Sateen Sheets: A Primer for Dressing Your Bed

Dear The Decorating Diva,

Shopping for linens recently I noticed “Sateen” sheets. Are they related to satin or satin like?

Awaiting your Reply,

Carianna V,

Carianna,

Sateen sheets (made from a specially woven and treated cotton fabric)  are  luxurious and very soft, with a luster resembling satin. Unlike satin bedding, sateen sheets provide enough friction that you don’t slip all over the bed.

Sateen is typically 100% woven cotton; long-fiber, combed or carded cotton is used. A sateen weave means that for every one vertical thread there are four horizontal threads. The weave is what imparts the soft, smooth satin like, luster. High quality sateen is created via the weave process and subsequently through a process called Mercerization.  During the mercerization process the fabric is  treated with sodium hydroxide which increases it luster, and prepares it to better take to bleaching, or dying.  Beware of sateen sheets created via a calendaring process instead of mercerization, as that only creates the “look” of satin-like luster. Those low quality sateen sheets will lose their luster quickly.

Best,
Carmen Natschke
Editor, The Decorating Diva LLC