Two orders this week arrived with the wrong size: a "double" bed that turned out to be 160 rather than 150, and a 110 × 110 tablecloth, a size that does not exist in anyone's standard catalogue. Neither mistake is silly: the commercial names of beds do not match their real widths, and each piece of the bed is sized by a different logic. This guide sets out the three logics, with the real making-up measurements.
A bed is measured by mattress width, not by what it is called
"Double", "queen" or "king" are commercial names and shift depending on who uses them. What does not shift is the mattress width in centimetres, and it is the only figure worth ordering by: 90, 105, 135, 150, 160, 180 or 200. Between a 150 and a 160 there are ten centimetres that show up in a fitted sheet as the corner that will not reach, and in a flat sheet as the tuck that comes loose in the middle of the night.
Before ordering, measure the mattress in three dimensions: width × length × depth. The standard length in Spain is 190 or 200 cm, and the depth is the figure almost nobody writes down and the one that causes most trouble.
Fitted sheet: the mattress size, and depth rules
A fitted sheet is ordered by the mattress size, not by a larger one. In our catalogue the equivalence is direct:
| Mattress | Fitted sheet |
|---|---|
| 90 × 190/200 cm | 90 × 200 cm |
| 105 × 190/200 cm | 105 × 200 cm |
| 135 × 190/200 cm | 135 × 200 cm |
| 150 × 190/200 cm | 150 × 200 cm |
| 160 × 190/200 cm | 160 × 200 cm |
| 180 × 190/200 cm | 180 × 200 cm |
| 200 × 200 cm | 200 × 200 cm |
The same fitted sheet serves a 190 and a 200 mattress because the elastic absorbs those ten centimetres. What it does not absorb is depth: ours is made for mattresses up to 24 cm deep, with a centimetre of tolerance. On a 30 cm mattress that same sheet pings off the corners every morning even though the width is right. If your mattress is deeper, the fitted sheet has to be made to measure; it is a different make-up, not an adjustment.
That detail is also what fragments a linen cupboard without anyone noticing: two 150 beds with mattresses of different depths do not share a fitted sheet, even though the inventory lists them as one line. We put numbers on it in the guide to what not standardising costs.
Flat sheet: it has to spare on three sides
Here is the most common misunderstanding. A flat sheet for a 90 cm bed is not 90 cm wide: it is 160 or more. The reason is the tuck. The flat sheet covers the mattress, hangs down both sides and over the foot, and goes underneath; if there is not enough to spare, it comes loose with the guest's first movement.
The sum, if you would rather understand it than memorise it:
flat sheet width ≈ mattress width + 2 × (mattress depth + tuck)
With a 90 cm mattress 20 cm deep, a 160 cm flat sheet leaves 35 cm per side: 20 go down the side and about 15 are left to tuck in, just enough for it to stay taut. If the mattress is deeper or you want more tuck, go up a size: with 24 cm of depth and about 25 cm of tuck per side you get roughly 188 cm, which is the 190 cm flat sheet, our poplin size for that bed, and we also supply it in Basic and Eco. Our making-up guide, by fabric quality, runs like this:
| Mattress | Flat sheet, Basic / Eco | Flat sheet, popelín |
|---|---|---|
| 90 × 190/200 | 160 × 290–300 cm | 190 × 300 cm |
| 105 × 190/200 | 190 × 300 cm | 190 × 300 cm |
| 135 × 190/200 | 210–240 × 290–300 cm | 250 × 300 cm |
| 150 × 190/200 | 240 × 300 cm | 250 × 300 cm |
| 160 × 190/200 | 240 × 300 cm | 250 × 300 cm |
| 180 × 190/200 | 280 × 290 cm | 310 × 310 cm |
| 200 × 200 | 300 × 300 cm | 310 × 310 cm |
Length follows the same logic: 290 or 300 cm for a 200 cm mattress, because you have to cover the length, hang over the foot and tuck. And one detail that separates a hospitality flat sheet from a domestic one: the 5 cm top hem marks the side that shows when the sheet is folded back over the bedspread; the 1 cm hem at the bottom stays hidden. If your team makes the bed with the narrow hem at the top, the bed reads upside down however neatly it is done.
Duvet cover: the duvet decides the size
A duvet cover is not ordered by the bed but by the duvet going inside it. The duvet is chosen with enough overhang for the bed, and the cover is ordered at exactly the duvet's size: if it floats, the duvet bunches into one corner and the bed loses its shape on the first night.
Ours run from 150 × 220 to 290 × 220 cm, in the usual market steps (150, 180, 220, 240, 260 and 290 wide). Two make-up details worth checking when comparing: the 40 cm bottom flap, which replaces buttons and keeps the duvet from escaping, and the internal side ties, the tapes that let you stuff the cover by pulling rather than climbing inside it.
Pillowcases: measure the pillow, not the bed
This is the piece most often ordered wrong, because people assume the pillow on a 150 bed is always the same. It is not: pillows of 75, 90, 105, 135 and 150 cm coexist, and the case has to match. A 45 × 90 case is no use on a 45 × 75 pillow, and a 45 × 135 on a 105 pillow sits crumpled against the headboard.
Measure the pillow you already have, and if you are renewing pillows, unify them before buying cases: changing a pillow costs far less than dragging two families of pillowcases around for five years.
Tablecloths: why 110 × 110 appears in no catalogue
A tablecloth is ordered by the table plus the drop, and making-up sizes come in steps: 100 × 100, 120 × 120, 130 × 130, 150 × 150, 180 × 180, 220 × 220 and 250 × 250 cm in squares, plus rectangles and 50 × 50 and 55 × 55 napkins. A 110 × 110 is not a standard size: what exists is the 100 and the 120, and the decision is which way to round.
The rule is the same as the flat sheet's, under another name:
tablecloth size = table size + 2 × drop
With an 80 × 80 table and a 20 cm drop per side, the cloth is 120 × 120. With a 25-30 cm drop, usual in a long-cloth restaurant, you go up a step. Order by the table and the drop you want; if you order an in-between size, somebody will round for you, and not always the way you would.
How to write the order so it does not come back
- Mattress: width × length × depth, all three. Depth decides whether the fitted sheet is catalogue or made to measure.
- Flat sheet: state the bed width and how much tuck you want; if your mattress is deep, say so, because it raises the size.
- Duvet cover: the duvet's size, not the bed's.
- Pillowcases: the pillow's size, measured with a tape.
- Tablecloth: table size and the drop you want.
With those five figures, an order for bed linen is settled without photographs, without returns and without the phone call at eight in the evening. And if you are buying for several apartments at once, decide first how many different sizes you want to keep: the PAR guide explains how many pieces of each you need in circulation.