Last Updated on March 30, 2023
You know those memes where it shows something that you commonly do, and then the meme tells you that you’ve been doing it wrong?
Well, there’s a good chance you’ve been doing sheets wrong!
Chances are, you’ve been using cotton sheets your entire life. We use cotton for pretty much every other type of fabric – like clothing for example – so it makes sense that cotton would be used for sheets.
It’s just what we’ve always used.
And if your sheets aren’t made from cotton, then they’re probably microfiber – which is made from polyester.
So…yeah… you (and the rest of us) have been doing sheets wrong.
If you’re the type of person who enjoys the touch of incredibly smooth sheets against your bare skin, you won’t know how wrong you’ve been until you try a Eucalyptus Lyocell sheet set from Sheets & Giggles.
First impression
Sheets & Giggles sheets arrive in a box. When you open the box, you’re greeted with a knapsack and a sleep mask.
The knapsack continues the overall company theme of being environmentally conscious since you can re-use it, whereas, the usual plastic bag that sheets come in, you just end up tossing into the trash can.
And the sleep mask is a nice little touch – especially now during these Covid times! You almost feel naked without some type of face-covering.
Anyhow, after you take the sheet set out of the knapsack, and remove the tissue wrapping, your initial impression is that these sheets look like any other set of sheets that you’ve had before.
But then you touch them.
That’s when you realize that this sheet just got real! Real special.
What makes Sheets & Giggles so special? To answer that question, let’s first take a look into what Lyocell is, and how it differs from cotton.
Lyocell vs Cotton comparison
Lyocell is a “man-made fiber”.
It’s not a synthetic material like polyester, but unlike cotton, it goes through a process before it can be spun into yarn, and woven into fabrics.
It’s sourced from the cellulose of woody plants and trees, like bamboo plants or Eucalyptus trees, etc. Cellulose and the process that turns the wood pulp into fiber makes Lyocell more expensive than cotton.
It also results in some distinct advantages and disadvantages for Lyocell in comparison to traditional cotton.
Advantages of Lyocell:
- More durable
- Wrinkle-resistant
- Better at absorbing sweat – which keeps you cool
- Has a smoother surface feel
- Is more flexible
- Low surface energy
Disadvantages of Lyocell:
- More expensive
- Slightly harder to maintain
- Low surface energy
Low surface energy?
So you might have noticed that low surface energy is listed both as an advantage as well as a disadvantage of Lyocell.
What exactly is surface energy, and why is it in both columns?
Surface energy is the ability of a material to attract other materials. In other words, surface energy tells you how much something will “stick” to other things.
This is why low surface energy is a disadvantage of Lyocell – it makes it harder for the sheet manufacturer to dye the fabric.
That same low surface energy also means considerably less friction on the surface of the fabric – which is why Lyocell fabric is so smooth to the touch.
When you rub the fabric between your fingers, it doesn’t have that starchy, scratchy, or stiff feeling like cotton.
Enough with the bullsheet, let’s get back to Sheets & Giggles.
Sheets & Giggles
The Lyocell vs Cotton comparison sounds good on paper – or in this case, on the screen – but how do the sheets perform?
That’s what really matters right?
For me, sheets ultimately come down to three factors. You can obsess over the thread count, analyze the material that they’re made of, and stress the importance of where that material was grown (or made).
But then you have to actually take the sheets out of the package, and use them. And it usually comes down to:
- How they feel
- How you react to the sheets
- And, how the sheets react to you
They can be $1000 sheets from Sferra, or they can be $29.99 sheets from Walmart, they either feel good, or they don’t. They either perform well, or they don’t.
How do Sheets & Giggles feel?
When you first touch Sheets & Giggles sheets, the low surface energy concept really starts to make sense.
In order to visualize it for yourself, go and grab something made of cotton – a t-shirt, a flat sheet – anything made of cotton.
Now rub that fabric between your fingers.
No matter the quality of the cotton, if you squeeze the cotton fabric firmly enough between your fingers, it will eventually start to feel rough and abrasive.
