Why do flannel sheets produce so much lint?
Brushing cotton when making flannel causes broken or loose threads, so it's prone to shedding. The shedding fibers cause lint.
What's the difference between flannel and cotton?
Most flannel is made from cotton, though you can also find wool flannel. Feel-wise, flannel is fuzzier and thicker than other cotton weaves like sateen or percale. If you are looking for a crisp feel, check out our guide to the best cotton sheets.
What does flannel weight mean?
Flannel weight is measure in ounces per square yard. A higher weight means a warmer fabric, so a 6-ounce flannel is warmer whereas a 5-ounce flannel is best for hot sleepers or all-season use.
A couple of years ago I paid way too much for a mattress and made a mistake I will never make again: buying a California King. It's been difficult, expensive, and tedious trying to get bedding for it, especially locally. The most recent "sateen, 600 threadcount" sheets I've bought from Amazon at a price-point of $85 + tax have felt weird and are of terrible quality. The fitted sheet from one set just got destroyed in the laundry. I nearly bought from an Alabama-based company that makes cotton sheets, only to search them on Reddit to find that pretty much no one likes their sheets, they're next to impossible to return, and the reviews of questionable provenance. I'm just tired of the Amazon listings with fake reviews, lies about threadcounts, weird materials that will supposedly change my life, startups with branding meant to make me feel "smart" for buying from them, and brands with names like "Gokotta", "Pizuna", and "Lidoloka".
So, basically I want normal, honest sheets for a 14-inch Cal King mattress. What would really be great is if I could find some plain old, not-lying sheets from a company with a name like, "Global Manufacturing, LLC" or "Industrial Supply, Inc." with a sub-300 thread count that above all else is actually accurate vs. overstated, that felt like a bed at a Holiday Inn. I don't care what they cost as long as I'm being sold what I'm told I'm being sold and the reviews aren't paid-for.
Thanks for any advice.
Edit: Folks, inspired by the comment from u/columbo928s4 which revealed a "hotel" sheet set, I decided to just check whether I could buy.. hotel sheets. Are hotel sheets the best sheets? No. But I rarely have complaints about the whether hotel sheets are comfortable. So, here are some Cal King options straight from the source (non-comprehensive, there are others on these sites, you'll have to browse).
Hampton
Hilton "Coming Soon"
Marriott
Disney Resorts
I personally chose to go with the Hampton sheet set I linked because it was modestly priced and checked all of my boxes. No startup-speak. No thread-count claims. No special materials mentioned. No reviews on the website at all. Just some crispy, crunchy, plain, white sheets that you'd get on a queen size bed at a cheap hotel on work travel. That's what I was after.
Edit 2: Folks, this is the final edit. Have had several days to use these sheets -- reminder, I bought from "Hampton" as linked above. I don't have time to do a full write-up, but here's what you need to know. The set I got is great. It feels just like I wanted and is just like "a hotel". It was a decent price and I didn't check if I could but even if I could, I wouldn't return them for what I paid. That said, I was a little perturbed by the marketing. First, I didn't get a set. It was a mix and match of different pieces from different lines or manufacturers. It DOES match visually, so yes, I can use it all together, just making clear that it wasn't necessarily manufactured as a set. Second, the pieces weren't branded as "Hampton" -- in fact some were from a no-name manufacturer and another branded as "Hilton" -- but the website and packing WERE branded as Hampton. I found out that Hampton uses a contractor to sell products for them on the web. It feels a little slimy, especially because it wasn't a set I was sold, and it wasn't all even branded the same. The main irritation I have is that the Hilton products on the separate Hilton website were priced higher -- and yet I paid the Hampton price and got a Hilton flat sheet. That doesn't pass my "no BS" test. That makes it seem like the next person could buy on the Hilton website and pay more and get the exact same product. That said, I really do like the products I was sold. So, I am torn. Whether I come back to "Hampton" for my next purchase, I don't know. They look great, feel great, etc. But why couldn't they just say, "these are random sheets we use at our hotel, no matter what we send, you'll like it". Bam. That's it. That's all I want. Why try to pass it off for something it isn't? It's only a hair better than the Amazon listings for 14,000 thread count sheets from Agopokoli. If you're okay with this sort of business practice, cool. In fact, I would have been honestly, if they had simply disclosed this. Why masquerade as something you aren't? It gets me angry just thinking about it.