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Linen can do it all: relaxed suits, beachy shirts, breezy shorts, and some of the nicest bed sheets known to humankind. And contrary to popular belief (or outdated style rules), linen's not just for sweltering summer nights or toasty climates. For the 41% of people who are hot sleepers, linen sheets are a year-round salvation, regulating body temps even when the furnace is on. The best linen sheets aren't cheap—but they are airy and luxurious and long-lasting, and will leave you feeling like you’ve had the deepest damn sleep of your life. Yes, even in winter.
Not all linen is created equal though—believe us, we've tested a lot of duds. That's why we wear-tested and slept on dozens of linen sheet sets to compile the best on the market. Most were acceptable, but a few were truly great. Here's what to look for when you’re looking to breathe easy at night.
The Best Linen Sheets, at a Glance
Just can't stand the heat in your bed anymore? Don't sweat it—our top-pick linen sheet sets are right here to cool you off.
- The Best Linen Sheets, Overall: The Citizenry Stonewashed Linen Sheet Set, $299
- The Best Silky-Smooth Linen Sheet: Parachute Linen Sheet Set, $329
- The Best Luxe Linen Sheets: Cultiver Linen Sheet Set, $385
- The Best Budget Linen Sheets: Quince Linen Sheet Set, $170
- The Best Organic Linen Sheets: Coyuchi Organic Relaxed Linen Sheets, $558
- The Best Linen Hybrid Sheets: Kassatex Linen-Bamboo Sheet Set, $170
- The Best Linen Sheets For Big Beds: Snowe Linen Sheet Set, $355
- The Best Patterned Linen Sheets: Brooklinen Linen Core Sheet Set, $299
What to look for in the best linen sheets
We're weighing a whole host of factors when we hunt for the best sheets—some of which are linen-specific.
Price: The best linen sheets aren't cheap because linen itself isn't cheap. You can find some budget sets under $150 with clear tradeoffs, but buy-in for a great set is $200, and you can double that for the nicest linen sheets (in a queen size set). Why are linen sheets so pricey compared to cotton? There are fewer flax farms, harvesting the plant is harder, and processing it into fabric is more labor-intensive. But if you're a hot sleeper—or you have to survive the tossing and turning of the one next to you—linen is worth the investment.
Softness: The loosely woven flax linen has a gently burlap-like texture, which can be more pronounced on less-expensive sets. Linen gets softer and softer with every wash—and at this point, plenty of brands pre-wash their sheets before they even make it to your doorstep to get the process started. Still, our testers found real differences between sets, some of which comes down to taste. Reviewers noted when some sheets felt particularly coarse, or denser, or lighter and looser.
Quality: Compared to cotton, linen is hardier and should last longer—but we're still expecting the best linen sheets to survive years of washes without shedding too much lint or losing color. Thread count is irrelevant in most sheets, and particularly so for linen—the open weave is why they're so breathable, according to certified sleep coach Daniel Neyod. The other fabric-measuring factor—GSM, or grams-per-square-meter, a measure of the fabric's density—is mildly more useful. About 160 GSM is the average for linen sheets. A higher number will be cozier and less airy; lower means lighter and more breathable.
Style: Linen sheets tend to come in more colors than cotton sets—even if it's just more variations of gray (which, no shame in a monochrome game). We made sure what was shown on our screens matched what came in the box. Also, you linen suit owners know this, but linen loves to wrinkle. In both cases that's just part of the charm, but the hyper-fastidious bed makers putting hospital corners on their top sheets might need to channel some Zen acceptance. Waking up on a gloriously rumpled bed on a lazy Sunday morning is a nice shortcut to appreciating linen's vibe.
Below, some of the best linen sheets we've ever tested, perfect for surviving summer and sleeping soundly throughout the year. After putting these on your bed, you may only need to expose one leg to the air.
The Best Linen Sheets Overall: The Citizenry
Linen sheets are notoriously expensive, especially compared to cotton options, but the Citizenry somehow delivers under-$300 linen sheets (queen set) that feel like a steal. From jump, the pre-washed sheets are soft (though give them a tumble in the washer and dryer first), woven to a Goldilocks 160 GSM that's not too light and dainty or too thick and coarse. There's a gentle nap to the fabric that just feels nice against the skin. Something else that feels nice: The Citizenry is known for working with under-represented artisans around the world—in this case, its linen sheets are made in partnership with Portugal-based Machado Linen Mill, a family-owned business that’s been around since 1921.
