Maybe washable silk? I've found that it seems cooler than my cotton stuff, so I use it in the summer. I also think satin or sateen is cooler to the touch, but I am not particularly wild about the way it looks, feels, or sounds. I do know what you mean though. There are some cottons that just seem cooler than others, but I have no idea why or what the difference is. It's hard finding items made in the USA. Just ask any unemployed textile worker from NC!

I had been looking into bedding as well for my DD who suffers from eczema. While I cannot speak to comparative quality of various bedding since her issues are more generalized, I did zero in on Oeko-Tex certified sheets and bedding. I purchased hers through the Company Store, though one member who had tried out several brands highly recommended Cuddledown. I selected Sateen sheets as they get softer with every wash and do feel cooler to the touch.

In addition, I do an extra rinse with all clothes and bedding. Have you tried washing and doing multiple rinses of your bedding? Perhaps there is some factory residue (or packaging) that you are reacting to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cuddledown sheets

I just wanted to add, that heat can be a histimine reaction. I don't think this is in your head at all, but that you are indeed experiencing an allregic reaction, which is producing histimine and causing you to feel hot. So, it's not finding a "cooler" cotton, but finding one that does not set off your allergies.

Are you able to wear cotton clothing without this reaction? If so, then I would think it is some chemical that is used in the making of the sheets, not the fabric itself, though I would highly suggest sticking with a breathable, natural material.

I can appreciate your problems with sheets, etc. I also love my old cotton/ploy sheets and have spent way too much money trying new cotton bedding for my king-size bed.

I finally found a cotton/rayon mix at Target, and just love it. It is smooth and cool.

I have the same problem with alcohol. Even little chocolates that my have alcohol, I turn beet red and get so hot. Mine is easy to solve so no alcohol. However you need sheets. You don't use anything different to wash them as you use in your regular clothes. DH developed a slight rash on his skin and we realized it was the new detergent.
Maybe a higher thread count would work? Maybe bleaching them or not bleaching them- depending on what you are already doing. Does it happen if you stay at a hotel?

I have that problem, too! It's physiological, NOT psychological. I had to go to a dermatologist to find it out. I can't sleep on any sheets that are part polyester either. The weave is not as flat as many cottons or silks and they cause me to itch and break out in rashes. I have a hard time with it in clothing, too. And, even low thread count all-cotton sheets bother me! I need at least 350 thread count, but have had to take some 450 tc because they make me hot and/or itchy. My dermatologist told me that it was a combination of the sizing some companies use on their sheets (and clothes), and the breathability of the sheet fabric itself. I know that many people, including myself, are starting to react badly to different chemicals that companies are using these days. For example, fifteen years ago I developed an allergy to the adhesive in bandages. Three years ago, out of the blue, I suddenly developed a severe allergy to Aspertame/Aspartamine, the artificial sweetener in just about everything these days! So, I think it is possible that you've developed an allergy to the chemicals in a certain (new?) sizing that they're using these days.
I wish I could tell you the name of the sheets I've found that work the best for me, but I cut all the tags off of them . . . another thing that itches and scratches me.

I sometimes have that problem, but I've found that the percale sheets from Penneys don't bother me....I wash them before use in hot water and Tide, then do two rinses with vinegar. After that it is normal use and laundering. HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: these are on sale

I don't know of any cotton mills in the U.S. , as far as I know cotton sheeting is woven overseas nowadays, even if the sheets are cut and sewn in the U.S. hence they may say Made in the USA but the fabric is imported. I'm inclined to think that might be the reason your "older" bedding doesn't affect you. The fibers used on the imported bedding must be different, as well as the sizing.

or it's because the sizing is really worn from the "older" bedding. I'm perplexed by your problem because it made me think of my old Wamsutta percale sheets I loved so much, they were crisp and felt cool. I can't seem to find that in new sheets.

Have you tried linen sheets, it takes some getting used to, they get softer as you wash them.

For a while when I was a kid, I could only handle white sheets....no colors, no designs. By college, I could handle any type of sheet just fine, and still don't have problems (knock on wood).

