What makes our sheets feel so good?

We believe your sleep is only as comfortable as the sheets that surround you. Tossing and turning, itchiness, allergies, overheating. These can all be symptoms of poor quality sheets.

At Cotton Collective, we’ve spent serious time figuring out the best way to make sheets smooth, soft, cool and in short, an absolute dream to sleep in.

We’re here to make sleep simple for you — that’s the whole point. So you can skip straight to our sheets if you’d prefer.

Or, if you’re still intrigued, read on to learn how our fabric is made and why this makes our sheets so perfect for your slumber.

 

Why Egyptian Cotton?

At Cotton Collective, all of our sheets begin life as thriving cotton plants in the fertile Nile Delta in Egypt. 

We chose Egyptian cotton because the fertile Nile Delta in Egypt is capable of growing cotton featuring some of the longest fibre lengths available.

When searching for cotton that will make amazing bedsheets, the length of the cotton fibres is one of the most important factors to consider. This is because longer fibres have fewer joins between the fibres in the yarn, resulting in a stronger, smoother finished fabric which is way more resilient to pilling and far more durable. With every single wash, the softness of fabric with longer fibres actually improves!

Our cotton is delicately hand-picked rather than machine harvested, as machine harvesting can damage the fibres.

However, not all Egyptian cotton is made equal.

 

Our choice of Egyptian Cotton

To ensure the best bed sheets possible, we picked a rare variety of handpicked Egyptian cotton known as Giza 87. Giza 87 features some of the longest fibres of all Egyptian cotton and is officially known as “extra-long staple cotton”.

Giza 87 makes up just 3% [1] of all Egyptian cotton produced and it’s extra-long fibre length is in the top 5% of all Egyptian cotton grown. It makes excellent bedding, and It also happens to be the same variety of cotton used by England’s best shirt makers, so we’re in pretty good company.

 

Finer Yarns

Many bedding companies use yarns spun from groups of lower grade cotton fibres, also known as multi-ply yarns. These typically result in poorer quality sheets that are coarse, weak and prone to pilling. Think burlap sack or your cat’s favourite scratching post.

We pride ourselves on using only single ply yarns.

Using exclusively single ply yarn allows us to spin long single fibres into exceptionally fine yarns. (We use 60 yarn count threads - some of the finest used for bedding.)

Finer yarns mean thinner threads and therefore more threads per inch which creates a smoother, stronger, lighter and far more comfortable fabric. Think favourite hug, sleekest suit or your very best dress shirt. (Much better, right?)

 

Why we Chose a Percale Weave

Cotton bedding typically comes in either percale or sateen weave. Choice of weave has a big impact on the look and feel of the fabric.

So why percale?

Percale is a one-yarn-over and one-yarn-under weave. You’ll love our percale weave for four main reasons:

1. Aesthetics: Percale weave results in a clean, modern matte finish.
2. Feel: This delightful weave results in bedding that’s distinctly crisp, cool and smooth.
3. Comfort: Lightweight and breathable, percale is the ideal choice for hot sleepers or stuffy summer nights.

Percale is a great all-rounder. A bit like that crisp, white shirt is a wardrobe essential, percale sheets are a bedding must-have.

 

The Truth about Thread Count

Thread count is the number of threads per square inch of fabric. Generally speaking, higher thread count fabrics feel softer, denser and warmer.

We use a 300 thread count, striking what we believe is the perfect balance between softness and smoothness, and durability and breathability.

You’ll never find us using multi-ply yarns or artificially inflating thread counts.

Higher thread count is not necessarily synonymous with higher-quality sheets. The unfortunate truth is that many manufacturers will cut corners to keep their thread count number high but keep the cost down.

Sneaky buggers.

We cottoned on to this quickly and rather than perpetuate it, we want consumers to know this too.

That’s why you’ll never find us cutting corners. No tricks. No fabrications. Just clean, crisp, fabric that does the trick.

 

Finishing

No Cotton Collective bed sheet is complete without a flawless finish.

We work closely with European factories who have been weaving cotton for generations. These highly skilled craftsmen and women know how to use the very best finishing techniques on the woven fabric, further improving the feel and durability.

Learn more about our story  or head straight to our selection of bedding.