The Thread Count Issue

One of the questions I am asked most often is also the most difficult to deal with. Almost every day people walk in and the first thing they say is "What's your highest thread count?" My answer is invariably "1020, but that doesn't mean that it's the right sheet for you."

It turns out that there is a lot more to a high quality sheet than thread count. A lot more. The problem is that looking solely for a high thread count is ultimately only going to give you a sheet with a lot of cotton in it. It doesn't indicate that the cotton itself is good, that it is woven properly and with care, or that the finished product is well finished and correctly sewn. What's more worrisome is that in the past few years manufacturers have been developing techniques which allow them to insert extra threads into the weave of fabric independently from the actual structure of the weave thereby creating a higher thread count while decreasing the strength and longevity of the fabric. In the end a 1000 thread count sheet made with bad cotton is a bad sheet. The same goes for crooked seams, chemical based finishing tricks and low quality dyes, it will look great in the package and it may be very reasonably priced, but on your bed it looks and feels cheap, it washes horribly and you feel ripped off. No fun at all. It is not, however, as bleak as it sounds. There are lots of beautiful sheets, some reasonably priced and some not so reasonably priced, and with a bit of care you can find some that you'll love.

So if thread count isn't where it's at, how do we tell it's a good sheet? The first and most important thing is the cotton itself. Like people, cotton comes in many sizes. There are short cottons and long cottons, with a lot of variations all through the spectrum. The term we use for determining the value and quality of cotton is "staple." For sheeting fabrics the longer the staple the better. So what I'm looking for in bedding is Egyptian cotton, even better I prefer when the species of Egyptian cotton is identified. Some of the finest fabrics I deal with are 100% Giza Egyptian cotton, its staple is very fine and very long. When woven into percale it is light and crisp with a cool hand while remaining very soft, in satin or sateen weaves it is soft, silky and smooth with a warm feel and beautiful drape. Egyptian cotton can do all this with out chemical and mechanical finishes often used on shorter staple cottons. That means that the 100% Egyptian cotton fabrics will age well becoming softer over time while poor quality cotton will coarsen and show uneven wear. It is important to double check labels when shopping for "100% Egyptian Cotton" or "Full Egyptian Cotton" because frequently manufacturers will use small amounts of Egyptian cotton mixed with inexpensive/poor quality short staple cotton and label the fabric as "with Egyptian Cotton" or "part Egyptian Cotton."

So we're off to a good start, we've gotten beyond thread count, we're looking for the best cottons, we're on the right track but there is still more to learn. I think it's time for a break though so I'll sign off for now and and continue a little later with "Not All Created Equal" the thread count issue continues. I'm afraid that this entry has been a little dry and that the next one may be as well. The fun stuff is coming though, I promise.