Bedroom Buys

Muted colors, soft patterns or lace? Pokemon, Winnie the Pooh or Barbie?

These are the easy choices when it comes to buying sheets. But if you think you’ll just pop into a store, grab what you like and be done with your linen shopping, think some more.

Did you happen to notice the thread count advertised on the sheet packaging? Or where the cotton in your sheets originated? Did you think about how much time you’re going to spend between those bargain sheets? It might also be wise to consider the possibility that the reason 2-year-old Betsy won’t stay in bed is that her sheets are too scratchy.

We checked with some bed linen experts who opened our eyes about the many choices when buying sheets.

Trina Stranahana, floor manager at Strouds in Ventura, suggested that linen shoppers find out exactly what size bed they have before they leave the house to go searching for sheets.

Knowing you have a twin, full, queen or king mattress is not enough, she said.

Is it an eastern king or a California king? The California king mattress is longer, and not every store carries the eastern king size.

And exactly how thick is the mattress? Older mattresses can be as thin as 9 inches deep. New mattresses are sometimes as thick as 18 inches deep, she said.

Read the information on the sheet packaging and it will tell you if it fits the thickness of your mattress.

“Most of the 18-inch sheets have elastic all around and can wrap around a thinner mattress,” Stranahana said, but a too-small sheet will only cause aggravation.

Mike Harnden, manager of Linens N’ Things in Camarillo, mentioned the importance of thread count.

“The highest thread count will have a softer hand,” Harnden said. “The sheet will be a finer fabric--softer, more comfortable.”

Most stores have sheets ranging from 180 to 317 threads per square inch. But thread counts can go much higher--to 400 or even 600 threads. Of course, the cost goes higher, too.

Thread counts are particularly important with cotton. A cotton-and-polyester blend can have a high thread count but not be as soft as 100% cotton with a similar count. But there is a trade-off for comfort--the blend is more durable and definitely “no-iron,” said saleswoman Pamela Olsen of Wal-Mart in Simi Valley.

She sells 200-thread blend twin sheets separately for as low as $3.88. Her most expensive set is Victorian lace that sells for $40 a set, she said.

At Linens N’ Things, a low-end twin set sells for about $10, and a good-quality king set is around $150, Harnden said.

Most stores offer display sheets, so you can get the idea of how they compare in softness.

“Egyptian cotton is the best,” said linen manager Chad McMurry of Bed, Bath and Beyond in Westlake Village. “It’s softer because it has longer cotton fibers.

“When people feel the difference and realize how much time they spend in bed, they don’t mind paying more for comfort.”

Stranahana agrees. “Egyptian cotton, from the Nile River Valley, is so soft it feels like silk,” she said. “It’s all up to you, your bed and your preference.”

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And your pocketbook. Everyone agrees that comfort is important, but not everyone can afford the top of the line. Fortunately, January is White Sale time. That means linens are on sale everywhere. It’s a good time to buy, especially if you don’t mind having last year’s styles and colors. Or you may want to stock up with warm flannel sheets for next winter.

And if you can’t afford to buy Egyptian cotton, check out the jersey sheets that look and feel soft and cuddly like a T-shirt.

You might have to settle for a solid color, but kids love them, McMurry said, although his store also sells a lot of the T-shirt fabric sheets to adults.

There is no age limit for comfort.

Nancy Needham can be reached at nancy.needham@reporters.net.