FAQ’s
What Is Considered Cotton By Federal Trade Commission Labeling Practices?
It’s strange that we even have to explain this as if something is advertised as cotton then it should be cotton. Now days you have to be so label conscious about everything you buy because manufacturing get creative in their labeling techniques.
Very similar to walking down the aisle at the local grocery store, you have to pick up the item and read it closely.
As you never know what manufacturers are going to try putting into food next to lower the cost of materials so they will increase their profit margin.
Textiles are no different and that is why we are going to talk about the definition of what cotton is before we get into what thread count is or why thread count is important in pillow cases.
Fiber Content Statement on Hotel Pillow Cases:
Any product covered by the Textile Act and Rules must include a fiber content statement that lists:
The generic name of each fiber that equals 5% or more of the product’s weight, in order of predominance, and the percentage of the product’s weight represented by each fiber.
For example: “85% Cotton, 15% Polyester.”
Fibers:
Fibers that are less than 5% of the weight should be listed as “other fiber[s]”. Fibers that have functional significance, even in small amounts, may be listed by name.
If a company advertises or sell house good or clothing containing cotton the label on the product must accurately reflect fabric content, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The Textile Act and Rules covers the following fiber, fabrics and yarns and textile product made from any of these fabrics.
Thread Count In Hotel Pillow Cases:
What is thread count in a Hotel Pillow Case? Thread count is defined as a measure of fineness or coarseness of fabric. It is measure by counting the number of threads in a square inch of fabric on the length and width.
This thread count number is used in cotton linens hotel pillow case, sheets and sometime towels as well.
What Is The Industry Standard?
The standard for cotton thread count for good quality is around 150, while better quality sheets and hotel pillow cases start at 180 and counts higher than 200 are considered percale.
Sometimes you will see extremely high thread counts over 500 and they can be misleading so look at the details in the description.
If they are counting the strands of yarns, for instance 2-ply yarn (2-strands wrapped together) at a 300 thread count could be misrepresented as a 600 count (2 ply yarn x 300 = 600 count).
James Kohm the director of the Federal Trade Commission in 2005 cited with the accepted industry standard practice is to count each thread as one; even threads spun as 2 or 3 ply yarn.
Most companies report the thread count in the proper way but when dealing with higher thread counts it’s always good to check the fine print when shopping for hotel pillow cases and sheets.
Why Does Thread Count Matter?
Well the high the thread count should mean the higher quality fabric if they are reporting the thread count correctly.
We have tested a lot of high thread count sheets and pillow cases against low thread count version. To be honest sometimes there is a big difference and sometimes there is not.
I make this statement on every review that we write for products we test, here at VJ Pillow we are working for our readers.
We want to find you the best quality sleep products at the lowest prices possible. We also always all out whether the company offers a free trial period and or free returns.
I use this analogy all the time, would you go buy a car without test driving for a decent amount of time? Of course you wouldn’t.
The same is true with sleep product whether it be a pillow, mattress, blankets, hotel pillow cases or anything else related to sleep.
You need to be able to try it risk free for at least two weeks to see if it’s going to meet your needs. If it doesn’t you need to be able to return it at no cost.
What Materials Are The Best For Hotel Pillow Cases?
The best choices for hotel pillow cases are cotton, Egyptian Cotton, silk and bamboo. We are going to talk about each material and list the pros and cons for each material.
This History Of Cotton:
Cotton has been used for thousands of years and is one of the earliest and most domesticated non-food crops in the entire world.
Primarily used for its fiber cotton was domesticated in both the New and Old Worlds independently.
The earliest record of cotton domestication occurred in Pakistan or Madagascar some 6,000 year ago.
It’s fascinating to think that cotton was domesticated thousands of years ago by primitive man, who seen that this fiber like material could be used for other purposes.
Cotton is a great sustainable resource which we have depended on for the last 6,000 years and today we are talking about how it’s used in hotel pillow cases.
Cotton:
Who doesn’t like cotton? It’s a great product as it breaths so it’s cool to use in sheets and pillow cases. It’s easy on the skin and soft to touch.
Cotton is durable and can withstand rigors of machine washing and wear well over time. The big drawback to using cotton is that it wrinkles easily.
Organic Cotton:
What is the difference between cotton and organic cotton? There has been a big organic movement going on the last few years.
