Considering that we spend a third of our lives sleeping, a good night’s rest is essential to our overall health and well-being, so it makes sense to pick perfect bedding sets that create a relaxing bedroom environment. In fact, your bedding can make or break your sleep quality at night - whether you sleep soundly or toss and turn through the night. 

Bed sheets in Singapore come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and materials. These could potentially make choosing bedsheets overwhelming. As cotton retains first as the world’s most common bed sheet material, TENCEL™ fabrics have also been rising in popularity. 

Researching and buying bed sheets online should not be a daunting task, and we are here to help you decide - whether TENCEL™ vs cotton. In this article, we detail their similarities, differences, and which one you should pick depending on your preferences.

Produced by Austrian textile company Lenzing AG, TENCEL™ is the brand name for semi-synthetic fibres such as Modal and Lyocell, two fabrics commonly used in bedding and clothing. When comparing TENCEL™ Modal vs cotton, the differences are almost similar with Lyocell. However, TENCEL™ Lyocell is stronger and has more moisture-wicking properties.

Lenzing’s core market is wood-based cellulose fibres. They manufacture Viscose, Modal, self-sufficient biorefineries and closed-loop production to being actively involved in the protection of endangered and primeval forests, it is clear that TENCEL™ fabrics are not only ethically produced but also eco-friendly all at the same time. 

As previously mentioned, TENCEL™ is Lenzing's flagship brand for textiles made from a spectrum of fibres, including Viscose and Lyocell. Although all of the fibres come from natural, renewable, and biodegradable sources, it could be challenging to differentiate them.

TENCEL™ fibres may be blended with other fibres such as cotton or bamboo to make textiles such as bamboo lyocell. To hold the TENCEL™ brand and Lenzing TENCEL™ certification, a product just has to include 30% Lenzing fibres - therefore make sure the product you're buying is pure or merely a blend!

Blends are typically used to improve the fabric's feel, performance, or durability. Blends of TENCEL™ fibres, on the other hand, often do not preserve the greatest qualities of each material, so going pure is always preferable.

TENCEL™ has come a long way since they started production and are still constantly thinking of new ways to improve and innovate through technology. Their latest innovation - REFIBRA™, advances the goals of designers and consumers who are increasingly interested in low impact options. 

REFIBRA™ technology involves upcycling cotton scraps from garment production and transforming them into brand new cellulosic fibre materials for clothing and home products. It gives a second life to what would have otherwise been sent to landfills or incinerated. 

REFIBRA™ is Lenzing’s first step in contributing towards the emerging circular economy of the future in the textile industry and further improves supply-chain transparency. 

If you are someone who is prone to sweating in your sleep and struggles to find sheets to keep you cool throughout the night, then TENCEL™ sheets may be the thing for you. With exceptional thermoregulating and breathable properties, TENCEL™ bedding sheets have been proven to feel cooler to the touch. 

In fact, this ‘cooling feeling’ increases with increasing air humidity - perfect for Singapore’s weather conditions! This temperature-regulating textile will keep you cool and dry in bed, allowing you to achieve a good night’s sleep anywhere, at any time. 

Believe it or not, one of the biggest triggers of acne is the type of sheets you are sleeping on, especially spending approximately 8 hours a night lying in your sheets. As you sleep, your body expels heat which activates your sweat glands. This encourages the production of more sebum which leads to acne breakouts or itching on the skin. 

Hence, TENCEL™ 's moisture-wicking abilities makes it the best sheets for people with sensitive skin or skin disorders, such as eczema or psoriasis. They are less likely to attract dust mites and slow down bacteria growth by 10 times as compared to cotton. The natural materials used in the production of TENCEL™ fibres have resulted in this hypoallergenic quality. 

Bed sheets are an easy yet impactful way of giving a bedroom personality. Dread ironing your sheets? With their natural silky look and resistance to wrinkles, TENCEL™ bed sheets automatically give a bed a luxurious finish effortlessly with a silk-like drape. They are also more vibrant and shine radiantly as it retains dye better and are less prone to fading over time. 

Moreover, they are relatively easy to care for despite having slightly more restrictions when it comes to cleaning. Hand washing is preferred but they are also machine washable on a delicate cycle with cold-water temperature. 

In a recent study done by market research firm YouGov shows that more than half of Singapore consumers believe that firms should ensure that their supply chains do no harm to the environment. If you fall into this category of consumers, you may consider exploring TENCEL™ fibre sheets. 

Production of TENCEL™ fibres is undeniably more environmentally friendly than other fibres as it involves a closed-loop process that recycles more than 99% of the solvent used in manufacturing. It also uses less water and energy than conventional cotton production.

Apart from minimal waste and better water conservation, TENCEL™ itself supports verified climate protection projects, specifically in communities impacted by the textile industry. These projects aim to help ill-prepared communities become more climate-resilient and introduce them to new sources of renewable energy. For example, improved cookstoves in Bangladesh, solar water heating in India and Kamphaeng Saen landfill gas to energy in Thailand. 

This gives consumers who are all for sustainability a peace of mind knowing that they are supporting a brand that cares deeply about Mother Earth.

