Sateen sheets are silky and smooth. I use sateen and flannel sheets from October to March, and I often stick with sateen right through spring if it’s chilly. Compared with percale, which is stiffer, sateen has more of a body-hugging drape, so it settles into every nook and cranny when you lie under it. Sateen is softer than percale, but some people find it too hot or too clingy to sleep under, and not everyone likes the appearance, as the nature of the weave makes the fabric a little shiny.
I’ve tested 43 sateen sheets, and these are the best.
A reliable classic: JCPenney Wrinkle Guard 400TC Cotton Sheet Set
Top pick
We’ve recommended this sateen set since 2014 because it’s silky-soft, not too pricey, and always available. It’s also our only pick in a split king size.
Why it’s great
We’ve recommended JCPenney’s Wrinkle Guard 400TC Cotton Sheet Set for more than a decade. The sheets aren’t made with high-end cotton, and they come in only a handful of colors. But they rank among the silkiest, most durable sateen sheets I’ve ever tested, the kind of dependable set your grandmother might’ve bought and kept for 20 years.
These sheets have been rebranded three times since I’ve been testing them — first as Royal Velvet, then JCP Home, and now simply Wrinkle Guard — but we’ve confirmed with JCPenney that they’ve all been the same sheets, and I’ve tested every version and compared it against the last one to be sure. And they’re almost always on sale: They’re listed around $150 for a queen set, but they’re currently a little less than $100 as I write this, and I often see them for even less.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- JCPenney told us that Wrinkle Guard — the chemical finish used to smooth out the fabric — is a low-formaldehyde resin treatment. Such finishes have been shown to sometimes cause contact dermatitis, although none of our testers or staffers have noted that as an issue. Without lab testing, I can’t say for sure whether the resin washes out of these sheets over time, so if you’re concerned, we have other sateen picks that have Oeko-Tex certification.
- JC Penney has a 60-day return policy, one of the shorter windows among our picks.
Key specs
- Material: 100% cotton
- Sizes: full, queen, king, California king, split king (our only pick that offers this size)
- Colors: six solids
- Fitted-sheet depth: 18 inches
- Certifications: none
A silky, colorful upgrade: Cuddledown 400 Thread Count Solid Sateen Sheet Set
Top pick
This longtime upgrade pick lasts for years and feels wonderful. It’s also our only pick available in two mattress depths, and it comes in more colors than any other set in this guide.
Why it’s great
When I use the JCPenney sheets at home, my husband slides into bed and says, “Oh, nice.” When I use Cuddledown’s 400 Thread Count Solid Sateen Sheet Set, he says “Ohhh, nice.” Side by side, the Cuddledown sheets look almost identical to the Wrinkle Guard sheets, and they have the same thread count. The Cuddledown sheets are just better — smoother, thicker, silkier to sleep on. I’ve even tested them against $1,000-plus luxury Italian sheets, and some of our testers couldn’t tell the difference. My oldest test set is from 2017, and it’s striking how well the sheets have held up.
These sheets are also more versatile than our other picks: They wrinkle the least, they come in more colors, they’re available with two fitted-sheet depths, and they have matching shams (plus a coordinating duvet cover). They also come with an unconditional guarantee, which we put to the test in 2023 when one of our staffers found a hole in a two-year-old fitted sheet. Cuddledown replaced the whole set.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- Once every few years, we hear from readers about a customer service issue, and sometimes colors and sizes go out of stock and take a while to replace. In 2022 we bought a test set that was backordered for at least a month, but I did get them eventually (with an apology email from the company).
Key specs
- Material: 100% long-staple cotton
- Sizes: twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, California king
- Colors: 27 solids
- Fitted-sheet depth: 16 inches, 21 inches
- Certifications: Oeko-Tex Standard 100
Budget-friendly sateen: Target Threshold Solid Performance 400 Thread Count Sheet Set
Top pick
These budget sheets have been a pick since 2015 because they’re softer and sturdier than many pricier sets we’ve tested.
Why it’s great
If I had a nickel for every Wirecutter staffer who has told me how much they love Target’s Threshold Solid Performance 400 Thread Count Sheet Set, I’d have a pile of nickels. It is the best sateen I’ve tested at this price, which has miraculously gone up only a few dollars (for a queen set) since we first considered these sheets in 2015. The fabric is sturdier and less flimsy than that of similarly priced sets I’ve tested over the years, and the construction is sturdier than what I’ve seen in many more expensive sets I’ve tried. The reinforced elastic corners on the fitted sheet are impressive, and this set is one of only two picks that clearly label the sides of the fitted sheet so you know which way is up. These are also the only sateen sheets we recommend that come in prints — dozens of them, with seasonal changes. You can buy extra solid or print pillowcases if you feel like mixing and matching. And, like the Target percale sheets we recommend, these carry the Oeko-Tex Made in Green certification and fall under Target’s one-year return policy for its own brands.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- I’ve owned several sets of these sheets since Target introduced them in 2013, and I’ve tested at least four for Wirecutter, in both prints and solids. The most recent sets I’ve tested feel less silky, and the stitching is messier. But the overall quality of this sateen set is still the best I’ve found for the price.
