Better Homes And Gardens Flannel Sheets
A good set of flannel sheets should be so cozy that you want to stay in bed all day—if it's not hard to leave them on a cold morning, they're not doing their job. After 145 hours of research and tests of 14 sets, our favorite is still L.L.Bean's Ultrasoft Comfort Flannel Sheet Set. They're among the softest and toastiest sheets we've tried, they last for years, and they won't break the bank.
Our pick
The high-quality, long-staple cotton of L.L.Bean's Ultrasoft Comfort Flannel sheets stays soft over many seasons—we've used and loved these sheets for years. Made with Portuguese flannel (the softest in our testing), the Ultrasoft Comfort sheets are of better quality—but cost much less—than many high-end sets we've tried. These sheets are warm but not too heavy, and they didn't cause our testers to overheat. They also come with L.L.Bean's famous customer service and one-year return policy.
Budget pick
Target's Threshold Flannel Sheet Set costs about a quarter of the price of our top pick, from L.L.Bean. And though the Threshold sheets may not last as long, they're still a fantastic deal and will definitely keep you warm. These sheets aren't as soft as the L.L.Bean Ultrasoft Comfort sheets, and in long-term testing they pilled more. But they performed better than many expensive sets we've tried, including those from Boll & Branch and Riley. The Threshold sheets come in fun colors and prints, which vary from year to year but are typically more modern than those from L.L.Bean. Target carries these sheets only for winter, and the prints sell out often. Target does restock them throughout the season, but if you see a pattern you like, don't wait to buy it.
Upgrade pick
If you want the softest flannel sheets we've found and don't mind paying more for them, we recommend the L.L.Bean Premium Supima Flannel Sheets. They're almost twice the price of the L.L.Bean Ultrasoft Comfort sheets, but in our tests they were the softest sheets overall. The Supima sheets are beautifully constructed from Portuguese flannel, like the Ultrasofts, but the fabric is thicker and an ounce weightier per yard, with minimal shrinkage and pilling. We've been long-term testing them since 2016, and they're still plush, warm, and cozy. The Premium Supima sheets are pricey, but they're a great investment.
Everything we recommend
Our pick
Budget pick
Upgrade pick
Why you should trust us
As a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, I've written many of our bedding guides, including those on cotton sheets, duvet covers, blankets, pillows, and pajamas. I'm also a quilter with several published patterns and more than a decade of experience working with fabrics. For the original guide, in 2016, I spoke with Shannon Maher, chairperson and assistant professor in the Home Products Development department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and a former product designer for The Company Store. She gave me tips on what to look for in flannel sheets. In the years since, I've read hundreds of user reviews, tested and re-tested some of our picks, and scouted emerging brands for new flannel sets worth trying. I know good-quality construction, how to test fabrics for wear and tear, and how to spot the best.
Who should buy flannel sheets
Flannel sheets are ideal for cold weather—the fuzzy fabric insulates well and doesn't get that icy chill in cold weather. And they're not only for deep winter. Flannel is good for anyone who sleeps cold, no matter the time of year. If you overheat easily or like cooler sheets year-round, stick with one of the percale or sateen options from our cotton sheets guide.
Determining the quality of flannel bed sheets
The Fashion Institute of Technology's Shannon Maher defines flannel as a woven fabric that is napped, or brushed, to create a soft and fuzzy surface that helps trap warm air. Maher says that true flannel is napped on both sides; if it's napped on just one side, like most of the budget sets I've tested, it's a flannelette. Flannel quality is measured by weight in ounces per square yard of fabric; this is unlike the way quality is measured in regular cotton sheets, which is by thread count. Good flannel is at least 5 ounces—a 6-ounce flannel is considered warmer, and it's usually more expensive.
Quality is also affected by the type and size of the yarn. Maher told us that for most low-end and mid-level fabrics, manufacturers use yarns with thicker fibers, to withstand the aggressive napping process. Finer flannel costs more and is noticeably softer because it requires using expensive, higher-end napping machines that have a lighter touch. Maher notes that fine flannel is also made with longer fibers, and this adds strength. Some manufacturers of fine flannel trim the raised fibers, which makes the fabric smoother and less likely to pill. Portugal and Germany are the two biggest producers of flannel fabrics, and both Maher and our staff prefer Portuguese flannel, which has been softer and less stiff in our testing.
