Are Those Popular Online Sheets Really Worth the Money? An Investigation. (2023)

One of the most common questions I get asked is: “Which sheets should I buy?” My job is to test products in the Textiles Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, so shopping for sheets is a topic that's near and dear to me. More recently, however, curious shoppers have been asking about two brands in particular: Brooklinen and Parachute.

Both online bedding companies are direct-to-consumer startups and promise to deliver top-quality sheets. With so many similarities, it’s no wonder it's difficult to figure out which one’s more worth the investment. Here's a quick look at the main similarities and differences between the sheets for each brand:

Price

• Brooklinen is less expensive. Its best-selling sateen sheet set is $179 for a queen. Plus, Brooklinen frequently offers discount codes throughout the year.
• Parachute's sateen sheet set is $264 for a queen. The brand has sales only around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Return policy

• Both brands let you return the sheets for any reason.
• Parachute's return period is 90 days.
• Brooklinen gives you 365 days to get a full refund.

Fabric specs

• Both brands are certified by Oeko-Tex so you know there aren't hazardous levels of chemicals in either.
• Both brands claim to use long-staple cotton (it makes the fabric softer and more durable).
• Parachute says it uses certified Egyptian cotton, which is considered a luxury fiber, and doesn't disclose thread counts.
• Both brands offer percale, sateen and linen sheets. Brooklinen also carries Flannel and Heathered Cashmere sheets, while Parachute has Brushed Cotton and Organic Cotton sheets.

Fitted sheets

• Brooklinen’s 15-inch-deep fitted sheets have “short” and “long” labels on the sides so bed-making is much easier.
• Parachute’s fitted sheets are slightly deeper, at 16 inches.

Size and color options

• Brooklinen and Parachute are both available in six sizes including twin, twin XL, full, queen, king and California king; both brands offer sets with and without the top sheet, extra pillowcases and matching duvet covers.
• Parachute lets you buy sample fabric swatches for $3.
• Both brands have a wide selection of colors. Parachute offers many solid color choices, whereas Brooklinen offers a range of neutral shades, patterns and limited edition colors.

So which brand is best? It depends on what you’re looking for. Neither brand makes just one style, and picking out your best sheet set is a matter of personal preference. That being said, we at the Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab tested the three types of sheets – percale, sateen and linen – from both Brooklinen and Parachute for aspects like fabric strength, pilling resistance, wrinkle resistance and shrinkage after laundering. We then called in consumer testers to rate the fabrics for softness and overall feel in a blind comparison and to try them out at home themselves.

Read on for everything you need to know about how the sheets stacked up in our tests, and the winners for each type.

Brooklinen vs. Parachute: Percale sheets

Percale sheets are crisp, cool sheets with a basic grid-like weave. They're often more breathable and less expensive than sateen, but they're usually not as soft and they wrinkle more easily than super-smooth sateen sheets. Go with Percale sheets if you prefer a light and airy feel.

Brooklinen

Brooklinen's percale sheets received average ratings in our consumer hand-feel and fabric strength tests. The sheets also had a slightly wrinkled appearance in our evaluations, but that's expected with the crisp percale fabric. The 100% cotton, 270 thread count fabric was extremely pill-resistant, though it did shrink a bit in the wash.

Parachute

Parachute's percale sheets were also pill-resistant, though they had a more wrinkled appearance out of the wash. The average rating from our panel was slightly lower than Brooklinen, but it was a marginal difference. However, the fabric itself was significantly stronger, and it didn’t shrink as much when we laundered it. It’s also 100% cotton, but the brand doesn’t disclose the thread count.

Parachute also offers brushed cotton percale sheets, which have all the lightweight, breathable benefits of percale with a softer feel. In fact, these sheets earned high ratings from our panel, specifically for how soft they felt. They weren’t as strong as Parachute’s typical percale sheets but were overall just as durable, performing well in our pilling and wash tests.

The brand also recently released an organic cotton percale sheet set, which are lightly brushed for a "lived-in" feel. These sheets outperformed both other percale sets with less shrinkage, fewer wrinkles and comparable pilling resistance but had lower strength in our tests. Consumer testers noted that while these still felt lightweight and breathable, they aren't as crisp as you'd expect of percale sheets.

So what are the best percale sheets?

Parachute! The scores were similar overall, but Parachute’s percale proved to be more durable and Parachute’s brushed cotton sheets were a crowd favorite.

Brooklinen vs. Parachute: Sateen Sheets

Sateen fabric has a satin weave, meaning the yarn in one direction floats over several yarns in the opposite direction to create a silky smooth surface. In our tests, consumers tend to prefer the soft, luxe feel of sateen over other fabrics.

Brooklinen

Brooklinen's cotton sateen set is one of our all-time favorites. It had good ratings from consumer testers and didn’t wrinkle as much as some other 100% cottons. The 480 thread count fabric is strong, and it didn’t pill or shrink much in our tests.

Parachute

Parachute’s sateen set earned slightly higher hand-feel scores from our testers, but it wrinkled a bit more in our wash tests. The fabric wasn’t as strong or shrink-resistant as Brooklinen, but it had virtually no pills when we put it through the wringer.

So what are the best sateen sheets?

Brooklinen! Not only is it less expensive (you'll save $89 on a queen set with the top sheet), but Brooklinen’s fabric had an overall standout performance in our evaluations.

Brooklinen vs. Parachute: Linen Sheets

Linen sheet fabric is made from flax plants and though it’s not as smooth as cotton, it’s breathable and has a casual, breezy look that users especially love during summer. Hot sleepers often prize linen for its airy texture and temperature-regulating capabilities.

Brooklinen

Brooklinen's linen set washed well with barely any shrinkage. It had an average score in our fabric strength test, and while it wasn’t pill- or wrinkle-resistant, that’s expected for linen.

Parachute

Parachute's linen fabric was slightly more pill-resistant and stronger than Brooklinen’s, though there was also a bit more wrinkling. Still, consumer testers rated it as a bit softer than the Brooklinen fabric.

So what are the best linen sheets?

Parachute! At $294, the queen set is not much pricier than Brooklinen’s $269 queen set, but Parachute’s linen fabric was both softer and stronger, making it the winning choice.

So what's better overall, Brooklinen or Parachute?

Across tests, scores were similar: That means both Parachute and Brooklinen sheets are great quality, and you really can’t go wrong with either brand. Brooklinen’s prices are consistently lower, so if you’re looking to save a few bucks, it’s a safe pick across the board. Bottom line, here's what we found:

• Percale: If you love the light, crisp feel of a percale sheet, choose Parachute.
• Sateen: If you prefer the feel of soft, smooth sateen sheets, go with Brooklinen.
• Linen: If you prefer the relaxed look and feel of linen, go with Parachute.
• Best overall: Brooklinen Luxe Core Sheet Set. Between the softness, durability, reasonable pricing and year-long return period, we're confident you won’t regret the purchase.