5 Best Bedsheet Materials for Malaysian Weather [2022]

We Malaysians live in a tropical paradise where our temperature averaged 27.2 degrees Celsius over the past 61 years. The ideal temperature for sleep is 18.3 degrees Celsius, so we’ve always needed to find ways to cool the body down to get better sleep.

A great way to do this is by finding the right sheets that can do that for you.

The top things you should look for when shopping for sheets for this Malaysian climate are

• Breathability - How good is the material at allowing air to circulate between your skin and the sheets?
• Moisture-wicking - Just like a good towel, can the material quickly wick away the sweat from your skin to cool you off?

Based on those two factors, here are the top 5 bedsheet materials that we found to be the best for Malaysian weather:

#1: Silk 🥇 - The best cooling material for bedsheets

#2: Bamboo Sateen

#3: Linen

#4: Tencel

#5: Cotton

#1: Silk 🥇 - The best cooling material for bedsheets

Photo credit: Susan WIlkinson, Unsplash

Silk is one of the most coveted fabrics on the planet due to how luxuriously soft, cool, and comfortable it is.

Pros:

• Naturally hypoallergenic;
• Has amazing moisture-wicking properties; 
• Very cooling on the skin.

Cons:

• It is c r a z y expensive. Real 100% Mulberry silk satin sheets can go up to RM2,750.

As much as we like it, we just are unable to spend that amount on a set of sheets!

However, we’ll give credit where credit's due, and silk is honestly #1 for the best bed sheet material.

#2: Bamboo Sateen

Pros:

• Silky-smooth yet incredibly durable;
• Great at wicking away sweat and bodily fluids (helps sweaty sleepers to stay dry throughout the night); 
• Breathable (allows cool air to freely circulate between your skin and the surface of your bedsheet for cooler sleep); 
• Due to it being a natural fibre, bamboo is 100% hypoallergenic and antimicrobial (perfect for those with sensitive sinus systems or skin); 
• Environmentally friendly due to bamboo being one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet.

Cons:

• Due to it being as smooth as real silk, it is delicate and requires a bit more care

We loved how silk feels, and we wanted our sheets to feel like (and have the great qualities) of silk satin.

The way our Bamboo Sateen sheets are weaved gives it a finish that's very similar to silk satin's. We can safely say that it's the next best thing to real silk sheets!

#3: Linen

Photo credit: Kate Hliznitsova, Unsplash

Pros:

• One of the most durable fibres on earth;
• Naturally hypoallergenic (can resist bacterial growth);
• Very airy; 
• Has great moisture-wicking properties.

Linen sheets are something that you buy once to last you for the rest of your life. If you take care of them well, they can even be passed down to your children and grandchildren.

Cons:

• It's a costly fabric (the fibres are thicker, it is harder to weave and the production process ends up costing more);
• Some people find linen sheets to be too stiff in the first year of using them;
• Some people dislike how wrinkly it gets, as it is very prone to wrinkling due to how the fibre has no natural elasticity.

#4: Tencel

Photo credit: Tencel.com

Tencel is a brand that produces fabric made from eucalyptus tree wood pulp.

Pros:

• Soft and comfortable;
• Durable;
• Has antimicrobial properties;
• Employs environmentally-friendly fabric production.

Cons:

• More expensive due to the complex environmentally-friendly manufacturing process;
• Studies have shown that its moisture-wicking abilities and breathability are not as good as silk, bamboo sateen and linen’s.

#5: Cotton

Photo Credit: Rumana S, Unsplash

No good bedsheet list is complete without good ol’ cotton in it. The star of the show for the ongoing "does thread count matter?" debate, we can't deny that cotton sheets are a good and safe (albeit traditional) choice for bedsheets in places with a tropical climate.

Pros:

• Very affordable (the regular types at least, not the high-end Egyptian cotton types. Those are bougie!);
• Soft;
• Breathable;
• Comfortable;
• Easy to care for;
• Widely available.

Cons:

• A lot of marketing gimmicks regarding cotton sheets that aim to deceive consumers (Thread count can be manipulated and customers could end up paying more for a marketing gimmick!);
• Affordable cotton sheets are made with short-fibre cotton which makes them less comfortable and not as durable.

There are other better fabrics out there in the bedding industry nowadays. Cotton is an old and traditional fabric, and technological advancement in the 21st century brought forth advancements in the textiles and fabrics industry too.

There are simply better fabrics out there that do everything cotton promises to do, just in a more efficient way.

These why we recommend these materials, but we always encourage you, the shoppers, to do more research on what your needs are, and what material best meets those needs.

Some criteria to think about:

1. Breathable (no plasticky feel that makes the skin clammy in the middle of the night)
2. Cooling
3. Moisture-wicking
4. Can be air-dried
5. Durable (fabric and elastic can withstand being dried in the sun or in a tumble dryer)
6. Hypoallergenic and antimicrobial (to prevent bacteria from growing due to our humid environment)
7. Pricing (priced fairly?)

This list is just an example. When making your own list, be sure to include you and your sleep partner's unique needs.

Then, when you're ready to shop for your new bedsheets, simply make sure that the sheets you're going to buy tick off most of the boxes!

We're glad to flex that our Joey Bedsheet Set ticks off all the boxes in the list above. It's made of CloudBamboo™️ (our special blend of Bamboo Sateen) so it's soft, buttery, extremely comfortable, and perfect for our hot and humid Malaysian climate!