How we picked and tested
After talking to an expert, reading hundreds of reviews, and spending nearly 145 hours researching and testing flannel sheets since 2016, I believe these are the criteria that make for the best flannels:
Warmth: The main benefit of flannel sheets is their warmth. If they can't check that box, they're just not worth owning. In testing, I've found that more expensive flannels that are napped on both sides are warmer than budget flannels, which are often flannelette (napped on only one side). But it is possible to find affordable sheets that will keep your toes toasty.
Softness: The best flannel sheets feel soft and fuzzy out of the package and will continue to feel that way after many washes. In all of my bedding tests, I've found that sheets made with long-staple cotton are the softest and the strongest, and many of the sets we've considered and recommended are long-staple.
Washability: A good-quality flannel sheet set will stop shedding after a few washes and will have minimal pilling during its lifetime (although some pilling is inevitable). Because of the napping process, Maher told me, all flannel will eventually pill. The effect is amplified on sheets because people toss and turn at night, which creates more friction on the surface. I've tested sets that pill so much that it affects their softness, or that shed so much they feel too thin.
Using these three attributes as a yardstick, I began research in 2016. I looked at brands that performed well in our cotton sheets guide to see if they offered flannel, informally polled friends about their favorite flannel sheets, and looked closely at customer reviews on the sites of major retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Costco, Eddie Bauer, Garnet Hill, Lands' End, L.L.Bean, Target, and The Company Store. Every year since, I've identified new brands and flannel-sheet styles, bringing the best in for testing.
To test all flannel sheets, I measured them out of the package, washed and dried them once, and remeasured them to account for any shrinkage. I checked the seams for sturdiness by tugging on them and compared the feel of each set, noting which sheets were rough, dense, or extra-soft. My husband and I then spent a night sleeping on each set with the air temperature at 68 degrees Fahrenheit or lower—a necessary step to gauge warmth. We noted which sheets felt heavy, which sheets allowed for natural movement in the night, and which sheets kept us warm without making us sweat. After washing the sheets and sleeping on them, I also checked for any pilling. Then I washed and dried the top contenders a total of five times to determine wear. We've also now long-term tested our picks through several winters.
Our pick: L.L.Bean Ultrasoft Comfort Flannel Sheet Set
Our pick
I've tested a lot of sheets at Wirecutter, and no flannel set has ever come close to the L.L.Bean Ultrasoft Comfort Flannel Sheet Set for plush softness, affordability, and long-lasting quality. This set is one of the coziest and warmest sets I've found, and L.L.Bean's one-year return policy gives you an entire fall and winter (and then some) to test whether they're comfy for you. These sheets also come in a wider range of colors than our other picks.
The Ultrasoft Comfort set is one of the softest flannel sheet sets I've ever tried—only our upgrade pick, L.L.Bean's Premium Supima set, is softer. All of L.L.Bean's flannel is made in Portugal with long-staple cotton. The Ultrasoft Comfort sheets, which are made with a 5-ounce flannel, are thick, plush, and a joy to slide into on a cold night.
These sheets are also a bargain for their outstanding feel and tough-wearing construction. And the Ultrasoft Comfort sheets cost less than any other high-quality Portuguese flannel sets I've tried, including the L.L.Bean Premium Supima sheets, Boll & Branch's Flannel Sheet Set, Coyuchi Cloud Brushed Organic Flannel Sheet Set, Riley's Reversible Flannel Sheet Set, The Company Store's Velvet Cotton Flannel Collection, and Lands' End's 6oz Supima Flannel Sheet Set. You could pick up a queen set of the Ultrasofts and the matching flannel duvet cover and still spend less than you would on just a set of flannel sheets from many brands I've tried. The Ultrasofts would be softer, too.
Our original Ultrasoft Comfort set, from 2016, has survived years of winter wear-and-tear and many, many trips through the wash. I've slept on these sheets while fighting the flu, and my daughter and my dog have spent many chilly mornings snuggled between them. These sheets have shown minimal pilling, no sign of thin spots or threadbare areas, and no major discoloration—and the stitching is just as neat and secure as the day I took the sheets out of the package. In my 2016 testing, the Ultrasofts shrank less than most of the sets I tried (only the Lands' End 6oz Supima Flannel sheets and The Company Store's Velvet Cotton Flannel sheets fared better), and the flannels that I've tested since have all shrunk more.
