As you can imagine, this isn’t necessarily an indicator of quality. In fact, many companies end up weaving multiple pieces together when the original source of the material isn’t strong enough to stand up on its own. They reinforce it by combining pieces of yarn! Higher-thread-count sheets are made with finer (thinner) yarns. The more yarns that fit into a square inch, the smoother, denser, and more durable the fabric. Gopinath said a 250 to 300 thread count was optimal (there’s wiggle room, though, as Maher said 200 was also good). It is calculated by adding together the numbers of lengthwise (warp) and widthwise (weft) threads within a certain area. For example, a cotton sheet with 100 warp threads and 100 weft threads in each square inch of fabric would have a listed thread count of 200. Sateen sheets, meanwhile, offer a silker, glossier appearance, although for this you may forfeit some of the light airiness associated with percale. The finer weaving of sateen means a thread count in the region of 300 to 600 is ideal for this refined fabric.

Preethi Gopinath, director of the Textiles MFA program at Parsons and one of the writers of our cotton sheets guide, and Shannon Maher, chairperson and assistant professor of the Home Products Development department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, both weighed in on the best thread counts for each weave: Cotton grown in Egypt often produces longer, finer yarns versus regular cotton," says Farah Arshad, Head of Product at bedding brand Dusk. "Generally speaking, the longer the threads, the better the softness and the drape of the material when woven into bed linen." The perks of Egyptian cotton beddingIt should also be noted that many popular bed linen materials are not measured in thread counts at all. Silk, for example, is assessed by momme, a Japanese measurement which indicates the weight in pounds of a given fabric measuring 45 inches by 100 yards. If the sheets aren't 100% cotton with single-ply weaves, chances are thread counts are either misleading or irrelevant. Here's why thread count doesn't matter for other materials:

When thinking about the best thread count for sheets, it’s important to remember an age-old saying: Quality over quantity. The quality of the yarns or threads used is often more important than the quantity of threads, or thread count. Judging from our testing experience, we think those ranges are pretty spot-on. In our cotton sheets guide, our favorite percale set ( L.L.Bean’s 280-Thread-Count Pima Cotton Percale Sheet Set) has a 280 thread count. Both of our top sateen recommendations (the JCPenney Home 400 TC Wrinkle Guard Sheet Set from JCPenney and Cuddledown's 400 Thread Count Cotton Sateen Bedding) are 400 thread count—which, incidentally, Maher noted was her ideal number for sateen. Jersey: Jersey is a type of knit that often uses cotton, but not always. The weight may vary somewhat depending on the material used. Many jersey cotton sheets are around 150 GSM.Thread count is a measure of the number of threads woven into one square inch of fabric. Essentially, it’s a measure of how tightly woven a fabric is. When it comes to sheets, you often hear thread count tossed around as a marker of quality. People will bristle at a 200 thread count sheet but moon over a four-figured counterpart. But what really is a thread count? In which contexts does thread count really matter? Read on for everything you need to know about thread counts for sheets. What does thread count mean? Even the print on sheets can indicate something about the quality of the fabric. Maher and Gopinath both told us that printed sheets were typically produced on lower-thread-count percale cotton to keep costs down. When manufacturers invest in a higher thread count for sheets, they don’t want to cover up that texture. “You want that to be the selling point,” Gopinath said. Print is “a cheap way of applying pattern,” Gopinath told us, an alternative to actually weaving a design into the fabric, like with a damask or jacquard. When it comes to thread count, most people forget that the quality of threads is far more important than the quantity." —Missy Tannen, co-founder of Boll & Branch Plain weave has the warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads evenly alternating. In satin weave the weft threads “float” over several warp threads (usually four) at a time, resulting in smoother and more lustrous fabric.

Quality, comfortable sheets can be found with thread counts ranging from 200 to 800 and beyond. There’s no magic number that is the perfect thread count. That being said, there are generally acceptable ranges for various kinds of quality sheets. Other constructions include flannel for winter and jersey-knit sheets, which feel more like a T-shirt. Though it comes down to personal preference, our testers tend to prefer the smooth feel of sateen. Of course, remember that thread count is not an end-all, be-all measurement. The quality of the yarns, the manufacturer’s production process, the weave type, and many other factors all contribute to the performance of a set of bed sheets. The type of fabric and its weave makes a difference in the best thread count. Percale is also known as “plain weave” with a simple one over, one under pattern, so average-quality percale sheets may be around 180-200 thread count. By contrast, a sateen weave has a more tightly woven pattern, so average-quality sateen sheets will be closer to 250-300.

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We recently tested a 1,400 thread count cotton/polyester sheet set that uses one of these techniques and (not surprisingly) it wasn't a top performer. Polyester does have its own selling points – it’s stronger, more wrinkle-resistant and less expensive than cotton – but it certainly doesn’t feel as luxurious as a natural fiber.

For soft, breathable bedding, cotton is the go-to choice for most. But did you know that thread count isn't the only factor when it comes to quality? In fact, the thread itself is also important — and Egyptian cotton bedding is widely regarded as some of the best. Flannel and knit fabrics: These are usually made with cotton, but you likely won’t come across thread counts for them. That’s because flannel sheets are sold by fabric weight and jersey-knit sheets have an entirely different construction than traditional woven sheets. In our tests, top-rated bed sheets often have thread counts between 300 and 500. Anything above 500 isn’t necessarily better (so don’t be deceived when you see thread counts over 1,500), and on the flip side, you can still find quality sheets with thread counts under 300. On top of that, even though our tests have shown that the 300 to 500 thread count range is a sweet spot, a sheet that falls into this range isn’t guaranteed to be high quality: Again, fiber content and construction are more important. When people talk about thread count, they’re talking about the number of horizontal and vertical threads woven into a singular square inch of material. Essentially, it’s how densely the fabric is populated with thread. A lower thread count means there are fewer threads, a higher thread count means the bed linen is rich with individual threads.

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Gopinath told us a 400 to 500 thread count for percale could reflect a denser sheet made of fine, good-quality yarns. Over 500 was “not necessary or likely,” she said. Fiber content. 100% cotton is the most popular, and there are premium (i.e. “long-staple”) cottons, like Egyptian and Pima, that make the fabric even softer and more durable. Just keep in mind that these sheets may be more expensive, and there have been instances where brands mislabel regular cotton sheets as Egyptian. Thread count is used as a rough indicator of the softness and feel of a fabric. It’s also used heavily in marketing to imply that a specific product is of a higher quality than competing sheets. While this is all true to a certain extent, thread count is far from the only consideration when it comes to the overall quality of a set of sheets. Silk: Measured in momme. Momme is a measure of weight that looks for the number of pounds in a piece of silk that is 45 inches by 100 yards. Look for silk sheets around the 17-22 momme range.