Finding the Perfect Bedding

This is extremely important as it will affect how easy your bedding is looked after and how it feels. There are lots of options, from polycotton and cotton to silk and linen.

- Cotton is more breathable and absorbent and can transfer moisture away from the body more quickly than synthetic bedding, so tends to provide a cooler feeling. There are a variety of different types of cotton to choose from. Egyptian cotton is known for its softness, strength and hardwearing qualities. Pima cotton is soft and smooth to the touch.
- Linen sheets are usually softer to the touch and more luxurious than cotton, and so more expensive. However, they are popular because they are cooler than cotton sheets, and can last for years.
- Silk sheets can also last for some time if you take good care of them, and keep you warmer through the cold, winter months.

The thread count (TC)

This tells you how many threads are in each square inch of fabric. With finer threads, more can be woven in. The higher the thread count, the better quality the fabric is, and the better it feels against your skin.
The thread count of standard cotton is around 150TC, with 180TC considered good quality. Anything above 200TC is high quality, but the count can go up to as high as 400, 800 and 1,000TC for the very finest threads.

Tog rating

A tog rating is a measure of the duvet’s ability to trap warm air. The higher the rating, the warmer the duvet will be. Choosing the right tog is important because if you’re too hot or too cold in bed, you won’t get a good night’s sleep. The weight, softness and warmth of a duvet depend on its tog rating and filling – the higher the tog rating, the warmer the duvet.