Pros
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Crisp fabric
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Cool
Cons
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Prone to wrinkling
About the Riley Percale Sheet Set
- Materials: 100% premium long-staple combed cotton percale
- Certification: OEKO-TEX Standard 100
The Riley Percale Sheet Set ships as one fitted sheet and two pillowcases with the option to include a flat sheet for an extra $80 and up, or not. The pillowcases include an interior flap that fits the pillow and acts as a concealer for it. The pillows and flat sheet include a decorative baratta stitch.
The sheet features tags to help distinguish the short sides from the long.
The sheets are made in Portugal and use long-staple cotton. Riley does not include details on thread count.
What we like about the Riley Percale Sheet Set
They’re extremely comfortable and cool
They might tend towards wrinkles, but these sheets are oh-so-comfy—my cat agrees.
We loved sleeping on these Riley percale sheets. After two washes they became exceptionally soft, while retaining the crisp feeling of percale.
The feeling of percale is often contextualized through its other main use: in dress shirts. It has a dimensionality to its texture, as though the fabric wants to gather around you, rather than cup your skin, as sateen does.
In the hot days of the summer, these were significantly cooler to sleep in than some of the best bed sheets we’ve tested. Going back to sateen I found myself sweating in the night, on an evening where I would have slept like a baby in Riley.
Compared to basic sateen sheets, these feel exceptionally luxurious. We can’t imagine hot sleepers wanting to use anything else.
The color and detailing is top quality
Look for a baratta stitch along the pillowcases and flat sheet.
I’m a sucker for color quality. The Cloud colorway looks great. It’s light blue with subtlety and appears almost silver in half-light.
Beyond Cloud, Riley offers other attractive colors including Silver, Slate, and Oatmeal.
There are other moments of elegance to be found in these sheets. A baratta stitch runs along the pillow and top of the flat sheet; this looks a bit like a cord sewn right into the fabric and adds a little aesthetic je ne sais quoi.
What we don’t like
These are extremely wrinkly sheets
Bring out the iron if you can’t abide by a few wrinkles.
Percale is a wrinkly material, and the Riley Percale Sheet Set very much demonstrates that. Out of the dryer they’re as puckered as a kid’s hands after a swim meet.
After a few washes, they seem to wrinkle somewhat less. However, the issue is by no means solved. If you can’t abide by wrinkles you will need to iron these sheets.
They’re a bit sheer
Have your pillows got a pattern? Because it will show.
One of the pillows I used for testing is striped and I can clearly see the stripes through the Riley pillowcase. If your pillows have something to hide, then this might be an issue for you.
Should you buy the Riley Percale Sheet Set?
Yes, these sheets feel magnificent to sleep in, especially in warm weather
Percale has a texture that feels wonderful on skin—especially in warm weather.
The Riley Percale Sheet Set is both beautiful and comfortable, with high-quality percale and subtle detailing notes. They’re much cooler than my sateen sheets, and I found that I slept better on hot summer nights than I do with my standard sheets.
These sheets are firmly in the high-end price range. Whether your budget will bear fancy hotel-grade sheets is up to you. For some, the wrinkles might also be a dealbreaker.
Today, these Riley sheets are some of the best percale sheets you can buy. If you’re after a nice set of sheets for the warmer season, these Portugal-made percale sheets are an excellent choice.
These crisp percale sheets are extremely comfortable on warm nights.
Meet the tester
Gabriel Morgan
Staff Writer, Home
Gabriel Morgan is a staff writer on Reviewed's home team, where he covers consumer education topics such as earthquake preparedness, radon in the home, and concerns about health and wellness in product design. He also writes product reviews and how-to articles on appliances, smart home technology, and goods for the home.
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