In a recent OGT Team meeting, someone posed the question of whether or not you sleep with flat or top sheets. It turned out that the team was split about 50/50 on the issue. (I was, and still am, firmly in the “pro-top-sheet” camp. Honestly, until the topic came up in our meeting, I wasn’t even aware many people don’t like or use top sheets!)
After our enlightening conversation about this debate, I wanted to know where you guys stood on the issue. So I posted on my Instagram account to ask my followers about where they stand on the top sheet debate. That post ended up having one of the highest number of comments I’ve EVER gotten on an Instagram post. It’s obviously an issue that people have strong feelings about! :-)
So today I thought I would distill “the great top sheet debate” down for you. I’ll lay out the arguments on both sides of the debate so you can decide where you stand! (Feel free to offer your two cents in a comment at the bottom of this post — there’s nothing wrong with a healthy discourse on bedding preferences!)
Related: The One Thing You Need to Do Before Switching to Lighter Bedding
The Argument Against Using a Top Sheet
The argument against using a top sheet is usually one of comfort or convenience. Regardless of whether the sheet is tucked in or not, it can easily get tangled or twisted up overnight. Top sheets can also trap in more heat, which could be nice during the winter, but may be too warm in the summer.
As far as convenience goes, using a top sheet means you have another piece of bedding to wash regularly. It also adds time and effort to the process of putting clean sheets on your bed. And finally, there’s the fact that it’s usually cheaper to buy one fitted sheet than it is to buy a set with a top sheet!
In Defense of the Top Sheet
On the other hand, arguments in favor of top sheets tend to center around hygiene, functionality, and tradition. Advocates for top sheets often say that it’s more hygienic to use one. It acts as a barrier between your body and the comforter, quilt, or duvet, which can keep germs and sweat away from the blanket.
There’s also a functional aspect to using a flat sheet. During warm summer nights, sleeping with just the top sheet can feel cooler than sleeping uncovered! And as I mentioned above, the top sheet can also provide an extra layer of insulation during the winter.
And finally, there are the traditionalists who argue that using a top sheet is just the right way to make a bed! Whether because Mom always used one, or because they would feel weird without one, some feel that the top sheet is a long-lasting bedding tradition worth honoring.
The Right Way to Ditch Your Top Sheet
If you’re ready to leave your top sheet behind, it’s worth considering that the hygiene argument is a valid one. Without that extra layer, your blanket will be subjected to more sweat and body oils than usual. That’s why I suggest using a duvet with a removable, washable duvet cover.
Just wash your duvet cover as often as you wash your fitted sheet and pillowcases (about once a week.) It’s an easy way to enjoy the benefits of sleeping without a flat sheet without any of the potential drawbacks. I love a good win-win situation! :-)
Oh, and one more thing… if you’re considering ditching your top sheet, don’t throw it out! There are plenty of ways to put your old bedsheets to good use. Learn all about them at the link below!
Related: 17 New Ways to Use Your Old Bed Sheets
Where do you stand on the subject of top sheets?
More Ideas You'll Love
Am I the ONLY one who doesn’t use a duvet??
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I don’t own one and have never used one! You are not alone!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I wouldn’t have one! My comforter and top sheet are great!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a comforter, without a cover.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Not sure I even know what section of the store to find a duvet. It’s no big deal to pull off 2 sheets and wash.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used a duvet for a short period of time and wasn’t a fan. I prefer comforters.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have to have a top sheet to have a good night sleep. My 15-year-old daughter has always kicked off, stuffed, shoved away the top sheet until I finally gave up and got her a duvet. My only problem with it is that its difficult to find nice sheets that don’t sell in a set. To buy only the fitted sheet isn’t always possible and it’s annoying.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Miss Jennifer, can you use the top sheet as a fitted sheet when the actual fitted sheet is in the wash and just tuck the flat sheet in all around the bed? They also make those clamps to use with sheets to keep them from coming off. Maybe just use those on all four corners and tuck the rest of the flat sheet all around? Just a thought.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It’s interesting you mention that, Karen. It brought back a memory I haven’t thought of during most of my life: my mother always used two sheets on the beds, but there were never any fitted sheets, or not until much later in my childhood. She always just tucked all the edges of the bottom sheet under the mattress. Now that I’ve just checked, I learned that fitted sheets weren’t invented until 1959 so that explains that.
