Nest Bedding has been getting some attention from online review sites for its bamboo sheets. Word on the web is that these are soft, lightweight, cooling sheets that are great for hot sleepers. However, you may be wary of trusting random bloggers, who often have limited knowledge about how these products are made. What if you could read a Nest Bedding bamboo sheets review from someone who works in the industry?
That's where we come in. We're the team behind Hush, makers of high-end sleep products like the Hush Iced 2.0 bamboo cooling sheets. As you can probably guess from the link, we're big fans of bamboo's soft and lightweight feel. But while designing our own luxury sheets, we learned that bamboo bedding can vary a huge amount in quality depending on how it's sourced, woven, and finished.
After touring dozens of factories and interviewing suppliers around the world, we're intimately familiar with the difference between the best bamboo sheets and those that are just okay. Where do Nest Bedding bamboo sheets fall on that spectrum? Let's take a look.
At a glance:
Pro: Soft And Smooth
If you haven't tried bamboo bed sheets before, you might expect them to be a bit stiff or scratchy. Nothing could be further from the truth. The material that Nest uses is technically called bamboo rayon, and it's made by spinning the super-fine natural fibers from bamboo wood pulp into a smooth fabric.
The softness of bamboo sheets can differ between manufacturers, but as a rule, they have a silky, glossy texture. This set from Nest bedding is no exception. The most common word we saw in customer reviews of these sheets is "soft." In terms of pure softness, Nest Bedding ranks up there with the very best bamboo sheets.
We should clarify one thing for the record, though: some have reported that Nest's bamboo bedding doesn't feel quite so soft right out of the box. It may take one or two wash cycles to break in.
Con: Not The Most Durable
While the Nest Bedding bamboo sheets get great marks for softness, they may not hold up so well under the strain of everyday use. One of our biggest bedding turn-offs is pilling — those tiny balls of fabric that can make the surface of your sheets feel bumpy.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few complaints from users who said that Nest sheets pilled after just a few washes. Some even said their bedding developed holes in a matter of weeks. Normally, bamboo sheets don't pill as much as other types of fabric. What's going on here?
One possibility is that the quality of the material they're getting from their suppliers isn't consistent. Bamboo fabric is weaker when it's harvested in hot weather, which is why we at Hush make a point of never buying our raw materials during the summer. Not everyone takes similar precautions, so two sets of sheets from the same company may vary a lot in their durability.
You can often get a longer lifespan out of your bedding if you understand how to wash bamboo sheets. The basic rules include using a gentle cycle with mild detergent and cool water. If you're going to tumble dry, do so on low heat.
Even this may not totally solve your durability woes with Nest Bedding bamboo sheets, however. Several customers said they experienced pilling despite following all the instructions for how to properly wash bamboo sheets.
Pro: They Help You Stay Cool
One significant advantage of Nest's sheet set is that bamboo sheets are cooling. Bamboo fibers are filled with tiny pores that let air flow through, allowing heat to rise off of your body instead of getting trapped in your bedding. Bamboo rayon is also a moisture-wicking fabric that helps pull sweat away from your skin. This gives a boost to your body's natural evaporative cooling.
We featured Nest's eucalyptus sheet set in our list of the best sheets for night sweats, but their bamboo sheets are great in this regard as well. Both materials are far superior to cotton sheets in terms of their superior moisture-wicking properties and breathability. Hot sleepers will likely notice the difference in temperature regulation right away.
Are these the best bamboo cooling sheets? Not quite — we'd have to reserve that title for our own Hush sheets. We enhance the natural cooling power of bamboo with our proprietary Iced finish, which makes our bamboo sheets feel deliciously cool to the touch all night long. Still, Nest Bedding bamboo sheets are much better for sweaty sleepers than traditional cotton sheets.
Con: The Sheets May Not Fit
Do you get annoyed when you shift around in your sleep and pull the fitted sheet loose from the corners of your bed? If so, you may want to think twice about Nest Bedding's bamboo sheets. The elastic they use on their fitted sheet appears to be somewhat weak, and lots of reviewers complained that it was constantly sliding free.
