Bed Sizes in the UK, US and Australia: What the Names Mean

Which names does each market use?

Each market runs its own ladder of names. It starts at the narrowest single bed and ends at the widest. The table below lines the three ladders up in rank order only. You can then see which word sits where.

There are no figures in it, on purpose. Published charts disagree with each other. Mattress makers disagree with the charts. We do not put a measurement on a page unless we have confirmed it. Rank order is the stable part, and it explains most of the confusion.

• The British ladder has no common equivalent of the twin XL or the king single.
• The California king sits at the top of the American ladder. It differs from the king in shape, not only in width.

Double versus queen, the question that catches buyers

The two words sit at different points on different ladders. So a double and a queen are not one comparison. They are three comparisons, one per market.

In Britain the double sits in the middle of the ladder. The king and the super king sit above it. Queen is not a word the British trade commonly buys to. A British property that orders queen linen usually needs a conversation first.

In the United States and Canada the queen sits above the full. The full is the bed many buyers elsewhere call a double. So an American queen is a step up from a double. An American full is roughly where a double sits on the other ladders.

In Australia and New Zealand both words are in daily use. The queen sits directly above the double and below the king.

The effect is simple. Buy for two of these markets, and the same word can send linen to two different beds. Write the measurements beside the name. The risk then goes.

What decides a fitted sheet?

Three figures taken from the mattress: length, width and depth. The size name decides nothing, because it carries no depth at all.

Depth goes wrong most often. Measure it with everything that stays on the mattress under the sheet. That means the protector and the topper, if the bed carries them. Beds are often built up after they are bought. A sheet cut to the bare mattress will not then reach around.

A pocket cut too shallow lets the corners spring off while the bed is in use. A pocket cut too deep leaves slack fabric underneath. It gathers and creases across the sleeping surface.

So we quote our fitted sheets against the length, the width and the pocket depth you send. We do not quote against a size name.

What decides a flat sheet?

The mattress, plus the tuck your property wants. A flat sheet has no elastic and no pocket. So its finished size is a decision, not a reading off the bed.

Start with the mattress length and width. Then add the fabric that hangs down each side and at the foot, before it folds under. Ask for more tuck and the bed holds its shape better through the night. Each piece also carries more fabric.

That extra fabric is not free. It adds weight to every wash load. It gives the laundry more area to press. It adds bulk on every shelf and trolley.

A top fold over the duvet or blanket is part of the same sum. Add it to the tuck and the finished length follows. We cut our flat sheets to that length and width, in the fabric and weave you choose.

What decides a duvet cover and a pillowcase?

Neither of them is decided by the bed. A duvet cover follows the duvet inside it. A pillowcase follows the pillow inside it. Both are bought separately from the mattress.

This catches buyers who order a whole bed set against one size name. A duvet is often a different shape from the mattress it lies on. The property chooses how much overhang it wants at the sides. So measure the duvet flat, across and down, and specify the cover against those figures. We cut our duvet covers that way. The same piece is a quilt cover in Australia and New Zealand. In North America it is a comforter cover.

Pillows vary even more, and so do their names. A case ordered to a name alone may sit loose or strain at the seams. Measure the pillow. Then decide how closely the case should fit. The pillowcase page sets out that approach.

How to write a bed linen order

One line per bed type, with the measurements taken from the beds in service. The size name can stay on the line as a reference. The figures beside it are what the pieces are cut to.

Catalogue figures are the trap. A furniture brochure describes the bed a property ordered. It does not describe the bed the property has now, after replacements and added toppers. Measure the beds standing in the rooms.

• Group rooms by bed type, not by floor. Each type then gets one line and one set of figures.
• Write the fabric, weave, thread count and colour reference on every line, not once at the top.
• Keep the finished order as your own record. The next buyer in the role can then order the same pieces.

Bed size questions buyers ask

These come up when a property buys linen for beds in more than one market. They also come up when it inherits a stock it did not order.

How we work to the figures on your order

We cut every piece to the measurements on the order, not to a size name. The word your market uses never changes what arrives. A bed no chart recognises is made the same way as a common one.

The agreed specification then stays on file here. A repeat order is made against that record, not against memory. Later stock then sits with the linen already in the cupboard. If you are matching stock bought elsewhere, a sample is the quickest route. We read the fabric and the construction off the piece itself.

The bed linen range sets out the pieces that go on a bed. It also sets out the fabrics, weaves, thread counts and colours they can be made in.