I find those clamps are hard to use. I found “gator clips” for clipping on the edge of tarps and tying down work great for sheets. You could add a rope, or I found a bungee cord that was just the right length to keep the bottom sheet snug. I loved it and use it when we went glamping. We have a king bed in the house, but a queen in the RV. We wanted the fleece set because it was March and cold, and I needed a way to keep the fitted sheet on the mattress. Four clamps and two cords a quarter of the up and down across the mattress, awesome. Definitely keeping the top sheet.
Hospitals use and always used Flat sheets. The hospital corner!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh yes – my mother always made us make up our beds every day I learned hospital corners (she was also a nurse!). The skill came in handy when I went into the Marines and we had to make up our bunks tightly!
Definitely in the top sheet camp! I can’t imagine not having a sheet in the summer. Also, I use quilts on my beds and wouldn’t want them to be exposed to nightly sweat and oils. IMHO changing a duvet every time you wash sheets would be defeating the idea of not having a top sheet.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a top sheet. It’s easier to wash and change than wrestling with a duvet cover weekly. If I get too warm can fold back duvet and still have a cover.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Queen size top sheet and duvet cover here. It’s a HUGE pain to take off the duvet cover, wash it, and put it back on. NO WAY do I want to do that every two weeks when my laundry gets done by my cleaning woman. Every few months to wash the duvet cover is enough for me!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It’s much easier to wash a top sheet than to remove, wash, then replace duvet covers. Top sheets are also easier to wash and require less time in the dryer than blankets or comforters as well as duvet covers. Stick with the top sheet.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a top sheet and a duvet cover. I use the top sheet because it keeps me warmer/cooler and I cover my duvet to protect it. I don’t move around enough to get tangled up in the top sheet so that’s not a problem for me.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I w ill stay with the top sheet…
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Where did the white bedspread with the tufted dots come from?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.No top sheet. I have one of those woven cotton blankets that are so soft, breathable and it conforms to my body. Keeps me warm in the winter & cool in the summer.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.No top sheet here, of course living somewhere where its almost always warm makes it much nicer to sleep at night. Hubby doesn’t like sleeping under the covers at all unless he gets cold then he will slide under the quilt for a bit. I grew up with a top sheet but its just something else to get tangled up. We generally have a thin Cotton quilt on the bed so washing it every week with the rest of the bedding is no big deal. one thing I will never own is a duvet cover, what a pain I tried those once until I had to wash and put back on, cuddos to those who use them. I think everyone has their way that they like the best and to each his own.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I, too, am in the “use the top sheet” group. It is cooler to sleep with just a top sheet than one light blanket and can’t sleep with no covers. The top sheet protects the blanket(s) and makes them last longer and if you use a wool blanket, you may not want that directly on your skin while it is very warm and comfy in the winter. So I am top sheet all the way!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like a top sheet with my duvet but “To each their own”. Duvet covers are great but cleaning it every week would not save time or laundry. It is not that easy to put the cover on and off and is almost the size of 2 sheets since it is a bag. I also don’t make my bed in the traditional way.. When I was in Germany many years ago we hung our duvet out to air the bedding every day. I do this now by pulling all bedding back and I find the bed stays fresher. Love the blog. Keep up the good work.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This sounds like a great idea. Also a perfect excuse as to why you don’t make the bed in the morning :).
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Ditched the top sheet five or six years ago. Thought it was fine all that time. A few months ago started using a top sheet again. It was then I realized how much worse I slept without the top sheet. The change to sleeping better was instant.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am for the top sheet.My husband was in military and has been spoiled with a tight tucked in bed. My side I don’t tuck in cause I stick my feet out to keep cool even on cold nights. We both like the top sheet and never ever thought of not using one. Yes it saves on my quilts as I have a California king split and my quilt is140x140.Because of my husbands height we have taller legs on our bed .I get in with a small step bench.for top sheets !
