Sateen Sheets for luster, softness and durability

When I put my new Antique Floral comforter set on my bed, my favorite blue and white striped sheets clashed terribly with the beige and burgundy floral pattern. This just won't do, I thought to myself. I knew Sears had sheets on their clearance rack but I didn't feel like wasting the gasoline to search at the mall again. So I went to Sears on-line to search for matching sheets for my new comforter.

I started my search by looking up the comforter model I had just purchased, and wouldn't you know, they had matching sheets for it right on the same page. Holy cow! Matching 350 thread count full-size 100% cotton sateen sheets for $11? Are you kidding me? My finger immediately clicked on the "Buy" button, and I received my new matching bed sheets from Sears three days later.

What is so special about these $11 sheets that I didn't even think twice about buying them? Well, I'll tell you. I won't buy percale sheets anymore because they're often made with polyster threads in the blend, and polyester is what makes the sheets pill up after they've been laundered a few times. Natural fibers shrink in the wash while polyester doesn't, and that's the primary cause of pilling fabrics. Pilling sheets is one of my major product pet peeves. So it's 100% cotton for me all the way, whether it's American cotton or Egyptian cotton.

I won't buy anything less than 350 to 400 thread count in the weave because anything looser in the weave just is not as durable over time. A good 400 count fabric feels thicker to the touch, stronger, and is less likely to tear easily when you're tugging on that elastic to fit the bottom sheet over your deep pocket mattress corners. And I won't purchase sheets beyond a 600 thread count because they're just too expensive with no particular extra durability value to the extra-tight thread count.

Sateen refers to the type of weave that was used to make the cotton sheets that gives them a satiny sheen once they've been used for awhile. Sateen sheets are comfortably cool for me to sleep with in the summers, and I tend to prefer fuzzy flannel sheets for the winters for their added warmth.

And the $11 sale price was just icing on my cake because bed sheets of this quality normally retail for about $30. And that's why I didn't think twice about paying the price.