The Ultrasoft sheets felt fantastic when I first crawled under the covers, warming up my toes almost instantly, but they've never made me sweat during the night. By contrast, the Lands' End sheets clung and caused overheating. Flannel sheets don't wick away moisture the way regular cotton sheets do, so night sweats are even more unpleasant. The Ultrasoft Comfort sheets are a 5-ounce flannel, and they're thinner than several sets I've tried. They're plenty warm, though, and their lighter weight makes them feel less oppressive to sleep under than sets like the stiff Garnet Hill and the ultra-warm flannels by The Company Store.
The Ultrasoft Comfort flannel sheets come with L.L.Bean's famously good one-year return policy, and they're available in nine solid colors as well as a range of prints. They're not the most modern-looking options, but for the quality and price, these sheets are still the best we've tried.
Budget pick: Target Threshold Flannel Sheet Set
Budget pick
Target's Threshold Flannel Sheet Set is a steal. The sheets are not quite as nice as our main pick, the Ultrasoft Comfort sheets, but a queen set costs about a quarter of the price. And the Thresholds are softer, cozier, and hold up better in the wash than a lot of the pricier sets we've tested, including those from popular brands like Boll & Branch and Riley.
The Threshold flannel is the best budget flannel I've ever tested, and these sheets are softer than the flannel sheets in some pricier sets I've tried, like Riley's Reversible Flannel Sheet Set (which costs a staggering seven times as much). The Threshold sheets stayed much softer after a trip through the laundry, and they shed less, too. (Target doesn't list the ounce-per-yard weight for these sheets.) Most of the Threshold colors and prints are 100 percent cotton, but a few use a blend of 80 percent cotton and 20 percent polyester. Generally anything with metallic threads or a heathered fabric is a blend. The Threshold sheets are brushed on only one side, so they're thinner than the Ultrasoft Comfort and Premium Supima sheets and not quite as warm, but they're still very toasty. They also shrank a little more than our other picks (about 4 percent, compared with roughly 2 percent for both L.L.Bean sets), but I've still had no problem tucking them in.
Target sells this flannel only in fall and winter, and the sheets are popular, so their stock isn't as reliable as that of our other picks. But the Threshold sheets are too good to not recommend. The solid colors and prints change from year to year, so if you see a look you like, grab it, even as a backup for when your L.L.Bean flannels are in the wash.
Upgrade pick: L.L.Bean Premium Supima Flannel Sheets
Upgrade pick
If you want luxurious flannel sheets that are cozier and plusher than our other picks, try the L.L.Bean Premium Supima Flannel Sheets. Although most of the flannels I've found provide that wonderful, toasty feeling when you first crawl into bed, L.L.Bean's Premium Supima sheets were so soft and comfy that I couldn't stop smiling and wiggling my toes against them. One of our deputy editors has been using a set for years, and she says they are still as soft as they were when new but that they do have some very minor pilling. "They continue to be my favorite for winter nights," she notes. These sheets also come with L.L.Bean's one-year return policy.
The Premium Supima set cost significantly more than our top pick, the L.L.Bean Ultrasoft Comfort flannels. But if you're a flannel aficionado and you want to splurge on a plush, high-end set, the Premium Supima sheets are better than anything I've tried, including pricier sets from luxury brands. The Company Store's Velvet Cotton Flannel bedding came the closest in softness and warmth, but those sheets felt very thick, like a blanket, and weren't as cozy. The Premium Supima sheets' flannel fabric is made in Portugal using Supima cotton, the highest-quality American-grown cotton. The Supima sheets' quality is higher than that of the Ultrasoft Comfort sheets. The Supimas are thicker and heavier (they're a 6-ounce flannel, compared with the 5-ounce Ultrasofts), and they shed much less in the dryer. In tug tests, the Premium Supima sheets' seams were also stronger than the Ultrasoft Comfort sheets' seams. After four years of use, both our Premium Supima and Ultrasoft Comfort sets have aged well, with very minor signs of wear. But, based on their quality, we think the Premium Supima sheets will last the longest of any sheets we recommend.
