Fabric: thread count, fiber content and fabric texture. Thread count is number of threads in one inch of fabric. The higher this number is, the finer, higher quality and more expensive are bed sheets. Bed sheets with thread count below 175 are really rough. Thread count of 400-500 feels very nice and smooth. These bed sheets will survive less washing/drying cycles; however, higher quality cotton will wash better and will not pile. There are higher thread count bed sheets on the market, up to 1000.
The fiber content: bed sheet are usually made of cotton or cotton/poly blends. Silk and linen are exotic luxuries. Cotton/poly blend is cheaper and less wrinkly, but it will pile eventually, and doesn't "breathe". The quality of cotton fiber depends on its length. Egyptian an Supima are two higher-quality varieties. "Combed" refers to cotton from which shorter fibers were sorted out.
Texture: T-sheets are bed sheets made out of jersey knit. They feel wormer and snugglier then waved textiles. "Sateen" refers to certain waive: four threads above/one under. It has more of a thread length exposed, and so looks shinier and tends to catch.
Size: bed sheet sizes correspond to mattress sizes, which are pretty standard and consistent: Tween: 39 x 76 inches Tween X-long: 39 x 80 inches Full: 54 x 75 inches Queen : 60 x 80 inches King: 78 x 80 inches Cal-King: 72 x 84 inches
They say there are no high-end fited sheets for Tween X-long or Cal-King mattresses. I didn't look for those. Since Tween X-long are usually found in colledge dorms, it is not surprising if true.
Mattress depth, actually, thickness: standard depth is between seven and nine inches, deep mattress is ten to fifteen, and extra deep (also luxury) mattress is sixteen to twenty-two inches. More expensive, high-end bed sheets usually will claim fitting over deepest mattress.
Beside all of the above, different bed sheets require different care. Every sort of cotton bed sheets on the market are machine wash/dry, and won't even wrinkle much if you don't leave them to sit in a dryer, but silk bed sheets are dry clean only. Most manufacturers conservatively suggest warm wash and no bleach. Near-boiling temperature may not harm cotton fiber, but it can destroy elastic in fitted sheets and it will cook the protein in stains to the fabric.