With these Lyocell sheets from Sheets & Giggles, you never reach that point. No matter how hard you press your fingers into the fabric, they still feel incredibly soft and smooth, with no abrasion at all.
How you react to the sheets
To gauge your reaction to Sheets & Giggles, you have to put them on the bed, and sleep with them, which reveals a lot more than just the initial feel test.
Let’s break this down into two categories – pajamas, and no pajamas.
With pajamas
(Let’s define pajamas as full-sleeved – both top and bottom.)
When you sleep with pajamas on, you don’t really get an accurate feel of what the sheets feel like.
Since you’re covered from neck to ankle, the only skin-to-sheet contact that you experience is if/when your face touches the pillowcase.
But that is with traditional cotton sheets. Sleeping in a Sheets & Giggles covered bed – with pajamas on – is an entirely different sleep experience.
The low surface energy once again changes everything.
For this to make sense, take two cotton fabrics – shirts, sheets – anything. If you rub them together, you feel a lot of friction. If you rub them against each other hard enough, they get stuck.
The surface friction doesn’t allow them to move any further.
In other words, when you move around in bed, with pajamas on, you tend to feel a lot of friction as you move.
If you take those same cotton fabrics and rub them against the Lyocell fabric of Sheets & Giggles, you experience almost no friction at all. Whatever you’re rubbing against the sheet just glides off effortlessly – even when you press firmly!
If you’re the type of sleeper that tosses and turns, the lack of friction as you move is a very pleasant surprise.
Without pajamas
(Let’s define this as short-sleeved tops and short-length bottoms – or plain naked.)
Because Lyocell is a “human-processed” fiber, the individual fibers are a lot more consistent in shape and length than those in cotton. This is why cotton has a textured feel.
Regardless of how soft your cotton sheets are, that textured feeling is magnified when you sleep on them all night long, particularly without pajamas.
It’s not so much that cotton sheets feel bad – they just feel bad in comparison.
With these Lyocell sheets from Sheets & Giggles, you’re super aware that something is different. Something is missing – but in a good way. The friction is gone. The textured feeling is gone.
When you notice, you start moving around just to experience the sensation across your entire body.
To be clear, Sheets & Giggles aren’t annoyingly slippery like silk sheets. And they aren’t flimsy either. They have the same body and lushness of cotton – just without friction.
How the sheets react to you
Your overall sheet/sleep experience depends a lot on how the sheets perform. For our purposes here, let’s focus on the cooling properties of Lyocell.
Lyocell stays cooler than cotton not just because of how it’s woven, but also because of it’s wicking capability.
Lyocell is referred to as a hydrophilic fiber – which is a techy way of saying super-absorbent.
Like most of us, you probably feel uncomfortable when your bed gets hot. A large portion of that heat develops as sweat collects between your skin and the surface of your sheets. The hotter you get, the more you sweat – which just makes things worse.
Again, you’ll notice that something is missing – in a good way!
Sheets & Giggles stay remarkably cool throughout the night. The Lyocell fibers wick away the sweat before it has a chance to make you uncomfortable.
And the sheets have a fun disposition too…
On a side note – if you actually tried rubbing two cotton fabrics together earlier, you might have noticed creases or wrinkles develop. Lyocell is also more elastic than cotton. Lyocell sheets remain wrinkle-free, no matter how much you rub.
When you wake up in the morning, you won’t feel like you need to iron the sheets.
Specs and details
Sheets & Giggles are made of 100% Lyocell (from Eucalyptus), with a 400 thread count. The fitted sheet will fit mattresses up to 20″ deep.
They are available in the following colors:
- Gray
- Light Blue
- Mint Green
- Navy
- Pearl
- Purple
- White
Sheets & Giggles washing instructions:
- Wash separately using cold water
- Tumble dry using low heat
- Do not use bleach
- Fabric softener not needed or recommended
Final thoughts
Update for 2022 – They have a full lineup of bedding options now. They have duvet covers, comforters, etc. available in their Sheets & Giggles store now as well!