Eli & Elm Ferry Collection Review

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Eli & Elm Profile

Eli & Elm entered the bedding world in January 2019 with a goal to create high quality bedding for the average sleep enthusiast. Based in New Haven, CT, their name is an homage to Eli Whitney—the inventor of the cotton gin; and Elm City—the home of Whitney before its name was changed to New Haven. Three Connecticut men were inspired by Eli Whitney’s innovation with the plant, so they took to improving the world of cotton bedding, with aspiring dreams to make the bed a better place for sleep. There hasn’t been much innovation in the textile industry, so Eli & Elm made it their mission to create luxurious and durable sheets for affordable prices. Their work with researchers and engineers has paved the way for eco-friendly advancements in the field while also focusing their resources on making fair trade products that are ethically sound.

Ferry Collection Construction

Eli & Elm sent me their entire Ferry Collection to review, and while I was expecting the pomp and splendor of the past two Eli & Elm sets (the Wharf and Whitney Collections), I was surprised to find that there was no fancy, colorful box with typography gracing the front. Instead, the sheets were tied up with ribbon and labels, and the duvet was done up in the same fashion below it. Both parts of the Ferry Collection are woven together using a 300 thread count organic cotton Sateen weave. The tags break down the contents of each package—the sheets come with a fitted, a flat, and two pillow cases, while the duvet comes with a duvet cover and two pillow shams—and focused on the Fair Trade nature of the collection.

My Ferry Collection Findings

I ran the sheets through the washing machine on cold, and through the dryer on low heat. The seams remained strong after the wash, and the fitted sheet only shrunk by 0.15 inches, which is quite solid for a set of cotton sheets. Just like Cloudten’s and Gryphon’s Sateen cotton sheets, Eli & Elm’s Ferry Collection has “TOP OR BOTTOM” tags sewn into the short sides, which—despite being written in a horrendous shade of orange—are an extremely helpful design feature that I love. The fitted sheet is tight and grips my mattress well, and the flat sheet is the correct size for a queen-size bed—I have no struggle tucking in the sheets and making it in the morning. The duvet has strong wooden buttons and ties to hold a duvet in, which work very well, but I find the buttons to be a bit small for comfortable fiddling—I much prefer the buttons on the MagicLinen duvet that are twice as large. The sheets exhibit quite defined wrinkles when removed from the dryer, and they don’t disappear too much during use. After a week of sleeping on the Ferry Collection, the sheen from the Sateen weave disappears and they resemble something ordinary, but only in looks. These are no basic cotton sheets and you can definitely feel that as soon as you slip between them. I curl up in bed every night, cozy and warm in the embrace of the Ferry Collection. No matter the temperature, I find the sheets never get too cold or too hot, which makes getting a good night’s sleep easy. Their temperature regulation is impressive considering their basic cotton construction—some cotton sheets get hot and sweaty, and others are cold and icy, but not these. Dress for the season and the sheets will take care of the rest.

My Ferry Collection Recommendation

The Ferry Collection can be yours for between $129 and $159, which is actually less expensive than their Whitney collection (bamboo) and the same price as the Gryphon Sateen sheets I reviewed last month. These prices seem to be industry standard for affordable high quality Sateen sheets, so there is a bit of competition. They offer a 45-day window for returns, which is quite a bit shorter than other trial periods I’ve seen—I don’t even know if you can consider it a “trial period.” One thing to note is that Eli & Elm does not list Queen or King sizes for their Ferry Collection duvet set on their website, however I did receive a queen-size cover. Eli & Elm has been a favorite of mine for a while now, but I’m always hoping to find something surprising and new. I was wowed by the Wharf and floored by the Whitney because those are industry-leading innovations. On the other hand, The Ferry Collection is not surprising, but I don’t think that is bad. The Ferry Collection proves Eli & Elm is not about gimmicks or specialty products, rather they’re about making “good” better. Their Sateen cotton sheets might feel like a few others on the market, but they’re solid, reliable, and durable sheets that still feel amazing after countless washes. Eli & Elm stands by what they believe in with their cotton sheets—the textile industry is not known for being environmentally friendly or ethically sound, but Eli & Elm’s mission to create products that are better for you and better for the world is apparent in every sheet they produce. Shiny box or not, Eli & Elm has aced yet another set of sheets. Shop the Eli and Elm Ferry Collection