When I got a new bed after my cross-country move, I upgraded to a queen size. That meant new bed sheets. Previously a sateen sheets user, I realized that I actually prefer percale. Percale sheets are lighter and more breathable than sateen sheets, which tend to be more tightly woven. People often describe percale as crisp like button-down dress shirts. As someone who sleeps warm it made sense to switch.
After doing some reading — I recommend this thorough post by The Luxe Strategist — I ended up buying percale sheets from Brooklinen, Quince, and Pact. I’ve used these for six months at minimum — some sets for more than a year. Here’s how they compare.
Percale sheets also tend to wrinkle, but I’m not bothered by that. Here’s how sheets from Brooklinen and Pact looked right out of the dryer.
** This post contains affiliate links but was not produced in partnership with any brand. If you shop through my links, I may earn a commission. **
Discounts!
Quince: Use my referral code for $20 off your first order. This will also generate a credit for me, so thank you.
Pact: My coupon code WELCOMEOBJ15 will take 15% off your first order.
First photo: Brooklinen
Brooklinen
Brooklinen percale sheet set – $139 – $209. Someone here went for an extra set of pillowcases.
Cotton Type: 100% long staple cotton
Thread Count: 270
If you need a refresher, thread count refers to the number of threads woven together in a square inch, counting both lengthwise and widthwise threads. Higher thread counts tend to yield softer fabric, but not always! Brooklinen notes, “As multi-ply construction is often used to strengthen lower-grade cotton, a super high thread count can actually indicate the presence of a lower-quality sheet.”
Mattress Depth: Fits mattresses up to 13″
Where It’s Made: Israel
Sustainability & Ethics: CertifiedStandard 100 by OEKO-TEX, which means no harmful chemicals were used. There’s no information about factories.
Price: $179 for a queen Classic Core Set. However, there’s always a promotion of at least 15% off your first order, which brings the price down to $152.15. Currently, there’s a friends and family sale of 25% off through 5/9/23, which makes a queen set $134.25.
Return Policy: The website states that, “Most of our products can be returned or exchanged within 365 days.”
Colors: Currently, six classic colors and patterns on offer: white, cream, graphite (dark gray), warm gray, cream, windowpane (black on white), and steel oxford stripe. There are also limited edition colors or prints.
My Experience: As advertised, they sleep nice and cool. Out of all the sheets in this review, these felt the thinnest but also the crispest. This means they also make a bit of crinkling noise — perhaps bothersome to some people. But I don’t mind. Out of the three brands, these were the only one to feature an envelope enclosure for the pillowcases, which I prefer. It helps keep your pillow from sliding out. One handy detail is that the top and bottom sides of the fitted sheet are labeled “long” and “short.”
Quince
Quince percale sheet set – $79.90 – $119.90. I’m not sure how you get these sheets looking so wrinkle-free, unless you ironed them. Who has time for that?
Cotton Type: 100% organic extra long staple cotton
Thread Count: 270
Mattress Depth: Fits mattresses up to 16″
Where It’s Made: India
Sustainability & Ethics: Certified Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX. Organic cotton. Quince also says production involved green energy, “using power generated by windmills and processed with reverse osmosis water purifying method.”
Price: $99.90 for a queen Classic Organic Percale Sheet Set. Use my referral code for $20 off your first order.
Return Policy: 365 days
Colors: Eight solid colors. A good variety from white to light blue to clay.
My Experience: These sheets felt the thickest and smoothest. They were also the least percale-like to me, meaning the least crisp of the bunch. Like the Brooklinen, they have helpful top and bottom labels on the fitted sheet. The pillowcases are a similar size to the Brooklinen ones. But without an envelope closure, I find that sometimes my pillow creeps out.
Pact
Pact percale sheets – $150 – $240
Cotton Type: 100% organic long-staple cotton
Thread Count: 350 (The website doesn’t list the thread count or the fact that it’s long-staple, but I wrote in to ask.)
Mattress Depth: Fits mattresses up to 15″
Where It’s Made: India
Sustainability & Ethics: GOTS Certified organic cotton, Fair Trade certified. Pact also offsets the carbon footprint of their supply chain through SimpliZero.
