I'm bringing this to the top again to see if we have anymore people that wish to add to it. I also want to include the thread from yesterday inviting all the "lurkers" to join us. It was a really fun thread and a very good indication of why this forum needs a conversation and gallery section. Thanks Shauna Here is a link that might be useful: Lurker thread

Actually no. Silicon is a non-conductor. Check your information again. However, silicon is a raw material for making into semi-conductors. Silicon goes thru "Zone refining" or crystallization to become ultra pure. Then a controlled impurity is introduced (doping) to convert the non-conducting silicone into semi-conducting (IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY). The semi-conducting silicon is what is known as a diode (rectifier). If the semi-conductor is configured with a base, emitter and collector (NPN or PNP) it becomes a transistor (a solid state device). And when you make many transistors on the same chip (wafer) at the same time, it is known as integrated circuit (IC). ICs are what computers use. Silicon can, just like glass, become an electrical conductor under very high heat. Silicone is a silicon compound, as I said. dcarch

Agree! I grew up with Wamsutta 300 TC percale sheets and they were great! I continued to buy them through my young adulthood and then the brand disappeared from department store shelves. The brand ended up at Bed Bath and Beyond and are no where near the quality they used to be. Then I discovered Ralph Lauren (RL) sheets who for many years offered 300 TC sheets which were great, but now I can't find those. I heard he moved his bedding operations from wherever they were before to India and the quality went down. I'm hanging onto my current batch of 300 TC Italian fabric RL sheets which I bought at Macy's for a reasonable price and which are almost 9 years old. I recently bought Matouk Sierra sheets and was disappointed mostly because the bottom fitted sheet has too much slack in it. They are pretty wrinkled too. BTW, the Matouk sheets don't come close to the smooth crisp feeling of the old Wamsutta or RL sheets. What has happened to the sheet industry? Are countries not growing enough cotton anymore? Is there a shortage of textile manufacturers?

@Pinky I'm with you. My experience with threshold sheets was significant wear after six months. The only thing l could identify as wear points was bad elastic and long finger/toenails that might have cut fibers . I definitely found wear points in foot of the bed sheet ends. I chose not to try to to mend or patch the bottom sheets due to sensitivities of people using them. Yes, they said they would feel the patch on the underside of the sheet. Yeah right was my response. If you want to patch on the wrong side of the sheet with no sewing, consider the iron type available commercially. Or use iron two sided adhesives where you cut your patch, apply one side of the adhesive to the wrong side of the patch, remove the backing and iron the patch to the underside of the sheet. It should be completely washable. I would zig zag around the patch to be sure, but that's not necessary. Elastic is harder. The way the threshold sheets are made, you would have to remove the old elastic and reapply. Too much work. You could try to patch the wear points, but I don't think that would hold. I have other sheets I bought at the same time at target that are not ready for the paint dropcloth basket. Won't be buying more of the threshold sheets. You should expect to wash children's sheets often and in hot water. It's not you, it's target. 50's fitted sheets had bias tape finishing the edges. Not as stretchy as elastic and only fit the standard depth mattress of the day, but didn't wear out long before the top sheets. I believe the reason they changed to eastic was the change in the sizes of mattresses ' depth. One size no longer fit all. Good luck stretching the life of the sheets.