Our Favorite Linen Sheets to Upgrade Your Summer Sleep
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I fell in love with linen bedding years ago. I bought a bright yellow linen duvet I was certain would bring my bedroom together. The yellow was just a phase, but sleeping on linen just clicked. Linen has a rougher texture and a lived-in look, which can turn some folks off from sleeping on it. But the fabric is breathable and dries fast, so you'll stay cooler as you sleep and avoid sweaty sheets. (That's why linen apparel is popular in the summer.)
Linen is also strong and durable, softening up (slowly) after each wash without becoming thinner or weaker. Linen tends to be more expensive, and since high-quality linen will last a long time, a linen sheet set is an investment not only in staying cool as you sleep (which is very important for sleep quality) but also in gorgeous bedding you can enjoy for years.
I love sleeping on linen so long as it isn't too scratchy, which is one of the many things I looked for while testing and searching for the best linen sheets. I also looked for breathability and airflow, the weight of the sheets, and any other texture or temperature issues beyond linen's infamous scratchiness. I also researched where each maker sources their linen from and where it's produced (which can impact both the quality and the price point). These are the best linen sheets I've slept on, all having been tested for at least seven nights and at least two washes. I always wash sheets before my first night of testing, and I tend to rotate my sheets every few nights. (All prices in this guide are for queen size sheets.)
Read our Best Sheets guide if you want something a little softer, and check out our other bedding buying guides, including the Best Pillows, Best Mattresses, Best Cooling Mattresses, and whether you need a duvet.
Updated August 2024: We've added testing notes about The Company Store's linen sheets, plus more details about linen weight for all the picks in our guide.
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What’s So Great About Linen?
Linen is a woven fabric made from flax plants. It's a highly breathable material, so it keeps you cool during the summer months as it doesn't trap heat. It's great for people who sleep hot. It's rougher at first than a simple cotton sheet set, but it should soften up the more it’s washed. Linen often has a higher price than other sheets, but it’s generally more durable than percale or other cotton weaves, so a good sheet set should last a long time.
It's not for everyone, but if you love linen apparel, you’ll probably love linen sheets. If you’re unsure, start with a single piece (like a duvet or flat sheet) and see what you think. Most of the options we recommend come in a linen set, but you can also buy many of these pieces separately, allowing you to try a linen pillowcase or fitted sheet before wading into a full-on linen bed.
- Photograph: Nena Farrell
Our Favorite Linen Sheets
The Citizenry Stonewashed Linen Sheet SetThe Citizenry’s linen sheets are my Goldilocks linen. They're lightweight and breathable but still have a nice drape and are some of the softest sheets I’ve slept on in testing (though still not as soft as other kinds of sheets). These have it all: a great combination of softness and breathability and lots of gorgeous color options, and the company even sells parts of the set separately if you need to replace the pillowcases or a fitted sheet.
They’re cool enough for warm nights but not so cool that I wouldn’t use them year-round. Linen is graded by weight, rather than thread count, and these sheets are in the medium range of weight with 160 grams per square meter (g/sm). It's just barely in the medium range, which is usually 150 to 300 g/sm. These sheets are also OEKO-Tex certified, meaning they have been tested for harmful substances and have been deemed harmless. The Citizenry's sheets are made with French flax (more on that below in Decoding Your Linen) and processed in Portugal. Fun fact: The mill employed to make these has been manufacturing linens since 1921!
Includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases.
- Photograph: Nena Farrell
Lighter, Cooling Linen
Pottery Barn Belgian Flax Linen Sheet SetPottery Barn's linen sheets are super airy and lightweight, more so than any other linen I tested. The top sheet felt like it was floating over me as I slept, even though I had a comforter sitting on top of it. While a touch stiff, these sheets have that linen texture without feeling scratchy on my skin. They are comfortable, and I slept fantastic with these and a comforter in the spring weather. Pottery Barn's linen sheets are also cooling without having that icy touch other kinds of cooling sheets (like bamboo or treated nylon) tend to have. If you sleep warm, get these. They also come in tons of fun colors to choose from.
Like The Citizenry's linen, these Pottery Barn sheets also have a weight of 160 g/sm, but the design is more breathable than The Citizenry's. Pottery Barn's linen sheets source flax from Belgium—thus the Belgian Flax name—but the sheets are processed outside Europe. Still, the sheets have been tested to meet the OEKO-Tex standard like the majority of our picks, and the company claims it is also made in a Fair Trade Certified factory, ensuring proper working conditions for laborers.
Includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases.
- Photograph: Nena Farrell
Extra Soft and Splurge-Worthy
Cultiver Linen Sheet SetIf you told me Cultiver's sheets weren't linen, I would almost believe you. My husband certainly would—I asked him what he thought of the new sheets after changing them from one of his favorite soft sateen sets, and he replied, “You changed the sheets?” He had no idea we were sleeping on linen.
Cultiver’s linen has a softness from the beginning, which you usually don't find in linen. They’re the softest linen I’ve ever tried. It also felt silky and a little cooling to the touch, which isn't typical of linen until it's been through several washes. It's slightly heavier than my other favorites, coming in at a weight of 165 g/sm. Cultiver's linen has several colors you can peruse and everything is sold separately if you want to try one item or need to replace a pillowcase.
The only downside is the price; such soft linen doesn't come cheap. Cultiver sources the flax for its linen in Europe, and has manufacturing partners in Portugal and China.
Includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases. Has options to buy pieces individually.
- Photograph: Quince
Best Affordable Linen
Quince European Linen Sheet SetQuince's linen sheets are pretty soft in regards to linen, and have a much lower price point than other linen we've tested. But these sheets run a little warmer, even though the weight is only 150 g/sm. If you don't feel like you're a particularly hot sleeper but want linen, it's a safe bet. You can return them for free within a year, too, which is nice.