- Some of our testers have found these sheets hotter to sleep on than our other sateen picks.
Key specs
- Material: 100% cotton
- Sizes: twin/twin XL, full, queen, king, California king
- Colors: 11 solids, 22 prints
- Fitted-sheet depth: 18 inches
- Certifications: Oeko-Tex Made in Green
The biggest splurge on our list: Sferra Giza 45 Sateen Sheets
Top pick
A queen set of these Italian stunners costs 10 times as much as our longtime sateen upgrade pick, but they are by far the softest, smoothest cotton sheets we’ve ever tested.
Why it’s great
I don’t know if money can buy happiness, but it can buy Sferra’s Giza 45 Sateen Sheets, which are maybe the same thing. They are the most over-the-top luxurious sheets I have ever tested. They’re sold by the piece, and together a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, and a standard-size pair of pillowcases for a queen bed cost nearly $2,500. When I first tested these sheets, they were the only ones available made with Giza 45, a rare, extra-long-staple cotton grown in Egypt and typically used for fine cotton shirts. (Sferra has since expanded its Giza 45 range, including the made-to-order Giza 45 Luxe sheets.)
Obviously you can buy comfy, durable sateen sheets for far less (our Cuddledown pick would be the next-best for luxury, at almost exactly one-tenth the price), but I can’t deny that the Giza 45 Sateen sheets are extraordinary. They have held up through years of continued testing, and I still get a thrill when I pull them off my test shelves. If my husband is happy when the Cuddledown sheets appear, he is beside himself when these come out. If you can afford them, splurge responsibly — a company representative told us that they go on sale four times a year.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- They cost more than $2,000!
- They come in only three colors and sizes. (Note, though, that the fitted sheet also comes in twin XL — it might be meant for a split king setup, but it would also fit a dorm bed if your frosh is fancy.)
Key specs
- Material: 100% Giza 45 cotton
- Sizes: queen, king, California king
- Colors: white, ivory, pale gray
- Fitted-sheet depth: 17 inches
- Certifications: none
Our favorite organic sateen: Coyuchi Cloud Soft Organic Sateen Sheet Set
Top pick
This is the best organic sateen set we’ve tested. It’s much more expensive than our organic-percale pick, but it’s also Fair Trade–certified, and the company has a recycling program for old bedding.
Why it’s great
Coyuchi has been making organic bedding for more than 30 years, and it’s just better at that than other companies whose products I’ve considered. (One of its quilts has been a Wirecutter pick for years, and its flannel sheets aren’t half bad, either.)
The stitching in its sheets is neat and they’re less rumpled than our organic percale pick. Coyuchi has a take-back program to recycle its bedding when you’re finished, and it accepts returns for up to 180 days.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- These sheets aren’t as silky-smooth or as warm as our other sateen picks, and they wrinkle more, but that’s typical with organic-cotton sheets — the cotton is generally shorter-staple, and these sheets don’t have the wrinkle-busting finishes that our other sateen picks use to smooth out the fabric.
- They’re expensive. A queen set costs more than our Cuddledown upgrade pick, and these sheets are nowhere near as soft.
Key specs
- Material: 100% cotton
- Sizes: twin, full, queen, king, California king
- Colors: six solids
- Fitted-sheet depth: 15 inches
- Certifications: GOTS, Fair Trade
The best Costco sheets: Costco Kirkland Signature 680 Thread Count Sheet Set
Top pick
We tested three sets of Costco sheets. They’re all sateen, but this is the Goldilocks set — not too thin or too thick, not too rough or too hot. It’s also the set made with the best-quality cotton.
Why it’s great
I tested three of the most steadily available sheets Costco sells.
All three are sateen, and all three come with four pillowcases, but the one to buy is Costco’s Kirkland Signature 680 Thread Count Sheet Set. It’s our only sateen pick made with pima cotton, and the fabric is softer and sturdier than the Hotel Signature Egyptian Cotton 400 Thread Count set, which costs less but feels flimsy and cheap. And it’s smoother and more comfortable to sleep on than the Hotel Signature 800 Thread Count Cotton set, which costs more but is so thick, it’s oppressively hot. The sides of the Kirkland set’s fitted sheet are labeled, so you know which way is which. And of course, there’s Costco’s legendary return policy.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- My test set has tangled, untrimmed threads on most of the corners, and the white cording used to reinforce the decorative hemstitch is sticking out at least an inch from the seams on multiple pillowcases and the flat sheet. I can trim them off myself, but it looks careless, as if the sheets weren’t properly finished.
- Nowhere on the packaging, the website description, or the sheets themselves does it specify that this Kirkland set is sateen, but it is definitely sateen. Again, it’s careless not to label that anywhere.
Key specs
- Material: 100% pima cotton
- Sizes: full, queen, king, California king
- Colors: four solids
- Fitted-sheet depth: 18 inches
- Certifications: none