People are realizing how harmful to our health and the environment that the chemicals used in growing
Egyptian Cotton:
Egyptian cotton comes from only Egypt and if you are looking at products that state that then you should see the Egyptian cotton trademark. Their log is a cotton symbol located in a dark triangle and is easy to spot.
Egyptian cotton is known as the highest quality cotton in the world as it has long silky fibers compared to the regular cotton that is grown everywhere else.
It has all the characteristics of cotton buy a superior silky feel due to its longer fibers, while regular cotton has short fibers has a more coarser feel. This is why Egyptian cotton give that more luxury feeling
So why is Egypt able to grow superior cotton compared to the rest of the world? Because Egypt’s climate makes more favorable growing conditions the cotton plants flourish. Also, cotton plant tend to grow near the Nile river.
The cotton industry in Egypt is taken very serious since 2017 the Egyptian government took control of the distribution and production of cottonseed.
Cottonseed production had been handled by the private sector in the past. This change was made in an effort to restore see purity and cotton quality.
The Egyptian government efforts work with the quality significantly improving from 2018 through 2020.
Well now you know why Egyptian cotton is used in hotel pillow cases and sheet, because most people don’t use them at their homes and this gives hotel to appeal of having luxury items.
Why Are Silk Hotel Pillow Cases Considered Luxury?
Let’s start with how silk is made, while most people are aware that silk comes from the silk worm and it true that it is a sustainable material.
But let’s talk about the ugly facts of the truly luxury fabric. Silkworms are actually caterpillars of the Bombyx mori moth and secrete a sticky liquid protein called fibroin during its 3 to 8 day pupating period.
This material is pushed through two glands in the opening of the worm’s mouth and these two strands meet and come into contact with air they harden.
The next step in the worm’s process involves the silkworm secreting a material call sericin, which is a bonding agents that hold the two strand together.
By the way this process we just described is the caterpillar’s construction method for their cocoon. During the construction of their cocoon the amazing little silkworm will twist 300,000 times in a figure eight motion producing around 1 kilometer of this luxury filament.
Now for the sad part and this may affect your desire to every own anything silk again. When the moth hatches it destroys the cocoon and the thread.
Harvesting of the thread involves killing the pupae (the development stage between the larva and adult) buy either hot air or steam or boiling water which kills the pupae.
Also the heat softens sericin (the bonding agent) making the filament easy to unwind. About 2,500 caterpillars are killed to make one single pound of raw silk.
Why Does Silk Make For Great Quality Hotel Pillow Cases?
Here are a few health and beauty secrets that are advertised by company that sell silk hotel pillow cases.
Silk has a low friction coefficient to the human skin and is the lowest of all fibers at only 7.4% and contain 18 amino acids to help your skin retain moisture – The more hydrated your skin is, the less noticeable fine lines and wrinkles become.
With the reduction of friction sleeping on silk can minimize split ends, frizz and dryness of your hair. Silk aids in maintaining the natural oils in your hair and keeping it smooth as you toss and turn at night.
Bamboo:
Bamboo is the most amazing fabric on this planet. My wife and I switched to bamboo after sleeping on hotel pillow cases and sheets made of bamboo on a vacation about 5-years ago.
Bamboo has been used in the production of textiles, paper, and medicine as well as incorporated into transportation and construction as well. This is truly a versatile and sustainable products make the very best hotel pillow cases that money can buy in my opinion.
Benefits Of Bamboo:
- Keeps your odor free and fresh smelling with its antibacterial properties
- Keep you dry – very absorbent material
- Keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer
- Luxury feeling material
- Great for clothing – offers UV protection
- Hypoallergenic
- Renewable and sustainable – save our planet
What Are Hidden Zippers?
Hidden zipper in quality hotel pillow case are just zippers that are recessed and covered up with material as to conceal the zipper and produce a quality look and feel.
If there is a zipper in your pillow and you are using an open end pillow case I always place the zippered end of the pillow into the case first so that is isn’t on the open end of a pillow case.
Why Are Polyester And Acrylic Fibers Bad?
There has been forensic evaluation done of the micro plastic found in sediments showing that the proportions of acrylic and polyester fibers used in clothing resembled those found in habitats that receive sewage-discharges.
Browne goes on to say that through sampling of wastewater form residential washing machines demonstrated that a single garment can produce >1900 fibers per wash.
Wow, now think about all the washing machine across this country and what that could add up to in just one year of washing clothes.