Quince also has a bamboo-linen blend set ($150), which I also really like. It's an even better price than the linen-only set and feels a little silkier than other linen while maintaining some of the weight and stiffness of linen sheets. I found it a little more cooling than heavier linen too, even though it's a little heavier at 170 g/sm.
Quince's sheets source flax from Europe, but produce their sheets in China and India. They're also OEKO-Tex certified.
Includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases.
- Photograph: Ikea
An Affordable Linen Duvet
Ikea Dytag Linen Duvet CoverBefore trying linen sheets, I used a linen duvet cover for years and loved it. Ikea’s Dytag duvet served me well—it's soft and light to the touch and keeps me cool while I sleep. It got softer after years of use too. The butter yellow shade is no more, but there are still a couple of colors to choose from, and it comes with two pillowcases. It's great for hot summers if you need help staying cool, especially since a duvet cover can replace your top sheet. Ikea also has matching Dytag linen sheets ($139) which we haven't tried yet.
Make sure to pair it with the right size comforter or else you might find it won't stay centered in this lightweight duvet. Ikea's linen is a little more affordable than others since the flax is sourced from a variety of places; the brand says the materials are sourced from France, China, and Belgium, while it's produced in China, Pakistan, and India.
Includes a duvet cover and two pillowcases.
- Photograph: Avocado
An Organic Option
Avocado Organic Linen SheetsIf you have an organic mattress, you might as well get organic bedding to complement it, since the sheets are what will directly touch your skin. It can also be a nice way to go organic when you can't afford an entire mattress.
Avocado makes our favorite organic mattress, and they make linen sheets, too. WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson says these 130 g/sm linen sheets are some of the heaviest he's tried, and this set will likely last you many years. Plus, there's a matching duvet cover ($439).
Avocado's linen sheets are certified organic by the Global Organic Textile Standard, generally abbreviated as GOTS. Avocado sources its linen materials from France, and produces these sheets in India.
Includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases.
Photograph: BrooklinenHonorable Mentions
More Linen We LikeNot all sheets are created equal. The linens below are good but not as great as our picks above.
- Casaluna Linen Blend Sheet Set for $105: These sheets aren't soft, but have a hefty weight that makes them feel luxurious. They're warm though—I felt warmer sleeping on these than the ones above and sateen sheets. Still, they're a good price, but they are a blend rather than 100 percent linen.
- Brooklinen Washed Linen Core Set for $271: These sheets feel a little itchy at the start compared to our other picks, and felt a little warm to sleep on, too. They're still good linen sheets, though, and often have new colors available. (Seasonal colorways do sell out fast, though.)
- The Company Store Legends Hotel Linen Bed Sheet Set for $327: These sheets are surprisingly smooth for a linen sheet. They felt as cooling as my favorite Pottery Barn set, but The Company Store said they're replacing the line early next year. We'll update this guide with notes on the new version once it's out.
- Naturepedic Linen Sheet Set ($550): This set has a nice weight to it while still being cool to sleep on, but it wasn't as soft as our other picks. It has a ton of options to buy individual linen pieces, comes in great colors, and is GOTS certified organic.
Photograph: The CitizenryHow to Care for Linen
Linen Care TipsIf you want your linen to last for years, you have to take care of it. Our preferred way is to wash with cold water and mild detergent. Line-drying is the best option for getting the longest life. Make sure you check the tag and follow the wash instructions, since some makers might have specific recommendations. You should also wash any sheets you buy before you sleep on them, and washing linen will help start to soften them up—remember, it takes a while for softening to happen!
I already break one of the rules we recommend—I tumble dry all of my linen and have done so for years with fine results since I don't have space to line dry. But if you use a dryer, expect to clean up a lot of lint. With every set I've tried, the lint tray gets super full, and some sheets like Quince's filled the lint trap so much that it started to overflow.
Photograph: CultiverDecoding Your Linen
Linen Terminology TimeYou'll often see terms like “Belgian flax” and “European linen” used to describe various linens. Some of these are in the name, some aren't—Pottery Barn's sheets are named Belgian flax, while The Citizenry's sheets mention that they're French flax but sustainably made in Portugal. So what does it all mean? Which is best?
Europe has a long history of growing flax and making linen, which is what linen sheets are made of. It's a preferred source, particularly Belgium and France, which is why some sheets will call out those countries specifically. But according to World Linen, there isn't a huge difference among European countries—it's mostly a marketing tactic. You'll likely be just as happy with any European source of linen, and there is a European Linen certification sheets can receive to confirm that's where they're sourced from.
Having Europe in the name doesn't necessarily mean it was made there, though. After the flax is grown, it needs to be processed, spun, and woven into sheets, which may or may not happen in Europe. Some companies use the term “Belgian flax” or “European flax” to signify that the flax is from that area, but it wasn't processed there. Some companies make sheets in other European countries, like The Citizenry's Portugal-made sheets, while other makers might do production outside of Europe, like Quince, which processes its sheets in China and India.
Another term you might see when shopping for linen is something like “woven to 160 g/sm” on a product page for linen. This describes the weight of the linen and fabric. It's similar to silk, which also describes itself in weight rather than thread count to give you a more accurate idea of how heavy the sheets will be. The rule of thumb with linen weight is that under 150 g/sm is light, between 150 and 300 g/sm is medium, and anything over 300 is heavy.
Weight is also something that shouldn't change about linen: It'll get softer over time, but it won't get lighter. If you have a preference for a certain weight of sheets, you can see whether these details are included to find out exactly what you're buying.
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