L.L.Bean offers these sheets in five solid-color options and two prints—fewer options than the Ultrasoft and Threshold sheets have. But if you're looking for long-lasting softness plus L.L.Bean's excellent customer service and return policy, the Premium Supimas are a fantastic upgrade.
Care and maintenance
With any bedding, how you wash and dry your sheets affects how long they will last, so follow the care instructions on each set. The recommended temperature is the hottest the sheets can take, but it's okay to go colder. The tags on most of the flannel sheets we tested recommend washing in cold water and drying on low. Drying sheets on low can take a really long time, but it will absolutely help with their longevity. If you're like me and you don't have the time or patience to wait for huge bed sheets to dry on low heat, just know that if you crank the temperature up to high, you could risk thinning the fabric.
The competition
We tested Coyuchi's Cloud Brushed Organic Flannel Sheet Set in 2020, and it washed well and felt warm and lovely to sleep on. The sheets weren't quite as soft as our older L.L.Bean Premium Supima set, though, and while the Coyuchi set is Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified, we think the L.L.Bean set is made with higher quality cotton that will last longer. The sheets also cost about $50 more for queen size. But if you don't mind the higher price, or value the GOTS certification over cotton quality, this is the next-best upgrade set we've tested.
The Company Store's Legends® Hotel Velvet Flannel Flat Sheet (previously known as their Velvet Cotton Flannel Collection) ran a close second to our upgrade pick, the L.L.Bean Premium Supima Flannel Sheets, in our original 2016 testing. We were comfortable and warm with the Velvet Cotton Flannel sheets alone, and no additional blankets—they are that thick and dense. But they aren't as soft and cozy as the L.L.Bean Premium Supima sheets, and they come with a shorter return policy (90 days). They're available in more colors than the L.L.Bean sheets, though.
Boll & Branch's Flannel Sheet Set comes in some lovely prints that are more modern than any of the L.L.Bean flannels. These sheets are extremely soft out of the package, but after they were washed, they weren't as smooth as the L.L.Bean Ultrasoft sheets, and they pilled more than any sheets we've ever tested. When we stripped the bed after spending a few nights on them, tufts of flannel fell all over the floor, enough that we had to get out the vacuum.
If you can't find the Target Threshold sheets and you want a budget set, Amazon's Pinzon Signature Heavyweight Cotton Velvet Flannel Sheet Set is the next-best choice. We made it our budget pick when the Target sheets were unavailable, and unlike the Threshold sheets, these are brushed on both sides. They're not as soft, warm, or cozy, though, so we prefer the Threshold sheets.
Bare Home's Cotton Flannel Sheet Set, another budget option, costs less than Amazon's Pinzon sheets and was pleasantly soft in our testing. But after one wash the sheets pilled a lot, and we're not confident they will last as long as the Target Threshold sheets.
Riley's Reversible Flannel Sheet Set is very expensive, and even though the sheets feel lovely out of the package, most of that softness disappears after a single wash. These sheets are thinner and less luxe than the Target Threshold Flannel Sheets, at an astronomically higher price.
Garnet Hill Signature Flannel Bedding is made with German flannel. In testing we preferred the softness of Portuguese flannel. These sheets shrank more in the wash than the L.L.Bean sets, and they didn't feel as good against the skin as the L.L.Bean or the Target Threshold flannels.
The budget-friendly Great Bay Home Stratton Collection Flannel Sheet Set from Bed Bath & Beyond comes in cute prints but they weren't warm (and they now seem discontinued).
Sources
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Shannon Maher, assistant professor and chairperson, Home Products Development department, Fashion Institute of Technology, interview
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Justin Sonfield, general manager, The Company Store, email interview
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Jon Shavel, co-owner and co-inventor of Micro Flannel, phone interview
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Sean Cormier, associate professor, assistant chair, Textile Development and Marketing department, Fashion Institute of Technology, email interview
About your guide
Jackie Reeve is a senior staff writer covering bedding, organization, and home goods at Wirecutter since 2015. Previously she was a school librarian, and she's been a quilter for about 15 years. Her quilt patterns and her other written work have appeared in various publications. She moderates Wirecutter's staff book club and makes her bed every morning.
Better Homes And Gardens Flannel Sheets
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-flannel-sheets/
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