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have had this discussion at several Girls’ Night Outings. Seems like vast majority of our kids in their teens and 20s do not use top sheets. We determined it is a trend for their generation! My DH and I still use one and I don’t see us changing our ways but I do end up having to wash my 3 kids blankets much more which is more work then washing a top sheet.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I couldn’t give up using a top sheet. I use it in the winter as if it were a light-weight blanket when the room’s too warm for our down comforter, as a light cover in the summer, and in deep winter for the wonderful snuggliness of soft flannel sheets above and below us.
There’s definitely a sentimental aspect, too. I’m old enough to remember when all sheets were flat sheets. “We kids” were responsible for changing our own beds each week, and our mantra was “the top sheet goes on the bottom and the bottom sheet goes in the wash.” With five kids, my Mom was constantly doing laundry, and this was one way of reducing its volume. We learned to make hospital corners to keep the sheets in place. It was no a big deal: just what we did. It worked.
For me, I find stuffing a comforter into a duvet is kind of a fussy process compared to just putting on a clean top sheet, and I wouldn’t want to stuff a duvet weekly. So, I’m firmly on the top sheet side.
Thanks, Jillee, for all the terrific ideas you set out for us.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I had no idea there wasn’t always a time when we had fitted sheets. Or did I forget? I don’t see how they would have stayed tucked in if they weren’t fitted. What a great invention that was!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I remember both being flat and how hard it was to make the bed if you were a restless sleeper everyday.
It’s so weird that you did this article now. I was literally just debating whether or not to ditch my top sheet – reason being that my husband sleeps like the Tasmanian Devil & I’m so tired of fixing the twisted sheet. I just can’t get by the hygiene factor and I don’t want to have to wash my comforter every week.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hmm… maybe if I got a king-size sheet for my queen-size bed it’d be harder for him to kick the sheet out.
Yes! King sized and tuck with hospital corners, they stay in place better than fitted sheets with MY Tasmanian Devil!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I also prefer the “3 Sheet Method” which means I tuck a flat king over my down comforter. Easy peasey to toss in the wash weekly. Fitted sheet wear out quicker so I usually have an abundance of orphaned flats.
My son’s always push the top sheet to the end and eventually to a ball on the floor. They would sleep in or under or on top of a ‘silkie’ sleeping bag or bedspread if asked.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like having a top sheet: when I get to hot off comes the heavy thick bedspread. Sheet on, 1/2 on, all off; with/without bedspread.
I’ve noticed at some hotels they don’t put a top sheet on under duvet/comforter. Some put it on top, some none at all. YUCK do they wash everything then?
Besides personal taste it’s a matter for the person doing the washing and putting sheets on/off.
Wonderful topic.
I use to love my top sheet, but my husband always untucked his side and wouldn’t pull it over him. The messy feeling of that finally made me leave it behind. I do use a duvet cover.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Totally a top sheet user…and don’t want to change!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I buy the best quality cotton sheet sets I can find at a good price and iron the top sheet and pillow cases. It feels like we are in a hotel bed with the “crispy” sheets. My partner chided me initially but now he loves it. For me, it is a small amount of effort for a big gain.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Obviously if you are using a DUVET as opposed to a comforter or counter pane, you do not need a top sheet, as the duvet has a washable cover. It is lovely to have the duvet snuggled round you. From a practical point of view, it is much easier for bed-making. If you are using blankets, or a comforter, of course you need a top sheet. If you visit Austria, you will see duvets without top sheets.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am in favor of the top sheet it’s cozy and just adds that comforting touch to sleeping.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I didn’t know that anyone would actually prefer to sleep without a top sheet! I love the soft feel of my sheets on both sides, tops and bottoms!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.