Cotton is a natural fibre harvested from the cotton seed pod of cotton plants. It is the most widely used traditional material today - from drying our faces on a soft cotton towel in the morning, to putting on our favourite worn-in cotton t-shirt, until we slide between fresh cotton bed sheets at night, it is impossible to avoid cotton.  

The production of cotton fabric from cotton fibres these days requires a machine called Cotton Gin to remove the seeds from cotton bolls, as well as any dirt from the cotton. The raw cotton fibres are then transformed into long strands through a process called carding. These long strands are then spun into yarn and put through various chemical treatments to be dyed and finally woven into their designated textile material such as bed sheets or apparels. 

It is no wonder that cotton is one of the most beloved and widely used fabrics in the world. It is a drought-resistant crop that occupies just 2.1% of the world’s arable land, yet meets 27% of the world’s textile needs. Traditionally, cotton has been associated with its fair share of social and environmental risks. However, the growing awareness about these drawbacks have prompted several worldwide initiatives to produce cotton more sustainably and equitably. 

One of which being the 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge (2025 SCC), which aims to increase the percentage of world’s sustainable cotton from 22% to 50% by 2025. Programs like these help to regulate cotton production to allow consumers to feel more assured about consuming cotton products.

Not all cotton is the same and the quality of fabric can be determined based on several factors - their staple length, thread count, weave, etc. 

Staple length, also known as the length of the fibres, is one of the most important factors in determining the softness of cotton fabrics. Extra-long staple cotton fibres make sheets and fabric that are finer, smoother, and lighter.

Thread count is defined as the total number of threads woven vertically (warp) and horizontally (weft) into one square inch of a fabric. Generally, it is understood that the higher the thread count, the softer and smoother the sheets. Thread count for sheets ranging from 400 - 600, when made with quality cotton fibres, is sufficient enough to create materials with a soft and luxurious finish. 

In fact, what you hear and see on labels about thread count is usually a bedding myth! High thread count should not be the only key indicator when looking for quality sheets in Singapore. Knowing that the bedsheet thread count has a huge influence on consumers’ decisions, manufacturers may rely on heavy marketing and use misleading computations to manipulate their numbers.

The weave of a fabric is considered a design or construction of the yarn to achieve a particular pattern, which determines its texture, breathability, and durability. Two of the most common are sateen and percale weave. Opt for sateen cotton if you want a smooth hand feel with a sheen finish then percale cotton for a crisp, matte-like weave.

At the end of the day, personal preference plays the biggest role in purchasing the best quality cotton bedding for yourself. Whether you’d prefer a warmer sheet to be snug and cosy or a cooling sheet to suit Singapore’s humid weather, we have compiled a brief description of the most common fabrics and weaves for you to make a better, well-formed choice when you buy cotton bed sheets.

When it comes to the various types of cotton, it is important to ensure that the type of cotton that the fabric claims to be from is verified or certified. 

For example, cotton that is grown in Egypt, both long and short staple, can be technically labelled as Egyptian cotton which makes it hard to guarantee the quality of the ‘Egyptian cotton’ that you’re buying. And there are a lot of fabrics claiming to be Pima cotton that are actually just a blend of pima. Hence, look out for a verified Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton, or Supima cotton instead.

Slowly but steadily, the demand for sustainable and eco-friendly fabric from consumers has increased. Thus, pushing for the cotton industry to reduce its environmental impacts through innovation for a more sustainable solution.

One such example is organic cotton. Grown without using harmful chemicals and pesticides, organic cotton poses as a viable alternative to traditional cotton. This chemical-free production reduces the negative impacts to the health of cotton farmers and locals. Moreover, organic cotton requires less water as compared to conventional cotton, which has a positive impact on water conservation at cotton plantations.

However, organic cotton production is far from perfect. Organic cotton yields fewer fibres which requires more plants and ultimately more land to produce. It also requires a lot of processing and dying which are also chemically intensive. Thus is it important for consumers to be aware of greenwashing of brands who claim to use organic cotton without certification. Fibres that are grown organically but processed with harmful chemicals may still carry the organic label. 

A certification you may want to look out for is the Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex® label, which tests every product component for harmful levels of over 100 individual substances from 17 groups of chemicals.

Cotton fibres are natural hollow fibres, known for their breathability and softness. If you are looking to slip under something cosy for a good night’s sleep, cotton may be the material for you.

Sometimes cotton bed sheets may feel scratchy or overly crisp at the start of its use, however, rest assured that this is not forever. Cotton bed sheets generally get softer with each wash, thus the longer you use them, the more comfy they feel.

Unlike TENCEL™ fibre sheets, cotton sheets are able to sustain higher temperatures of washing and drying, making them easy to wash and care for.

When it comes to weighing the budget between TENCEL™ or Egyptian cotton, the gap may make a difference. But that still depends on the cotton variant, among other factors. With a wide variety of cotton types and blends, there is surely something for everyone at different price points. If TENCEL™ or bamboo bed sheets are out of the budget, quality cotton bed sheets are just a good option for luxury comfort. They, too, have a soft touch to the skin and do the job of keeping you cosy at night, without having to empty your wallet. 

Ultimately your personal preference plays the biggest role in purchasing the best bedding material for yourself. From your lifestyle to sleeping style and your views about sustainability, there could be an argument made between TENCEL™ vs cotton bed sheet sets.