Tech
Looking for Softer Sheets? These Bamboo Sheets Are the Answer
Comparing Our Favorite Bamboo Bedding
Terminology to Know When Shopping
Confused by the terms used to describe bamboo bedding? Here’s a quick breakdown.
Bamboo type: You’ll see bamboo rayon, viscose, or lyocell listed for the bamboo, which explains what method was used for turning the bamboo into fibers that could become sheets. Rayon is the cheapest, while viscose is a slightly better production process, and lyocell is the most ideal process (but still not a perfect one, and usually the most expensive).
Certifications: Some companies will label bamboo sheets as organic, using certifications like Oeko-Tex. You can learn more about organic certification terms here to understand what they each mean, and our thoughts on organic bamboo in our FAQs below. You might also see FSC-certified, which means it was sourced through sustainable forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Honorable Mentions
Cariloha Classic Bamboo Sheets for $239: Cariloha’s Classic Bamboo Sheets have a twill weave, which has a diagonal thread pattern and doesn’t sound as soft as a sateen weave that has a three-over-one pattern. But these sheets still felt super soft, and the softness difference compared to the pricier Retreat Sheets ($339) was minor for such a big price difference. There’s no corner straps, though.
Cariloha Retreat Bamboo Sheets for $339: These sheets are super soft and silky and use lyocell fabric to be more sustainable. They’re a similar softness to the brand’s cheaper sheets, but if you want to prioritize eco-friendly sheets, lyocell is a good option (though not a perfect carbon-neutral solution). I also really like the included straps, but you can find those on cheaper sets like the Luxome sheets I recommend above.
Ettitude Luxe Sheet Set for $470: These sheets are fantastically soft and use a combination of bamboo lyocell and bamboo “biochar” to make them antifungal and odor-resistant. They ran a little warm for my liking, but if you’re looking for something to keep odors and fungi away, these could be the splurge for you. Ettitude previously called these Airy+ instead of Luxe, but both use a combination of lyocell and biochar.
Honeydew Sheets for $230: These sheets felt a little stiff at first but softened up a bunch after washing. They also come with a securing strap, so they’re a good option for taller mattresses. The only downside is that they’re only available in two colors, but if you want white or a nice dark gray, you’re in luck.
My Sheets Rock the Regulator Sheet Set for $199: These sheets are super soft. They promise to regulate your temperature, but I found myself waking up a little too warm some nights. If you aren’t a hot sleeper, these are overall soft, comfortable sheets to sleep on.
Pom Pom at Home Bamboo Sateen Sheet Set for $368: These are good bamboo sheets, but for the price, we were more impressed by others we tested.
Quince Linen Bamboo Bundle for $255: This set would have been a pick if it were still available. It’s a fantastic combination of linen and bamboo that gets the best of both worlds: the softness and cool touch of bamboo with the structure and airflow of linen. It’s a great pick for hot sleepers—if it resurfaces, buy it!
Quince Bamboo Sheet Set for $130: Quince makes some solid sheets, and these bamboo ones are super soft. They’re a little heavy for me as a hot sleeper, but otherwise come in a nice range of colors and have an Oeko-Tex certification, meaning no harmful chemicals were used. Quince also says the bamboo is organic, but there aren’t any certifications to confirm that (more below on our thoughts on organic bamboo bedding).
Sunday Citizen Bamboo Sheet Set for $109: WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe found these sheets to be super soft and fantastic to sleep on. But even with the claimed deep pockets, they tended to pop off her mattress, and other picks like Luxome’s sheets feature straps that will avoid that problem.
FAQs
What Types of Bamboo Are There?
There’s a few different terms you might see when describing the bamboo fibers that make up a set of bamboo sheets. Bamboo isn’t naturally a soft fiber, so it goes through a harsh chemical process to break it down and turn it into fibers that can be woven into sheets. Each different name lets you know what kind of process was used and what kind of chemicals (and chemical off-put) were involved.
