Cotton sheets are soft, especially high-quality types using Pima or Supima cotton fibers. The texture can vary from crisp and cool to smooth and lustrous – see separate article (“Percale vs Sateen”).
Cotton is especially good at absorbing moisture. Cotton also excels at wicking, meaning humidity and perspiration are pulled away from your body to its outer surface, where it can evaporate. Cotton is naturally hypoallergenic and less likely to trigger allergic reactions. It is also a biodegradable fiber that breaks down over time.

Bamboo sheets have a silky-smooth texture that feel most luxurious against your skin. Bamboo’s exceptional softness and pliability can be good or bad: some like the peerless drape and snugness while others find it clingy - too much body adherence limits the airflow that helps removes heat. Bamboo holds lots more water than other fibers, making the watery-like sheets feel instantly cool to your touch (your body’s heat is transferred to the water at once). Like cotton, bamboo sheets are naturally hypoallergenic and less likely to trigger allergic reactions.
Everyone’s biggest complaint with bamboo sheets is pilling. They need to be laundered with great care or pills (tiny balls made of tangled fiber clusters) develop so the softness diminishes with time. High heat during drying can damage the water-filled fibers. Another complaint about bamboo sheets is they wrinkle more than cotton.
For the eco-conscious, bamboo is the least friendly to the planet as intensive chemical and mechanical processes are required to convert raw bamboo fiber into a material (viscose) capable of being spun into yarn. Bamboo processing is done in China, which is world’s only source of bamboo, but China suffers from less rigor in policing for environmental damage.
A remaining complaint about bamboo sheets is they are expensive. The extensive chemical processing raises the cost of bamboo sheets.