Is Thread Count Important when Buying Sheets?

When buying luxury bedding, the conventional wisdom goes like this: The higher a sheet's thread count, the higher the quality, and with that a higher the price.

Problem: many threads are made up of multiple strands of yarn and manufacturers count each strand when they calculate the thread count. Good Housekeeping magazine has been tracking this deceptive practice for years. They have found that some manufacturers exaggerate the number of threads per square inch of fabric.

Good Housekeeping Institute employee Kathleen is uncovering phony top-quality sheets. "It feels like a tablecloth," she said. "Who wants a tablecloth on their bed? Who wants to have a tablecloth over them when they're sleeping?"

With seven out of eight sheets tested by the Good Housekeeping Institute failing thread count tests you should learn the telltale ways to spot an exaggerated count. "The tip-off is, a really high thread count is really, really expensive," Huddy said. "You don't get a 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets for $149.99 a set."

When Good Housekeeping analyzed sample sheets, it found manufacturers exaggerating their thread count by three to five times. They found one sheet that was labeled as having a 1500 thread count, but it actually only had 300 threads per square inch. That's false advertising, Huddy said.

What has happened since "Good Morning America" and Good Housekeeping first investigated thread count? The textile industry rewrote its voluntary standard, making it clear that thread count should be based on threads, not individual strands or plies within a thread. The Federal Trade Commission wrote a letter supporting that technique, saying, "Consumer could be deceived or misled by the practice of stating an inflated thread count."

At http://www.CanISleepOnIt.com we have authentic Egyptian cotton sheets in thread count ranging from 300 to 1500, all MADE IN EGYPT. Would you trust "Egyptian cotton" sheets made in India, China or anywhere else? Investigate before you invest in your luxury bedding.

"Investing in a sheet set is important because it will last a long, long time," Huddy said. "Some people have them for 20 years, and they're fine. So think about that. Don't just think about the price when you're going to buy a set of sheets."