Bamboo rayon and bamboo viscose are sometimes used interchangeably, though they shouldn’t be since they aren’t exactly the same. Rayon is likely a term you’ve seen before, since it’s a general term used for fabric made from regenerated cellulose. Bamboo rayon usually suggests that it’s semi-synthetic and might not be 100 percent bamboo. Meanwhile, bamboo viscose also uses bamboo cellulose as its base, though it has a slightly different process. Viscose is another type that isn’t limited to bamboo. Just about every sheet I’ve tested claims to be 100 percent bamboo viscose.
Bamboo lyocell is the best of the three, because lyocell has a closed-loop process, which means that almost all of the chemicals used to make more lyocell get reused rather than dumped. Lyocell is a fantastic-quality fabric that makes for a great cooling sheet, so it’s a term to look for if you want to stay cool while you sleep.
Are Bamboo Sheets Cooling?
While bamboo is absolutely cool to the touch when you first climb into bed, I often find that bamboo bed sheets can warm up quite a bit throughout the night. Some companies claim that the bamboo fibers can help regulate your temperature and wick away moisture. As a hot sleeper, I haven’t found this true with every set of bamboo sheets. Some have a weave that’s too heavy to keep me cool on hot nights, since no amount of promised moisture-wicking can replace good airflow to keep you cool. There are a few sets of bamboo bed sheets I recommend below that keep me cooler than others, but I recommend visiting our guide to the Best Cooling Sheets if you want to consider all kinds of bed sheets that could keep you cool, from bamboo to cotton percale and even sheets with phase-change material (or PCM) blended in.
Can Bamboo Sheets Be Organic?
Unlike cotton fabrics, which have the Global Organic Textiles Standard or GOTS, there’s no overarching certification to verify if bamboo is organically sourced. Many sheet makers will say the bamboo is organic, but with no main certification to confirm this, it’s hard to say without a doubt that any bamboo sheets are fully organic.
Instead, you’ll usually see Oeko-Tex certifications, which confirm that no harmful substances were used, and sometimes you’ll see Forest Stewardship Council or FSC certifications, which confirm the bamboo was sustainably sourced. Hopefully a primary bamboo organic certification will come out in the future to better inform bamboo textile shoppers. You can learn more about existing organic certifications in our guide here.
Does Thread Count Matter?
Bamboo sheets have a thread count, just like cotton sheets, describing how many threads are in a square inch of the fabric. You don’t want too high of a thread count—anything over 800 is purely marketing-speak, and higher thread counts can mean shorter, lower-quality fibers. It’s better to have fewer fibers that are longer and stronger.
Bamboo made into rayon, viscose, and lyocell can be manipulated into a long thread more easily than cotton, of course, so we haven’t seen the crazy-high thread counts listed on bamboo sheets. Many of these sheets are also a sateen weave, which is a three-over-one thread style, leading it to feel softer but not be as breathable. It’s not always so simple as sateen will make you hot, of course; our favorite cooling bamboo sheets from Ettitude have a sateen weave, so it depends on several factors.
The takeaway? Don’t worry about thread count. Focus on type of weave and reviews (like ours!) to get a better idea of whether a set of bamboo sheets (or any other kind of sheet) will suit your sleep needs.
How Does WIRED Test Bamboo Sheets?
For our bamboo sheets guide, I compared our picks both overnight and side by side for softness, cooling properties, and price. Each set of sheets was slept on anywhere between two and seven nights, depending on how it performed, and was washed multiple times to check for pilling or design flaws. I’m a hot sleeper living in Southern California, with my bedroom on the third floor of my home, so it’s been easy to discover if sheets can’t keep me cool all night long. I also looked at each sheet’s quality in reference to the price to see what sheet sets were really worth investing in after testing each one.
How Does WIRED Obtain Sheet Samples? What Happens to Samples After Testing?
All sheets in this guide were obtained as testing samples from companies. We obtain these sheets with no obligation to cover or promises for what coverage could look like. When testing is complete, the top picks are held onto for long-term testing, while the rest are donated locally.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
Word documents, and even PDF files, aren’t necessarily safe. These normally innocuous files can be injected with malicious “poison” code or simple scripts of code that can be a serious security risk.