There's always a risk of this happening if you toss and turn at night, but it tends to be worse with bamboo sheets. Their texture is so smooth that there's very little friction to help hold them in place. That's why we upgraded our fitted sheet with additional elastic straps that stretch down around the corners of your mattress, anchoring it in place. Nest's sheets lack this key feature.
Another factor to consider when shopping for sheets is pocket depth. This refers to the thickness of the bed that can be covered by a fitted sheet.
Many people today are opting for boxed mattresses that are as thick as a traditional mattress and box spring combined, so it's often important to have deep-pocket sheets. Nest's sheets are alright in this regard, but not fantastic; they can fit up to a 14-inch mattress with ease, but you may struggle to fit them over anything thicker.
Pro: Eco-Friendly
For many shoppers, one of the most important benefits of bamboo sheets is that they aren't as hard on the environment as cotton sheets. Bamboo is among the most sustainable textile crops on Earth.
What makes it so green? Bamboo plants grow fast, pulling carbon dioxide out of the air in the process, without any pesticides or fertilizer. They can take root in rocky, nutrient-poor soils that aren't well-suited to other kinds of agriculture. And you can harvest bamboo without disrupting the roots, leaving them in place to stabilize the ground against erosion.
Note that the manufacturing process that turns bamboo fiber into fabric can still involve harsh chemicals. Sadly, not all companies are equally careful when it comes to keeping those contaminants out of the environment — or out of their finished products. But like Hush sheets, Nest Bedding bamboo sheets are OEKO-TEX certified, so you don't need to lose sleep worrying about toxic chemicals in your bed.
The only reason we can't rank Nest among the most sustainable sheets is that the company doesn't specify whether the bamboo they use is certified organic. In our experience, that typically means it's not. Pretty much all bedding made from natural bamboo is more eco-friendly than cotton sheets, but we'd want to know more about their sourcing before giving Nest a perfect score for sustainability.
Con: Color Confusion
A surprising number of people who bought Nest bed sheets complained that the color of the sheets they received didn't look how it appeared on the website. The "Slate" color seems to be the biggest culprit. Many people said that it looks much more like navy blue than the dark gray shown in the photos.
This is a shame, because the color options as presented online look quite nice. Many bamboo sheet sets are offered only in earthy colors like "sand" and "ivory," probably because the sellers want to emphasize the eco-friendly side of their products. (Take a look at the popular Cozy Earth bamboo sheets for an example of what we mean.) We’re glad to see more bamboo sheet sets with lively color palettes, but we also want to know what we're getting when we place an order.
Pro: Good Value
Like most bamboo sheets, Nest's sheets feel like luxury products thanks to their incredible softness. But they're more affordable than many of their competitors. A Queen-sized set sells for around $162, which gets you a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, and four pillowcases. (Twin sets come with one pillowcase while full sets come with two.)
Compare that to the Cozy Earth bamboo sheet set we mentioned above. At more than $360 for a Queen set, it's a lot harder on your wallet. Premium prices are common when buying bamboo sheets, so it's nice to see a set that's not so steep.
One other nice touch: Nest offers free shipping on orders over $75. Even their cheapest sheet set meets that threshold, so you won't be paying freight charges for your bedding.
Are These The Best Bamboo Sheets For You?
Bamboo is one of the best materials for bed sheets, but how do you decide which bamboo sheets to buy? In our view, this set from Nest Bedding is a decent choice if your top priority is budget-friendly bedding with softness and cooling power to spare. They're less desirable if you want sheets that you know will hold up well in the long term.
If you're not totally sold, you might want to consider our Hush Iced sheets as an alternative. They have the natural buttery-soft feel and temperature regulation of bamboo, but they've also been carefully sourced for durability, giving them the highest possible rating for pilling resistance. And at $139 for a Queen-size sheet set, they're more affordable than Nest sheets. If that sounds good to you, head to our product page and get your 30-night sleep trial started!
