I always encourage designers, private clients, and those in charge of purchasing and specifying linens to back up a stop and design linens that function optimally. We can make anything look great, but they need to breathe, be the right fiber for the climate, and be the right texture for you or our clients.
First and foremost your linens should be engineered so that you sleep comfortably (we can design them to look any way you like after that!) and your linens are cool and breathable enough for you and your skin to process whatever it is you have put them through during the day/night. Of course, I am not suggesting you be anything but cozy. I personally am not independently warm in my home climate, other than a few hot summer nights. I am all about being warm, but with linens that breathe.
“Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies. We put it through so much all day. Exposure to sun, smothering it in layers of clothes to stay warm,dehydration, booze, abusing it with unhealthy lotions, sunscreens, flame retardant toxins in hotels and aircraft, etc, etc, etc. But, the bigger picture is...when we sleep, our skin along with all of our other organs, work in their brilliantly designed way to rid us of all the wrongs we have done to ourselves intentionally and unintentionally throughout the day.”
A few tips:
A higher thread count is not always better. It depends on fiber quality, fabric finishing, and how the fibers are twisted. A 1,000 thread count that is really a double twisted 500 thread count breathes beautifully. A straight 1,000 is too tight and will not allow airflow. Our Athena is perfection if you are a 1,000-thread count fan.
Personally, I feel our Giza 87 cotton is going to function the best and be the most comfortable for all of our cotton-loving sleepers. Our Alexandra Sateen is a gorgeous 700-thread count. The most heavenly cotton sateen I have slept in. Our Safiya Giza 87 500tc percale feels delicate, but it is very strong and incredibly breathable.
If you are one driven by having the best our Amalfi 700 thread count Silk/Cotton is like sleeping in a cloud
If Flax/Linen is your thing, Our Hampton is the softest lightest weight, Charlotte is a classic fine linens sheet weight, and Jennifer seems to be the preferred Kearsley linens by those who attended British boarding schools...I prefer it for Duvet Covers, Shams, Table Linens, and Hand Towels.
Bonus tip:
Gentlemen, you might like rougher linens, but your skin tends to be 4-5 times thicker than females and you tend to have more and courser hair protecting it. If you are sharing or wish to share your bed with someone with softer skin than yours I highly recommend you steer clear of the heavier linen sheets.
I will be steadily adding to our About Linens Section. Currently, this link contains a bit more about thread count, etc. Please feel free to message us with your questions. It is client questions that have made my CEU talk "Understanding, Specifying, & Caring for Fine Linens" so compelling.
Sweet dreams,
Heather Kearsley Wolf BTW this fabulous photo was taken of me (Heather Kearsley Wolf) by photographer Patrice Ward! I am wearing a Chestnut Kearsley Essentials Sheet.
Engineer design your bed linens to function for you