You probably already know it’s dangerous to open files from sources you can’t necessarily trust. If you’re an activist or journalist—or anyone who occasionally depends on anonymous tips to do their jobs—you might run into a situation where potentially useful information is inside a Microsoft Word document or PDF file that you can’t exactly vouch for. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could open those files and read them without exposing your device to potential security risks?
Dangerzone is a free and open source tool built for this purpose. Originally built by journalist and security engineer Micah Lee, this application opens files in a sandbox environment with no internet access, then converts the file to an image-based PDF with no scripting enabled. The resulting PDF has any malicious code stripped out and should be safe to open—at least, as safe as anything can be.
“You can think of it like printing a document and then rescanning it to remove anything sketchy, except all done in software,” explains the about page, which includes a lot of fascinating details about how the application works.
To get started, download and install Dangerzone. There are downloads for Windows, macOS, and various Linux systems. The first time you run it there will be a brief setup, after which you can simply drag files to the window.
Photograph: Justin Pot
The application can open and convert PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Open Office, EPUB, and image files. You can drag and drop multiple documents at once, if you’d like.
After adding documents you will be asked a few questions: where you’d like the resulting files to end up, whether they should open after the conversion is done, and whether you’d like to use optical character recognition (OCR) in order to make the document searchable. You can also move the original, potentially unsafe documents into a subfolder named “unsafe,” helping ensure you don’t confuse them with the newly made safe ones.
.png)
Photograph: Justin Pot
I always tell people that the best thing I’ve ever tested for my job here on the WIRED Reviews team is my automatic litter box from Litter-Robot. I recommend every cat owner invest in an automatic litter box. If they can swing it, the Litter-Robot is the best one to invest in. You’ll be able to say goodbye to the days of scooping and smells while this nifty machine does the grunt work for you.
Litter-Robot is the OG automatic litter box, and the name itself has become synonymous with the concept. And that’s not by accident, as the brand makes incredibly well-made, ergonomic products to help the lives of pet parents everywhere. Along with their famous automatic litter boxes, they also make a super sleek automatic pet feeder that I’ve also tested (and loved). These gadgets are an investment, and can be pricey, but we here at WIRED love the brand so much that we’ve rounded up some of the best Litter-Robot promo codes, coupons, and deals to make these life-changing pet machines more affordable. Because your pet (and you) deserve it.
Get $150 Off Litter-Robot Bundles This Month: No Promo Code Needed
One of the best ways to save big without needing a Litter-Robot promo code is to buy in a bundle. Litter-Robot has several bundles that give you all the essentials you’ll need to get started using your automatic litter box, like a litter trapping mat, replacement waste bags, odor eliminators, litter, and more. A bundle is a great way to save money on the purchases you’ll already have to make, without needing a Litter-Robot coupon. You can get $150 off several different bundles, including Litter-Robot 4 models, as well as the newly released Litter-Robot 5 and Litter-Robot EVO models.
Get the Best Deals on the Litter-Robot 4
I’ve tested well over a dozen models of automatic litter boxes from different brands, including several models from Litter-Robot. The one I keep coming back to is my personal favorite, the Litter-Robot 4. Even though the 5 is the newest model (I’ve tested it and I’m in the process of writing the review now), I just can’t quit you, Litter-Robot 4! I still think it’s one of the best automatic litter boxes you can buy: it has a user-friendly, intuitive connected app that isn’t overcrowded or confusing, the drawer is easy to pull out to remove waste, it has buttons on the top to manually change, and it doesn’t take up a large footprint on the floor. Plus, with a variety of discounted bundles to choose from, you won’t even need a Litter-Robot promo code.
Litter-Robot 5 Pro Insights Bundle Discount: $150 Off
As previously mentioned, I just tested the Litter-Robot 5 Pro, part of Litter-Robot’s recently released line of brand new models. I was seriously impressed with this model, which looks super similar to the Litter-Robot 4, but has a built-in camera to see what’s going on inside and outside of the box. The newest model isn’t cheap, but right now, the Litter-Robot 5 Pro Insights Bundle is only $999 ($152 off). This bundle includes the newest Litter-Robot 5 Pro with built-in camera, plus a litter tracking mat and waste drawer liners to get you started. And as an added bonus, Litter-Robot has a 90-day in-home trial, one-year warranty, and free shipping to the lower 48.
