All About Waterbed Sheets

Express your personality and indulge your senses when selecting waterbed sheets for either a wood frame waterbed or a soft side waterbed.  Color, texture, care and durability can influence your selection.  While cotton remains the perennial favorite, silks, linens, and polyester satins provide an array of features. 

Waterbed sheet weave

Satin, Sateen, Percale, and Damask all refer to the material weave rather than fabric fiber content. Satin weave produces a shiny waterbed sheet material in silks and synthetics.  Cotton fiber woven in satin pattern is called sateen for its lustrous, rather than shiny, appearance. Percale is closely woven, high thread count material.  Luxury waterbed sheets may feature damask - satin weave patterns on plain weave background, with tone-on-tone or multicolored designs. 

Waterbed sheet texture

Texture may influence waterbed heater use:

Flannel sheets have a napped texture that captures air to provide softness and warmth. 

Natural fibers such as cotton, linen, silk, and smoother weave materials are more comfortable next to the skin in warmer and humid climates.

Silk sheets have the paradoxical advantage of adding warmth when used in cool temperatures while being light and comfortably cool in warm temperatures.

Jersey knits offer the softness and flexibility of well-worn t-shirt material. 

Selecting waterbed sheets

Wood frame waterbeds use corner pocket sheets to secure the sheets on the mattress.  Six pocket sets are also available utilizing corner pockets on each sheet, with the flat sheet attached to the fitted sheet at the foot.  Soft side waterbed sheets make use of the filled mattress weight, employing pole pockets to maintain tucked corners to keep sheets secure.

Waterbed sheet care

Synthetic fibers absorb dramatic dye colors and are resistant to fading, while natural fibers exude quieter, understated tones that may become muted with multiple washings.    Waterbed sheet patterns range from bold designs to subtle details, often coordinating with other bedding and accessories.  Read care label instructions thoroughly.  Most waterbed sheets are machine wash and dry, but may be subject to shrinkage or require ironing to remove wrinkles.  Waterbed sheets may become softer after several washings have removed the sizing. Wrinkle-resistant sheets can provide a crisper look. Consider purchasing two waterbed sheet sets of your selected design for easy laundry day rotation and to preserve the set if a sheet becomes damaged.

Waterbed sheet structure

Waterbed sheet label information can include thread count or momme numbers to indicate material density.  Thread count is the number of threads per square inch within the fabric weave and applies to cottons, linens and synthetics. Numbers can range from 175 to 1000, with thread counts from 200 to 400 providing both smoothness and durability. Thinner fibers are needed to achieve the higher thread counts, which increase smoothness, but may begin to decline in long term wear performance   Momme refers to silk weight measurement units - look for sheets ranging 10 to 15 momme.

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