Caring for Your Egyptian Cotton  Bed Linen

Egyptian cotton sheets are a luxurious and comfortable way to get a good night’s sleep. They are an expensive but worthy investment, so taking good care of them is crucial.

Keep your Egyptian cotton sheets looking fresh and feeling good by learning how to care for them. With each wash, dry, and iron, your sheets will get softer and more comfortable.

Inspect your sheets for stains

As you remove the used sheets from your bed, inspect each closely. Check for any yellowing spots, or any blood or sweat stains. Keep note of where these are so that you can target them later.

Remove any large stains with baking soda and vinegar

Place your sheets in the washing machine and add one tablespoon of baking soda. Use a cold, gentle cycle.

Add one cup of vinegar during the rinse cycle. This removes stains naturally and effectively.

Use specialist stain removers to target small stained spots

Spray small stains with the appropriate stain remover. Choose one that has been designed to target the stain such as grease or blood and then dab using a white rag. Rotate the rag as the stain begins to lift off. The rag should be white to prevent dye transferring from the rag to the sheet.

Place the sheets in washing machine separately from other items

Egyptian cotton bedding should always be washed alone. Zippers, buttons, and hooks on clothing items could damage and tear the sheets during the washing cycle.

To prevent the machine from overloading, and to aid in the rinsing cycles, you could wash the sheets individually, particularly if they are large in size.

Use a gentle laundry detergent

Pick a quality and pH balanced laundry detergent to wash your Egyptian cotton sheets with. Measure out only half the amount of laundry detergent that you would normally would use, to reduce any damage to the cotton fibres caused by the chemicals. Place it in the washing machine.

Ensure that the laundry detergent you use doesn’t contain bleach. Bleach can damage the natural cotton fibres and will cause the sheets to wear out faster.

This type of laundry detergent will not only work well for white Egyptian cotton sheets, but also for coloured or patterned Egyptian cotton, as the colours will stay vibrant and bright.

Set the washing machine to a cold, gentle wash

The cold water will prevent the sheets from shrinking during the washing process. A low, gentle spin speed will reduce the chance of the sheets being damaged by the agitator.

Use a dryer to dry the sheets fast

You can place the freshly washed Egyptian cotton sheets in the dryer to get them warm and ready to use in no time. Make sure you use a low and mildly warm setting to prevent shrinking the sheets. Avoid using dryer sheets when drying Egyptian cotton. The chemicals can be damaging to the natural fibres. A good alternative is felt wool dryer balls, which do the same thing but without the harsh cleaning agents.

Dry the sheets on a washing line to save electricity

Line drying is also a good way to dry Egyptian cotton sheets. Hang the freshly washed sheets up on a clotheshorse indoors, or if the weather is good, outside to dry. This is especially useful if you are concerned about accidentally shrinking your sheets in the dryer.