Take $50 Off the Litter-Robot EVO Starter Bundle
The Litter-Robot EVO is another newly released model from Litter-Robot, but this one is a more pared-down, basic version that’s streamlined and compact. I personally love the simpler models (hence my paragraph-long love letter to the Litter-Robot 4 above). If you’re someone who doesn’t need to watch a camera feed of your cat peeing and pooing, the EVO is a more affordable, basic option that gets the job done efficiently. Right now, the Litter-Robot EVO Starter Bundle is $782 ($50 off), and has everything you need to get settled with your new auto box, including waste drawer liners, a litter trap mat, a bag of litter, and odor traps to keep things smelling fresh.
Save 35% on Cat Essentials With a Litter-Robot Discount Code
If you live in a big city like me, there’s nothing worse than carrying heavy litter down icy streets or in hot, packed subway cars. Autoshipping my (often heavy) cat essentials has been a game-changer. If you choose autoship, you’ll save 35% on cat essentials like litter, waste drawer liners, odor traps, filters, and more with this Litter-Robot discount code.
{Get 35% Off Litter-Robot Accessories
I love my Litter-Robot 4, but I highly encourage everyone to spring for the Litter-Robot-branded accessories to accompany the device. This automatic litter box works excellently as is, but things like a ramp for senior cats, filter replacements, and odor traps will keep the device running like new for longer. Keep your investment in tip-top shape for way less with discounted accessories and bundles, for up to 35% off.
If your TV isn’t as smart as you hoped, or you just hate its built-in interface for some reason, there are a variety of other options for dedicated streaming. For households that watch a lot of shows and movies on Prime Video or use Alexa for their smart home management, we recommend checking out the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The latest generation is currently marked down to just $35 for the Amazon Big Spring Sale, a $25 discount from its usual price.
While the Fire TV Stick is a good choice for Prime Video, it plays well with basically all of the major streaming services you’d expect, including Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max. The previous generation had just 8 GB of storage, but the new model’s upgraded 16 GB means you won’t have to choose which apps to keep and which to delete. If you have a compatible controller and an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you can even stream games directly to the Fire TV Stick right from the cloud. With some help from Wi-Fi 6E, apps will download faster and stream at higher quality with less buffering, as long as your router supports it.
One of the standout features is the Fire TV Stick’s integration with Alexa smart home systems. While watching your shows, you can easily pull up a picture-in-picture of any security feeds, and there are options to control other smart devices, like lights, right from your television. The remote even doubles as an Alexa with its built-in microphone, letting you find shows or ask questions without getting off the couch. With a built-in gallery mode, the TV can slowly rotate through photos and paintings like a screensaver, and you can ask the remote to quickly find out what you’re looking at.
The world of streaming devices is surprisingly deep, so if you’re curious what else is out there, make sure to swing by our guide to the best 4K streaming sticks and hubs. For the Alexa and Amazon-powered home, there’s no substitute for the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, so make sure to grab yours for just $35 before the sale ends.
This App Makes Even the Sketchiest PDF or Word Doc Safe to Open
Methanol jumps nearly 150% as oil surge disrupts markets
Could oil hit $200 a barrel? Experts warn of risks if Iran war drags on – The Times of India
-
Politics7 days agoAfghanistan announces release of detained US citizen
-
Sports7 days agoBroadcast industry CEO says consolidation is ‘essential’ to compete for NFL soaring media rights prices
-
Entertainment7 days agoUN warns migratory freshwater fish numbers are spiralling
-
Tech7 days agoCan a Home Appliance Fix the Problem of Soft-Plastic Waste?
-
Business7 days agoProperty Play: Home flippers see smallest profits since the Great Recession, real estate data firm says
-
Business7 days agoGold prices soar in Pakistan – SUCH TV
-
Fashion7 days agoICE cotton slips on weaker crude, profit booking
-
Business7 days agoMore women are entering wealth management, but few are in advisory roles, study finds