We love the color and pattern options, and the quality: after a year of having these, one tester said he appreciated how the sheets have retained their color, only gotten softer, and shed less lint. One note: The Citizenry's linen sheets are designed to fit a thicker mattress, so they can seem baggy and a little sloppy if yours is on thinner side.
The Best Luxe Linen Sheets: Cultiver
The rise of linen bedding has led to specialists that only make linen sheets, and Cultiver's risen to the top of the flax-focused heap. The brand's lusciously soft sheets really feel a cut above in terms of softness and quality. Though they're pricier than almost all the other picks on this list, Cultiver's threads are qualitatively the nicest we've slept on: pre-washed for a gentle smoothness that would take other brands years of washing and wearing in to achieve, without any breakdown in quality. Plus the brand offers great colors, including a few great patterns. All of which is why we anointed Cultiver's linen sheet set with a Sleep Award this year.
The Best Silky-Smooth Linen Sheet: Parachute
If the texture of rougher-hewn linen feels like sandpaper to you, Parachute's Portugal-made fine flax sheets will change your tune. Straight out the gate, they feel like high-quality, “leave out for guests” linens—and they only get softer after you toss them in the wash a couple times (without wearing down or shrinking in the dryer). They're a little pricier and slightly less breathable than the set from Cultiver above, but Parachute has a broader range of colors (a dozen) and mattress sizes (including full). And that softness might be the real difference-maker.
The Best Organic Linen Sheets: Coyuchi
Okay, breathe—we know there's some sticker shock. But Coyuchi's linen sheets back up the price with both an elevated quality and some real morality. A 185 GSM weight puts them on the denser end of the spectrum, but somehow without sacrificing breathability. Also a factor: these 100-percent-organic sheets support sustainable farming, while being produced without toxic materials that harm your body and the environment.
Despite the extra heft, these don't feel suffocating in the hotter summer months. The heftier construction is probably why reviewers, some of whom have had this bedding for years, shout out the Coyuchi sheets' longevity. And when yours do hit the end of their lifespan, you can return them to the brand for 15 percent off your next purchase, with your old set getting recycled and resold at a discount through 2nd Home Renewed.
The Best Hybrid Linen Sheets: Kassatex
Clean sheet day is a minor holiday in all households—but that feeling of a fresh top sheet hitting your body really hits home with Kassatex's set. The hybrid linen-bamboo blend used in the sheets is cooler to the touch than pure linen and almost weightless, feeling like it almost floats over you even after airy a dozen side-to-side flips and exposed leg swaps. They're incredily smooth and almost…bouncy? The trade-off for using bamboo to dial out linen's coarseness is that bamboo loves to wrinkle even more than linen. But the wrinkles are more Instagram-lifestyle-influencer messy than teen-boy's-bedroom-messy. Heads-up: the brand only offers its sheets in king and queen sizes, for whatever reason.
The Best Linen Sheets For Big Beds: Snowe
Snowe makes our favorite cotton sheets, and it turns out the brand's pretty good at linen, too, making some of the airiest sheets we've experienced. They’re a little too thin for anywhere that gets a winter, but so light and gentle in summer, when you're wearing the top sheet like a loin cloth, and absolutely perfect for those shoulder season temps when the window's open but the ACs not on
One nit to pick: Snowe's fitted sheet has "generous sizing" to accommodate any mattress's depth. That's great for people with a plush mattress, but tends to lead to bunching and slipping if your mattress isn't on the beefier side. Also, we've seen some buyers frustrated by a long delivery time, probably caused by supply chain issues. If you need your linen yesterday, we'd suggest The Citizenry's sheets.
The Best All-Season Linen Sheets: Tuft & Needle
We've previously crowned this Tuft & Needle set as the best budget linen sheets out there, though the brand seems to have recently hiked the price of a sheet bundle to $260 for a queen size, bringing it in line with the rest of the direct-to-consumer linen market. Even still, you're looking at some of the softest pre-washed linen sheets out there—with a durable weave for keeping in the linen closet for years and years. Though still airier than anything in cotton, they're less breathable than the sets above—which might be just what you're looking for if you've been put off by gauzy linen, or you're trying to thread the needle between one hot sleeper and one cold sleeper. That said, sets from Kassatex and Parachute might be better for summer.