Price: $200 for a queen Cool-air Percale Sheet set, but Pact often runs promotions. Right now the queen set is $160 for Earth Day. If they’re not on sale, my coupon code WELCOMEOBJ15 will take 15% off your first order.
Colors: Only four colors at this time.
Return Policy: 60 days, no questions asked
My Thoughts: These feel comparable to the Brooklinen though a touch thicker. A bit smoother than Brooklinen, but not as smooth as Quince. Crisp, though not as crisp as Brooklinen. Kind of in the middle. These also have labels to help with putting on the fitted sheets, though they just say, “side,” which I find less helpful than “top” or “bottom.” Side? Which side? Out of the three brands, the elastic on this set also felt the most substantial.
Size Comparisons
For those with standard mattress depths, the dimensions shouldn’t matter too much. But for those with a taller mattress it will. As you can see from the chart Brooklinen sheets had the smallest dimensions.
| Brand | Flat Sheet | Depth | Pillow Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklinen | 92″ x 104″ | 13″ | 20″ x 27″ |
| Quince | 96″ x 106″ | 16″ | 20″ x 30″ |
| Pact | 96″ x 106″ | 15″ | 21″ x 31″ |
Which fit a taller mattress the best? I have a Saatva mattress that’s 15.5″ tall. With Brooklinen, which is meant for a 13″ mattress, the sheets didn’t fit quite all the way on the long sides. A sliver of mattress showed on one side. On paper, the Quince sheets should fit better — they claim to be for mattresses up to 16″ — but in practice the fit seemed more or less the same as the Brooklinen. Pact fit the best.
The Quince sheets (shown above in light gray) and Brooklinen, were not deep enough for my 15.5″ mattress. About an inch went uncovered on one long side.
Pillowcase differences: Let’s talk about pillowcases, which also varied in size. A standard pillowcase is 20″ x 26″. The Brooklinen are again, the smallest, but because of the envelope closure, our pillows stay put. While the Quince pillowcases are longer, I found that my pillow slid out sometimes. No such problem with the Pact pillowcases, which are noticeable bigger than the other ones.
Pillowcases in order of size: Brooklinen (in cream), Quince (in light gray), and Pact (in lunar).
Other Considerations
How they’re Sold: While all three retailers sell by the set and also sell extra pairs of pillowcases, only Brooklinen offers components individually. For example if the wash and fold service loses your flat sheet, (yes, it happened to me), you can order a single sheet.
UPDATE 1/18/24 – I was just on Pact’s site and saw that you can buy the pieces separately now.
Shipping: As Quince ships directly from the factory, located overseas, it’s no surprise that it took the longest to ship.
The Pact sheets came in a bag made of the same material as the sheets. Same with Quince.
Packaging: Both sets from Pact and Quince came in a bag made of the same fabric. (Even the extra pillowcases I ordered from Pact came in such a bag.) That’s great if you like storing your sheets in a bag. But I’m struggling to find a use for them. They could be deployed as dust bags, though I don’t need any as I’ve accumulated so many dust bags from other retailers. Retailers sure love dust bags.
Brooklinen’s sheets came in a plastic bag. The order also included a free tote bag. Some consumers may like these kinds of extras, but I dislike receiving swag that I didn’t ask for.
Which Sheets Should You Get?
What percale sheets really look like on your bed. Wrinkly! These are the Brooklinen set in cream on my Thuma bed, reviewed here.
If you’re looking for the best value: At $100, the Quince sheets are by far the most for your money — and organic cotton at that.
If you have a deep mattress: The Pact sheets won in this category. These fit my deep mattress best and have the sturdiest elastic. The flat sheet is also slightly bigger.
If you’re worried about sleeping warm: Out of the three brands, the Brooklinen set felt the crispest and lightest to me, the most percale-like. By fabric feel, these were my favorite. If only they were a little deeper for my tall mattress.
If you want the most ethical production: The Pact set has the distinction of being both made out of organic cotton and Fair Trade certified.
Discounts! Interested in Quince? Use my referral code for $20 off your first order. This will also generate a credit for me, so thank you.
Interested in Pact? My coupon code WELCOMEOBJ15 will take 15% off your first order.
