I Put Bed Threads Luxury Flax Linen Bed Sheets Through Their Paces — Here's How They Faired Against the Competition

Bed Threads isn't a bedding brand I'd heard of until a few years ago. It's an import from Australia, but once it hit British shores, it was kind of hard to ignore. It's really pioneered a particular trend in bedding that's captured our imagination recently, a new sense of maximalism away from the mundanity of simple white sheets. You can find its bedding bundles in unusual color recommendations, its sheets in a sophisticated spectrum of shades, and fun details like scalloped pillowcases, which have gone semi-viral in their own right.

However, it's not a brand I'd had hands-on experience with, well until now. To test out whether Bed Threads is one of the best bedding brands not only for style, but for quality, I got my hands on a set of its classic French flax linen sheets — a king size duvet set and fitted sheet in its Cacao colorway (after all, it'd be rude to not try out one a style in a color given it's one of its biggest selling points). It's one of the brand's best-selling sets.

Yes, you can find Bed Threads bedding reviews on the brand's website already, but I'm calling it, this is probably going to be the most thorough review of its sheets you'll find on the internet.

This is the first version of the Bed Threads review you're reading, meaning it's been inspected, washed, and slept in for at least two weeks. This review will be updated a little later in the year, once the bedding has been used for a total of four cumulative weeks (something that's particularly important for linen, but more on that later).

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Luke Arthur Wells

Luke has been in the interiors industry for over 10 years as a content creator and stylist. Not only has he worked with many of the best bedding brands in the UK, he also already owns a vast collection of premium bedding, both for his own home, and for photoshoots. For our bedding reviews, Luke has tested each set for an initial two weeks, and will be updating each review after they've been washed and slept in over the course of a four to six week period. This bedding was tested with pillows and a duvet from the Wool Room, filled with natural wool (Luke's secret weapon to battling his hot sleeper profile, he says), and he counts himself as a side sleeper, too.

Is Bed Threads Bedding Good Quality?

To some degree, the answer to this question is the test of time, but to get an understanding of whether the materials are good for sleep, and the bedding will last, there are a few exploratory undertakings I've taken.

They say that good bedding that will regulate your temperature well feels cool to the touch — but this is pretty expected for materials like linen and cotton, with linen in particular having great moisture wicking and heat transferring qualities that help keep you cool. Regardless, I tried the touch test against other linen bedding sheets I was testing, and the Bed Threads flax linen sheets I tested were as cool as the majority of the others, having been stored in the same conditions.

When diving inside the covers to get a sense of the quality, on the whole, they stand up comparatively to the competition. The seams on many of the best linen sheets, it seems, aren't quite as robust as they are on many of the more hotel-style cotton sheets.

However, on my set, I found there were a number of uncut threads on the seams — not a huge problem, but something I didn't notice on other brands' linen sheets. Out of the linen sheets I tested, this is the only set that had linen fibers on the inside that appears as small amounts of fluff. This is quite natural for linen sheets, however, especially for the first few washes, so not a cause for concern.

How Is Bed Threads Bedding to Sleep In?

I tested Bed Threads Flax Linen bedding for two weeks, pre-washing before its first use, and between the first and second weeks. Linen sheets are a little coarse to begin with, but soften after subsequent washes. Yes, the Bed Threads linen was 'crispy' on first use, but felt definitively softer for the subsequent use.

Compared to some of the other linen bedding sets I tested, such as from Secret Linen Store, Bed Threads has more of a light and airy nature for a linen. Others, have more of a heavy and crisp feeling. Either might be to your personal preference, but as I was testing these during slightly warmer spring weather, I'm leaning towards this lighter linen style as my preference. Having said that, I found this linen still slightly heavier than the cotton sheet sets I tested, not something I was necessarily expecting in comparing linen vs cotton sheets.

I count myself as a hot sleeper, but this bedding, combined with my choice of thermoregulatory duvet and pillows, felt like it helped control my body temperature across different temperatures, neither feeling too hot or too cold.

How Easy Is Bed Threads Bedding to Care for?

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with linen bedding. I love the way it looks, and the way it feels to sleep in fresh from the washer; but hate the 'linen sag' that seems to happen after a certain period of sleeping in it. With Bed Thread Luxury Flax Linen bedding, this kicked in around day five or six, which means it needs washing at least once a week for total comfort in my opinion. This feels about right for how often to wash bed sheets for hygiene, too.

While linen bedding looks best with a natural wrinkle to it, if you don't dry it completely flat, it's a little more pronounced than you want it to be. I did, however, find this particular linen bedding set a little harder to iron than some others. Linen needs high heat and plenty of steam at the best of times, but this set took me longer than most to get photo-shoot ready.

How Does Bed Threads Bedding Rank on Style?

I've already sung the praises of Bed Threads on the style front, but it bears repeating. The brand has a broad but curated color range that feels right on the money for bedrooms right now.

Bed Threads only retails linen bedding, meaning you get the benefits of the material's natural good looks, but it does mean that it's not, necessarily, the brand to go to if you prefer crisp-looking hotel-style bedding.

It also has some interesting, more decorative bedding that can really make your bed the centerpiece of the space: scalloped pillowcases, chic linen valances, and textured blankets among them.

The Finer Details

I don't know about you, but when I invest in something like luxury bedding, I like it to feel like a special process, so those little details that might not matter in the long run come into play.

Packaging: Bed Threads bedding comes in smart-looking linen bags, which you can keep for storing your bedding when not in use. The parcel also comes with a color card, showcasing the rest of Bed Threads bedding palette, which is useful for shopping for future bed linen.

The Button Test: This is all about whether the buttons or fastenings on a bed sheet set feel luxurious. For Bed Threads, it doesn't necessarily feel so. The sheets have just a simple clear plastic button and fastening. It feels at home with the casual, laid-back feel of the linen, but other brands have better closings.

Is Bed Threads Bedding Worth It?

Comparing costs to other similar luxury brands, Bed Threads is largely the same price as its competitors. Bed Threads costs around £240 for a king-size duvet cover set in flax linen, while Piglet in Bed is priced at £248, for example, and Secret Linen Store is around £250.

Is it worth the price tag? Yes, I'd say so. It's a good quality linen sheet, available in a brilliant array of colors. If you're investing in a full bedding bundle, you can make extra savings, too. I could see myself building up a collection of bedding from this brand that I could mix and match for sheets, pillows, and duvet covers.

There's a touch that you're buying some of the brand prestige when you buy from many of the big bedding brands, which undoubtedly adds to the price. If Bed Threads is out of your price bracket, you could consider La Redoute's linen bedding as an alternative. It has great reviews, is around half the price (even more when on sale), and a good range of colors.