What Is Egyptian Cotton?

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Many people wish they could afford luxury bedding for their homes or cottages. But it is possible if you know what to look for. One of the biggest properties of this style of bedding is its high thread count which leads to a soft silky feeling. But you don't need silk or a synthetic fabric material because Egyptian cotton is capable of providing this silky feeling by its very nature. Unfortunately, regular cotton is not good for luxury bedding and it is often used for clothing or mixed with other fabrics in cheaper bedding options. But let us focus on the main questions, "What is Egyptian cotton and why is it better?"

Identify your Egyptian cotton with the authentic Egyptian cotton symbol:

As its name suggests, Egyptian cotton comes from the eastern part of Egypt. This region of the world contains prime growing conditions for cotton in a hot and humid environment. Without these conditions it wouldn't be able to grow longer, contain more fibers, and feel much fluffier than regular cotton. Regular cotton can be identified by its rougher feel and breakability of its short fibers before it is woven.

Regular cottons strands grow up to 0.5 inches while Egyptian cotton can reach 2 inches and sometimes more. The longer fibers make it easier to cultivate, easier to spin, and feels very delicate. For your home bedding, this makes a prime candidate for comforter and luxury.

Egyptian cotton is also very well suited to taking dyes and retaining their colors over a long period of time with washing and weathering.

Many lower quality cotton fibers will soak up liquids but the color is often distorted and faded with only a few washes. One of the biggest issues that can cause fading is sunlight.

And since many people dry their bedding outside in the sun or leave it on their bed under a window, it's exposed to a lot of sunlight. This will ruin your fabrics extremely fast so it is important to have a higher quality material like Egyptian cotton. However you might not want to leave it in the sun since the price of a single comforter can be quite expensive.

There are many parts of the world that are capable of growing Egyptian style cotton but they don't for different reasons. One of them is the fact that cultivating it is labor intensive. Another reason may be because of the fact that Egyptian cotton is actually a trademarked brand as well. To identify if your cotton actually came from Egypt then you will need to locate the trademarked symbol on the label. The symbol looks like a black pyramid with a white cotton bush over it. While Egyptian cotton is the best in the world, some experts don't believe it is. But we would argue that point. Once you feel the difference between a 300 thread count regular cotton sheet and a 300 thread count Egyptian cotton sheet, you will understand exactly why.