I have heard that allergies can flair or disappear with age. Or, like another poster mentioned, maybe it's something to do with the manufacturing process "these days."

Wish I could help more :(

Have you tried linen or bamboo sheets yet?

Jim

I second the "Cuddledown" suggestion: their Oeko-Tex sheets are excellent. Made in the U.S.A.

I always wash my sheets in hot water with two rinses before using them. For my new laundry hampers, I removed the velcro liner and washed them twice and each time I washed them I added two rinses. I wanted to take no chances before putting my clothes in the hampers since I do have chemical sensitivites.

I prefer 100% coton sheets that are at least 300 thread count. I always feel them since I found out the 45 count from JCPenney was softer than the 600 thread count sheets due to the Pima cotton used.

I can't even have a comforter on my bed without washing it first. Even Duvet covers despite sleeping on a sheet underneath them get washed due to outgassing of chemicals.

I once bought these cute little t-shirt tops that were very rough on the skin due to the weave on them and the low end cotton used. I could not wear them without itching and breaking out. So now I always smell clothes I buy and make sure they are soft. I never put dry cleanable clothes next to my skin without a camisole underneath or I will break out on my back. I now try to buy all machine washable clothes if possible.

Sorry about your problem.

I really feel they put fire retardent chemicals in the new sheets and maybe you need to get only very soft ones with a high Pima thread count with no polyester in them and wash them a few times in hot water and then rinse them a few times before drying them with NO dryer sheets.

WOW!!!

I really appreciate all your replies. I wanted to respond
earlier, but I had to rush off to meet a business client.

I purchased a "vintage" sheet and pillowcase that was
made in the 1960's. It was still in its original package.
The address was the old garment center in NYC! I wish
I could slice off a strip of this fabric and mail it to each
one of you. The quality was the best. Its really sickening
how much money you can spend these days for crappy
bedding.

I'll definitely followup on all the suggestions you guys
have made.

There were some nights I would lay on top of these sheets
and pillowcases that were cooking me, and try to convice
myself that it was all a case of mind over matter. My anger
and frustration about this problem was overwelming. A few
weeks ago I pulled a canvas camping hammock out of the
garage. I slept on this hammock for four nights in a row!

Its a great relief to know I'm not the only person in the
world with this problem.

Thanks again!

That's awful. I also have allergies that came out of the blue this past year. I just wanted to second the rinsing with vinegar ... Vinegar is amazing!!!

For those who use vinegar in their rinse, how much do you use? And doesn't that make the clothes/fabric smell like vinegar?
thanks:)

Could it be the detergent you use to wash the sheets? I use fragrance free detergent and rinse at least twice. I also use at least half as much detergent as recommended on the box and hot water so there isn't a build up of detergent from one wash to the next. I never use fabric softener as that is another source of allergies.

I sometimes add vinegar - I don't measure, something between a half to a whole cup of vinegar and pour it into the fabric softener dispenser. It will smell out of the washing machine but once dry you can't smell it anymore.

I am washing sheets right now. Even sheets I sleep on when I wash them, I rinse TWICE to make sure my fragrance free detergent is off of them. I rinse twice for all my clothes and amazingly my skin cleared up and I stopped itching. I guess I am sensitive. I never tried vinegar but maybe I will now.

Could someone please explain what is the purpose of washing with vinegar? I've never heard of that before, but I'll try anything for my DD with sensitive skin.

Vinegar is so useful for so many purposes. If you put distilled white vinegar in the rinse water, it removes soap or detergent residue. A related use: If you ever get mildew or soap scum in your shower, scrub it off with vinegar instead of toxic bleach. It just takes very little more elbow grease. No odor remains once it dries, in fact vinegar is used to remove odors.

I love the Penneys sheets linked by Jaybird above, they're extra smooth and cool. But I imagine if you're allergic to them, they would be the same as others.

Have you tried the new soy or bamboo sheets?

