Egyptian Cotton
Egyptian Cotton has been known through the centuries as being the best cotton in the world, grown on the lush Nile Delta in the upper reaches of the country, creating the right conditions for growing the long staple fibres needed to produce high quality bedlinen.
The staple fibre of egyptian cotton is approximately 12 to 15 inches in length compared to lesser cottons which are around 8 to 12 inches in length. This extra fibre enables todays manufacturers to produce a longer, finer and more lustre fibre which can then be spun into a very fine yarn which is ideal for producing very high thread count bedlinen.
Quality Egyptian Cotton is used for making bedding as the material is highly absorbent and wicks away moisture from the body whilst sleeping which reduces the sleeping temperature and enables us to sleep more comfortably. Egyptian sourced cotton is much better at this due to the lush growing conditions making the bud of the plant it is picked from nearly double the size of ordinary cotton buds.
Egyptian Cotton Sheets
Cotton is now favoured over other bedding materials such as polyester as the overall feel of cotton is cool, crisp and luxurious were as polyester is now deemed to be used mainly as a budget purchase.
New techniques such as mercerisation which is a calendering process which reduces seperation and pilling of the finished fabric and sanforisation which is a caustic alkaline which shrinks the cotton fabric prior to being dyed help with the care of cotton, better washing, less shrinkage, easier to iron. Although still not as easy care as polyester but much, much better than previous years.
Most Egyptian Cotton Sheets are now spun into Percale quality fabrics, this is bedlinen sheets that have a minimum thread count pick of 200 threads per square inch. This is an industry standard weave and ensures that the customer receives the basic hotel quality cotton sheets.
More and more people are now being switched on to the benefits of the higher thread count qualities so the manufacturers have responded to this demand and now produce fabrics that are spun to thread counts greater than 1200 per square inch. In order to achieve that super fine, resilient and strong fabric only the very best cotton can be used and the length of the staple fibre has to match the quality of the egyptian cotton.
Thread Counts
More and more manufacturers are now using two ply technology to achieve this as the twisting of the yarns still give the same feel and texture of the linen but also adds the extra strength of two yarns instead of one. This will give the bedding much more strength during washing and tumble drying.
One of our best ranges is the 400 Thread Count Egyptian Cotton Bedding, this superb range offer the very best from our egyptian cotton percale range. With a full offering of fitted sheets, flat sheets, duvet covers and pillows in 7 pastel shades.
We also cater for the extra deep 15 inch and 18 inch box depth for those super thick mattresses or if you want to just add a topper.
Many Egyptian Cotton sheets are now woven using twisted technology or two ply yarns as it is more commonly known, twisting the yarns creates a much stronger and resilient fabric. The technique has evolved over many years, adding the right amount of twisting results in a well balanced bedding fabric that will last much longer than other fabrics.
If you take two fine strands and twist them together they will just form one single yarns that is not ideal for weaving, two ply yarns twisting them in the opposite direction to one another making them superior in strength and quality.
The majority of Egyptian Cotton Sheets and bedding bought in the UK and America has two ply yarns in them, anything over 400 count will almost certainly have incorporated these balanced yarns as they ensure that they do not twist and snap during use.
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PIMA Cotton
Just like cotton from Egypt, Pima Cotton is also known as being a premium brand of cotton, mainly used in towels, bedding and clothing producing products that are superior in quality and durability.
Mainly grown in the Southwest of America where the growing conditions are very similar to that of Egypt, this cotton produces a high quality long staple and super absorbency fibre which is ideal for making top class commercial strength bedlinen.
As Egyptian Cotton was getting more and more popular, they imported some to be grown in America producing their own brand of cotton. They moulded the cotton to be very soft and strong and more absorbent than lesser cotton which made it a firm favourite with the hotel bedlinen sector.
We have a fantastic 450 Count Pima Cotton Percale Bedlinen which also offers a great range of sizes including the larger American emperor sheet and duvets sizes. Another great pastel range of colours to compliment our other cotton bedding.
