Best sheets 2024: sumptuous cotton, linen & bamboo bedding

The best sheets overall

+ Silky soft

+ Breathable and temperature regulating

+ Eco-friendly and sustainable

- Stains easily

- Only available in two colours

The Panda London Signature+ Bamboo Bedding set is sustainable, kind to the skin and ultra breathable. The sustainable and eco-friendly bamboo is silky soft, hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial, so it's ideal for allergy sufferers and people with skin issues.

If you're a hot and sweaty sleeper, the Panda London Signature+ Bamboo Bedding are the perfect choice. While there are only two colours available, and they can stain from sweat a little easy, the Panda London Signature+ Bamboo Bedding offer a luxurious night's sleep.

Read our full Panda London Signature+ Bamboo Bedding review.

The best Egyptian Cotton sheets

+ Buttery soft and smooth

+ Attractive matte finish

+ Naturally temperature regulating

- Wrinkles fairly easily

- No single size

If you're looking for the best Egyptian cotton sheets, head to Hampton & Astley. This UK-based brand makes a select range of top quality Egyptian Cotton Sateen bedding. We've tested out Hampton & Astley's sheets and found them buttery soft, super smooth and absurdly comfortable to sleep in. They also regulate temperature well, so you won't wake up sweaty.

At full price, these bed sheets aren't cheap, but this is one of those brands that regularly offers hefty discounts (in fact, we'd venture to say they're never really sold at RRP). The range is perhaps a little limited – there's no single size, and only three colour options – but if that doesn't bother you, these are an excellent buy.

The best cotton sheets

+ Smooth and soft

+ Deep fit

+ Breathable and cooling

- Only one colour

- No flat sheet option

If it's a brilliant basic sheet you're after, the Performance Fitted sheet would make a great choice. It's available in 200 thread count percale weave or 400 thread count Egyptian cotton. We've tried both, and while the former is perfectly acceptable, the latter is noticeably better quality, if you can afford it.

The Egyptian cotton is silky smooth and soft, as well as being naturally temperature regulating. An elasticated hem keeps everything securely in place, and it'll fit up to a 40cm deep mattress (that's really deep, FYI). Flat sheet lovers will need to shop elsewhere, though. Before you buy, make sure you aren't missing a discount – our Simba mattress sales and deals page has info on all the best offers, and we also have a Simba discount codes page.

The best linen sheets

+ Quality craftsmanship

+ Super-soft

+ Reliable bedding brand

- Only come in three colours

If you fancy some linen sheets, head to Scooms. This is the brand behind some of the best pillows around, so it's one of our go-tos for soft home furnishings. These sheets don't disappoint: they both look and feel super luxurious.

The Scooms Double Linen sheets are made in small batches, ensuring a high attention detail, using soft fibres woven from high-quality French linen flax. Certified by Beko-Tex Standard 100 to be free of harmful toxins and chemicals, they come with a one-year guarantee. The fitted sheet comes with a continuous elastic hem and a helpful 'feet' label, showing which way round your sheet goes.

The best ethically-made sheets

+ High quality detailing

+ Organic and Fairtrade cotton

+ Choose between two feels

- Slight sheen won't appeal to everyone

Dip & Doze makes bedding with an interesting USP: for each shade, you can pick between soft and smooth (sateen) or cool and crisp (percale). We've tested the former, and can confirm it is indeed delightfully soft and smooth, and feels luxuriously high quality, too. That luxury follows through to the detailing: the buttons are tucked neatly out of sight behind a double fold of fabric, although we wouldn't be mad if they did end up on show, because they're very cute little wooden buttons engraved with the brand's name.

The duvet set colours are classy and there's a wide selection to choose from – we're not huge fans of the slight sheen on the sateen version, but it might be right up your street. The cotton is certified organic and Fairtrade, and the duvets have size labels sewn in that'll come in handy if you have a few different sizes of bed in your home.

The best cosy sheets for colder weather

+ Absurdly soft

+ Super cosy on cold nights

+ Doesn't crease easily

- Pills quite easily

- No flat sheet option

You might not have considered brushed cotton for your sheets, but if you want something to snuggle up in on chilly nights, Eve's brushed cotton bed linen is perfect. It's absurdly soft and comforting – the kind of soft that genuinely makes our tester happy when they wake up in the morning. The down-side of this kind of bedding is that it does start to pill quite quickly; our tester found this an issue with the sheets, but not so much with the duvet cover.

With brushed cotton, you don't get the chill you have with regular cotton sheets when you first get into bed, and they stay a comfortable level of warmth all night – although we'd definitely reach for these in winter than summer. While you don't get the same crisp, hotel-y feel of freshly laundered cotton sheets, these look and feel high quality, and they don't crease easily, either.

The best premium sheets

+ Quality craftsmanship

+ Egyptian cotton

+ 400 thread count

- Only comes in white

If it's cotton sheets you're looking for, we think the best option is to check out The White Company's Savoy collection. You won't find finer than these Egyptian cotton sheets, boasting a 400 thread-count and a percale weave. Designed by British firm The White Company and made in Portugal, they're woven with two-ply yarn and the attention to detail is staggering, providing a real luxury feel.

These award-winning sheets are beautifully soft, and look smart and stylish, making bedtime that bit more alluring. Yes, they only come in white (although you can pick from a range of tasteful ribbon detail colours) – but when they look this good, why would you want anything else?

The best cheap sheets

+  Good quality

+ Easy care

+ Great value 

- Quite thin

- Synthetic fabric can trap heat

If you're on a budget but still want nice sheets then we recommend this set from the Amazon Basics range. While they're not the most luxurious or long-lasting around, they're still lovely and comfortable, and at a staggeringly low price. Made from 100% polyester microfibre, these sheets are also easy to maintain: just machine wash warm, avoid bleach, and tumble dry low. Being synthetic, they might not be a good choice if you tend to sleep hot, though.

The best bamboo sheets

+  Lots of colours to choose from

+ Silky feeling

+ Sustainable and organic

- Creases and bunches easily

Bamboo is touted as the big thing in bedding. It can be much more sustainable than cotton, as well as being naturally temperature regulating and hypoallergenic. If you're interested in giving bamboo a go, then you need to check out the Panda 100% Bamboo Bedding.

The feel of this fabric is soft, smooth and silky – Panda says the 320 thread-count in this material is equivalent to a 1,200 thread-count cotton. It's much less stiff than cotton, which means things can get a bit bunched up if you're a wriggly sleeper (there are ties inside the duvet cover to try and counteract this), and be aware that it creases much quicker than cotton, too.

Read our full Panda 100% Bamboo Bedding review.