The Best Budget Linen Sheets: Quince
Quince is a fresh arrival on the direct-to-consumer scene, swearing that it can make high-quality products at eyeball-opening prices. And it's no bedding specialist—Quince makes everything from leather jackets to luggage. Its linen sheet set costs a fraction of most other options on this list, and manages to be soft (after an initial wash) and breathable (as linen should be). But we found it pills a little more easily than other linen sheet sets, both from natural wear-and-tear and through washer-dryer cycles. The linen is more sheer, too—you can see the mattress through the fitted sheet, though ordering a darker color helps. (And for the record, Quince offers 20 excellent color and pattern options for its linen sheets.) We wouldn't expect a long lifespan, but at this price and quality, Quince's offering is perfect for dipping your toe into the linen waters or kitting out a guest room.
The Best Patterned Linen Sheets: Brooklinen
Brooklinen's linen sheets are soft and gentle, even after one wash, and as bright white as a freshly unbagged Hanes tee. They fit on a queen mattress like a dream, and lend your bed that cozy influencer-laughing-and-drinking-coffee-in-bed aesthetic we all both hate and desire. It helps that the brand offers lots of colors and patterns, plus seasonable drops that poke at the “collect 'em all” parts of your brain.
Brooklinen's sheets aren't quite as free-breathing as other sets, which might be fine if you're not aggressively hunting down the coolest sheet sets possible. A more universally annoying issue: we found these to be incredibly linty after the first wash, with the fuzzballs only abating after the fourth or fifth wash.
4 Other Linen Sheet Sets We Like
Riley's linen sheets emerged as an early favorite for us, setting the benchmark for how supremely soft and lightweight linen could be. We found that they felt remarkably similar to Parachute's linens, but Parachute earned the tiebreaker for having a far greater size and color range. Currently, the Riley linen is only available for queen and king sizes, and in only four shades. But they are nice!
Sijo's a relative newcomer to the bedding scene, and it's aiming to make some of the best cooling bedding, from comforters to pillows to sheets. Its linen sheets are made from high quality French flax linen in small batches and come in a decent range of colors, from neutrals to pastels and stripes. They're pre-washed and pre-shrunk, too. The sheets we tried were slightly rougher than other picks on this list, and not the airiest either—according to Sijo, these sheets are less temperature-regulating than its eucalyptus or Tencel sheet options. But we did appreciate how polished they look on a freshly made bed, and the brand's commitment to sustainably sourcing its fibers.
You won't find the best sheets on Amazon, but you can buy perfectly good sheets on Amazon. As proof, Simple & Opulence offers a fairly solid linen sheet set at a Bezos-pleasing price. Partly that's because they're made from a linen-cotton blend. Still, nearly 1,700 reviews have shouted out these sheets as being soft, breathable, and comfortable. As one shopper lauds: “The wrinkles smooth out easily and the comfort is second to none. Best sheets ever and well worth the price. I'm so pleased that i'm ordering again.”
We stan truth in advertising. Somewhere between the brand's name and the sheet set's name sits the truth: the linen is thick and has a texture on the coarser end of the spectrum. But you can test drive before you commit, because Rough Linen will kindly send you a free sample of the material so you can make sure its what you're looking for. You don't have many color options (just six), but we like that you can buy the bedding a la carte—in case, say, you just need a new flat sheet. Also nice: the fitted sheet comes in both standard and deep options for 14- and 19-inch tall mattresses.
What are the best linen sheets to buy?
If you've made it this far, you've seen the best of what's on the market, and should have a pretty solid idea of what goes into a quality, comfy set of linen sheets. It can be hard to choose when you can't get hands-on with the goods, but much of the decision-making process is an exercise in weighing what's most important: wildly soft or super airy? Extremely stylish or intensely cooling? So here are some quick links, in case you're still undecided.
The Nicest Linen Sheets Overall
The Best Linen Sheets Under $300
The Best Cheap Linen Sheets
The Most Stylish Linen Sheets
The Best Cooling Linen Sheets