You can remove odors, clean your coffee pot, hard wood floors ... the list goes on. It works really good on pet odors as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: vinegar tricks

For cool sheets you really need percale weave. I much prefer it to the currently popular sateen weave.

judy: Thanks for posting the information about washing clothes with vinegar. I know some of the other uses, removing orders, hard water, cleaning windows, and now I know another use. I'm going to give it a try.

Any one else with sensitive skin find percale more comfortable than sateen?

Vermont Country Store carries resin-free sheets - they are much more like what you would get 30 years ago. They'll wrinkle like mad unless you iron them, because it's the resins on cotton fabrics that make them "wrinkle-free" (relatively), but pull your blankets up and no one will notice. ;-)

johnmari: I've bookmarked the link to the resin-free sheets in case DD does not improve. Hopefully it may help the OP as well.

I am finding this thread so fascinating with all of the different ideas, solutions and options--much more helpful than a visit to the dermatologist and getting an Rx for meds!

In my history of dealing with various allergies (mine were mostly rhinitis whereas DD is eczema) one thing stands out that my allergist said to me years ago. That is that we spend 1/3 of our time/day in our bed and bedroom and if we can just get one thing under control, it's the bed. That should be the easiest to control--since there are so many other aspects of our lives when we go out of the home, eat foods out, etc. that are almost impossible. He also gave an analogy to think of allergies as having a glass of water. When you fill it up, it overflows. One solution to that is to get a bigger glass and another is to fill with less water. The "bigger glass" is everything we can do to enhance/improve our immune system and tolerance for allergens in our environment. For me this was a combination of years of immuniotherapy or allergy shots and more recently accupuncture and as of today I no longer require meds or shots to control my symptoms. For DD I have not got a complete handle on this though we've been doing Vit-B, probiotics, Omega3's, accupunture and more recently homeopathy. The second part "fill with less water" is to reduce the allergens we are exposed to. The home is where we have the most control and of this, controlling the bed and bedroom can have a huge impact so that we have more reserves to deal with the outside world.

In the laundry forum I learned how bad for our washing machine fabric softener is. It leaves a nasty coating on the drum of the washer. They recommend using only vinegar as fabric softener so I've been doing that since buying my new front loader. I can't smell the vinegar at all. My towels are slightly less soft, but nothing major. I only use like 2-3 tablespoons for each load.

I believe johnmari hit the nail on the head. Almost all sheets nowadays, especially all cotton sheets, are treated with resins to make them wrinkle less when laundered. Resins do NOT wash out with vinegar, hot water and detergent, or any other laundering techniques or tricks.

Sizing is not resin, it is a starch and it does wash out pretty readily.

Resins are known to be an irritant or allergan. People with chemical sensitivities react to them.

Resins have only been used in sheeting since the 1970s or so, so that's why you don't get a reaction from vintage sheets.

Percale is a type of weave that is smoother than other weaves, but most percale sheets are treated with resins so will not feel cool to someone who is sensitive.

Here is a link that might be useful: google results for

Spanky, thank you for posting this information about the resins in today's wrinkle free cotton sheets. I hope the OP Sailcloth, tries resin free sheets and lets us know if this is indeed the answer she's been looking for.

Next time we need new bedlinens, I'm going to go resin-free.

Sky

mitch, I am with you 100% on the old Wamsutta 100% cotton/percale sheets. I have never been able to find any sheet that compared!!!

When I mentioned the vinegar to my DH, he was concerned that it would be too coorositve to our new front loader. The above suggestions mentioned using 1/2 c. and putting it in the fabric softener dispensor. I'd like to start using it, just want to make sure I'm not doing something that will damage my machine. Any thoughts on this?

Spanky, thank you for sharing this additional information about the resin in today's sheets.

We also have a couple of old twin flat cotton/poly sheets and I've also found them amazingly soft, yet wrinkle free.

Does anyone know if the cotton/poly sheets are also treated with resin or just the 100% cotton ones? I was thinking 1005 cotton would be better as it is breathable, but know I'm not so sure.

You can get by using much less than 1/2 cup of vinegar in the wash, and it won't hurt your washer. Especially with a front loader that uses less water, just use less vinegar. The fabric softener dispenser on mine only holds a couple of tablespoons.