The 6 Best Linen Bed Sheets for Cool and Comfortable Sleep (2024)
You will often see terms like “Belgian linen” and “European linen” used to describe different types of linen. Some of these have names, some don’t—Pottery Barn’s sheets are named Belgian linen, while The Citizenry’s sheets mention that they are French linen but sustainably produced in Portugal. So what does it all mean? Which one is best?
Europe has a long history of flax cultivation and linen production. It is a preferred source, especially Belgium and France, which is why some sites will specifically mention those countries. But According to Linen WorldThere are no major differences between European countries—it’s mainly a marketing tactic. You will likely be happy with any European linen source and can get European Linen certificates to confirm where they came from.
However, having a European name does not necessarily mean it is made there. Once the flax is grown, it needs to be processed, spun and woven into sheets, which may or may not happen in Europe. Some companies use the terms “Belgian flax” or “European flax” to denote that the flax comes from that region, but it is not processed there. Some companies produce bed linens in other European countries, like The Citizenry’s Portuguese-made bed linens, while other manufacturers may produce outside of Europe, like Quince, the company that processes bed linens in China and India.
Another term you may see when shopping for linen is “woven up to 160 GSM”. This describes the weight of the fabric. (“GSM” stands for grams per square meter.) It is similar to silk, which is also described in terms of weight rather than thread count to give you a more accurate idea of how heavy the sheet is. A good rule of thumb for linen is below 150 GSM is light, between 150 and 300 is medium and above 300 is heavy.
Weight is also a constant with linen: It will get softer over time but it won’t get lighter. If you want a certain weight of paper, you can see if these details are included to find out exactly what you are buying.
