Sheets again - any help?

Question

Our biggest and really only problem with the STR business is the sheet issue. We've tried the ones recommended the last time this thread went around with little luck. Kohls, Amazon, expensive, cheap....the last ones we bought (Amazon) were pretty pricey and advertised as 'wrinkle free' with thousands of good reviews. We washed them before using and they came unraveled the first wash. There have to be a good quality sheets out there.

We really don't want to have to iron every time either. Any favorites for you guys?

We really don't want to have to iron every time either. Any favorites for you guys?

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Bruce Woodruff, so we have been using the Kohl's Big One sheets in white. 70/30 cotton/poly blend. They have been awesome. They are going on 5 years now and still look good. They wash great, never pill and I can get any stain out of them. Plus they have top/bottom/side labels so it is easy to put them on quickly.

What you might be experiencing is the sateen weave problem. Sateen is softer, but it will pill like mad, stretch and look terrible after a few months.

The ones we use are percale weave. It is much tougher but not quite as soft. They are crisp sleeping.

Like @Robert Gilstrap said, the commercial stuff is great. Martex, Standard Textile etc. The Kohl's units are very similar to commercial brands without the huge cost. When they go on sale, the cost about $30 for queen and $35 for king. I buy one or two each time and now I have a ton of them to swap around.

Here is the link - https://www.kohls.com/product/...

Kohl's has a ton of sheet sets but these are the ones. 275 TC. People are quite whiny about the softness. I have never had a complaint. I washed ours 2x before putting them on.

Sheet washing - NEVER use bleach in the wash. Bleach binds to the body oils and make them yellow and stiff. Use Lysol Sanitizer instead. I do use bleach after washing to spot treat anything that got left behind stainwise.

There are some comments about stains not coming out, but I am guessing they don't use a premium detergent. We only use Persil and Tide. I can count on one hand the times I have had to spot bleach a stain on a sheet/pillow case.

Also, the sets only come with 2 pillowcases and they take the brunt of the wear. We bought bulk commercial pillowcases from eBay. The sellers there will break up the 144 count bundles that commercial sellers usually require you to buy into more manageable numbers. 12/24/36 etc. We have 4 pillows on each bed so extras is a good thing.

Robert Gilstrap · Answer

@Bruce Woodruff are you not buying commercial hotel sheets? If not, you will continue to have problems. 80/20 cotton blend and they aren't cheap but they last. We buy ours from Standard textile which supplies many national hotel chains. If you want cheaper than posted prices from them join HostGPO as they have pre-negotiated pricing. Also you will have to get used to buying in bulk since sheets get much more expensive when not buying by the case.

Towels on the other hand we have begun migrating to Costco brand hospitality towels which are about what I am already paying with Standard textile but available quickly and sometimes even better quality.

Robert Gilstrap · Answer

@Michael Baum  yeah I would love to test some Kohls sheets myself if for no other reason to have an emergency backup (especially in light of recent supply chain issues). I think our problems are two fold with consumer marketed sheets.

1. We only use standard size pillows on all bed sizes so any consumer sheets they always come with king size pillow cases (depending on bed size) and those would end up going in the trash.

2. We do double sheeting on all our beds which means one fitted then a flat then the duvet, then another flat sheet much like what hotels do and of course consumer sheets never comes with two flat sheets so I'm stuck again unless I buy in major bulk and just move the sheets around to make  up a full "set" from what I bought.

One thing I do like about commercial sheets is ours come pre-washed so no washing once they arrive and a huge thing is that commercial sheets have a tracer thread woven into the hem to quickly identify sheet size (i.e. blue thread = king, green = queen, etc.) so the housekeepers know what they have in their hands but more importantly for the staff sorting sheets when they are laundered. Sounds like a small thing but it is crazy important when you have 1,000 lbs. of sheets being washed in bulk and they have to be sorted, folded and stacked quickly.

Michael Baum · Answer

@Robert Gilstrap, yeah I see why you need to go a different way. I didn't really think about pillows all standard until after we did all the buying. In retrospect, I might have gone that way.

For the identifier of sheet size, I just took a sharpie and put a K and a Q on the sheet tags. I hate getting fooled. :)

Paul Sandhu · Answer

We won't get fooled again.

Aaron Oetting · Answer

@Paul Sandhu  I use the microfiber from goodhostshop.com

John Bartlett · Answer

One thing I'll tell everyone here DO NIT USE FABRIC SOFTENER, it will destroy the fabric. I learned this from hotel operators. I've been told it's 25-50 less life of the items being washed.

Tanner Sherman · Answer

To be honest we have had the best luck with walmart sheets. We are able to get different color for each bed size, and haven't had any issues with staining or wrinkling so long as we put them right on the bed when the dryer cycle is done. I prefer to have two sets of sheets so we can put the second set on while the first is washing, plus keeping them folded between stays helps with the wrinkling as well.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Thanks, you guys! Seems like there is no single answer....I will try Kohls again for starters....

Matt M. · Answer

@Bruce Woodruff

Just use the disposable paper like at the doctors office. Hahaha

Sheets again - any help?

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