Best Deals on Sheets and Bedding

The Importance of Thread Count when Shopping for Bed Linens

Dec 30, 2007 L. Marie Dubuque

Looking for sheets and pillow cases? With so many different prices and quality of bed linens, how to buy the right bedding for you. Is thread count really that important?

Queen, king or full? 200 or 300 thread count? Sky blue, apple red or Moroccan sunset pink? You need to know what all this means and more before you even think about tackling a January white sale. They’ve been called white sales for decades. But we all know bed linens and towels come in all colors of the rainbow. So bring along a color swatch, know the size of your bed and start counting those threads!

  • Thread Count Actually, you don’t have to count threads…The manufacturer will do it for you. It really means the number of yarns per square inch of fabric. When you’re dealing with cotton or polyester, the thread count determines softness, not durability. But with all kinds of new fabrics on the market, thread count means less. Use your senses, and if the sheet feels soft to you and the price is right, buy it.
  • Durability This is harder to determine. Just because sheets are more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean they will last longer. Do some experimenting. If you find a sheet you like at a great price, try it. But only buy one set. In a few months after a lot of washings, determine if the color is still as bright and the material is still as soft. If it passes your test, go ahead and buy more. But wait for the next sale!
  • Color Remember, even though Arizona Orange may be all the rage today, that unique hue could get discontinued tomorrow. Then what do you do if you need an extra pillow case or one more top sheet? Better stick with basic colors like white (which doesn’t fade) blue, yellow and pink. They are the easiest to match and the most likely to go on sale.
  • Designer or not? Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren are great designers. But do you really need to buy their bed linens? Yes, if they’re on sale and you have a coupon, but not if you have to pay full price. Even K-mart and Target are offering designer linens. So with all that competition, price - not labels - should be the determining factor.
  • Price Find the highest quality bedding at the cheapest price. That means hunt for sales. January is the month when most department stores offer huge mark-downs. But don’t leave the house without coupons. Search the Internet and your local paper for deals. If you have your heart set on a bedding set at a certain store, bring the competition’s coupon and try to get the price down. And just because the department stores are advertising big sales this month, don’t forget discount stores and even warehouse clubs. It pays to shop around.

Related Articles:

Trading coupons on the web.

Online grocery shopping.

Problems with debit cards.

The copyright of the article Best Deals on Sheets and Bedding in Consumer Education is owned by L. Marie Dubuque. Permission to republish Best Deals on Sheets and Bedding in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Shop for the best deals on bedding., Stockxpert Shop for the best deals on bedding.
   
What do you think about this article?
NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.
post your comment
What is 7+10?

Comments

Dec 26, 2008 11:14 PM
Guest :
i wait for the sales after xmas and buy deborah hutton sheets, love them and the price ,i go to k-mart , i agree with your comment ,on personal taste ,and also stick to the basic's white and what ever i can find ,thank you for your advice on thread count, i wasnt sure on
that one presumed ,higher the count the better .
noelle
1 Comment: