Linen sheets: scratchy and uncomfortable or luxurious and cool?

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I always have cotton sheets. Linen seems to be everywhere. Are they nice? Would I find them scratchy and rough compared to cotton? I don’t want to spend a fortune if I’m going to hate them.

Yes they are rough and expensive. However I like the look, it's definitely warm in winter, cool in summer, and I like that flax is less environmentally destructive than most cotton. A good quality set should last a lifetime. I do find it rough and scratchy though so I still have cotton bottom sheet and pillows. Maybe more expensive versions would be less rough but I still paid a huge amount for mine.

I like them, I've been using them for a few years now. I don't find them rough and scratchy, they soften very quickly. I buy from https://www.soakandsleep.com, I think they're quite good value for what you get.

I love them. I’m a hot sleeper that made the switch from cotton, and find linen to be superior.

If you want linen that is soft straight from the package then you’ll want stonewashed 180 GSM (at minimum) Italian or French linen. Belgian linen is often considered the best because while it won’t be the softest out of the package it isn’t scratchy (imo, you may be more sensitive than me), it softens a lot over time and is really durable. The same goes for Lithuanian linen if you want a less expensive option.

I have eczema. I couldn’t do it as I’d be covered in blood from the scratching.

Soak and Sleep do a mixed cotton/ linen if you want less scratchy. I dont find mine too bad but I've had them quite a few years. When they've been dried outside I use the 20 minute softening program on the dryer

I have Piglet in Bed sleepwear in linen and I thought it would be scratchy but it’s surprisingly lovely and soft. I prefer it to cotton now. They also do linen bedding so I’m tempted to buy it but it seems like a huge outlay when I am already superhappy with my cotton bedding from Tielle.

Yeah, this is my concern. Years ago, when I was on a tighter budget, I switched from polycotton to cotton sheets for exactly this reason. I can still tolerate polycotton duvet covers if they’re good quality and that smooth percale finish. I think it’s likely that linen sheets will be like merino wool jumpers for me. Much more luxurious but I want to tear them off after a couple of minutes.

Same here. I've never had linen sheets but have tried the odd bit of linen clothing over the years (as everyone seems to rave about it) but it's horrendous.

Linen needs to be really good quality to feel soft. It also gets softer over time. DH’s Grandmother had the most beautiful linen sheets from before the war, she probably bought them when she got married. They were incredibly fine, with a very high thread count, the linen satin smooth and soft. I loved sleeping there.
I have Piglet in Bed linen, and it is like sacking in comparison to them, but for modern linen it is good quality and wearing well, getting softer with time. It’s just a coarser weave. I bought some linen bedding from Zara and it was soft very quickly but too loose a weave so it wore through in places in less than a year, and I didn’t have a tumble drier then so it wasn’t from that.
I have a duvet cover from Volga linen, and that is also not silky, but it has worn very well, it looks like new after a decade.

I have a set which is linen on one side and cotton on the other. We sleep under the cotton side on a cotton sheet, and flip the pillowcases over.

Beautiful. So expensive though

Linen sheets are nothing like linen garments. I have Piglet in Bed duvet sets and they are super soft.

They definitely don’t last a lifetime. But they are lovely. We have piglet in bed so not cheap lasted about 6 years for sheets. But duvets are going strong after 10 years

Another vote for Piglet in Bed. Extremely soft and last very well.

The secret to soft and smooth linen sheets, beyond buying the high quality ones, which does really matter, is - unfortunately - to iron them dry from damp. It is transformative.

I've only ever once slept on linen sheets. It was half a century ago and I was staying with an upper-class French family (long story!) and I woke up wondering what kind of heaven I was in (the room was full of antique furniture and the shutters were closed and I could hear nuns singing in the convent over the road). The sheets were really old and heavy and soft, with ivory embroidery just around the edges. I mean that was amazing but I doubt that buying linen sheets would replicate the magic of that experience! especially as knowing their house, the sheets were about 900 million years old 😌