All of our fabrics are made from the finest fibres available, including the finest long staple certified Egyptian Cotton™. Our Egyptian Cotton™ percale is cool and crisp to the touch. This fabric has a soft texture and a more casual appearance. Percale is very breathable and actually softens with continued use. Our Egyptian Cotton™ sateen is extremely soft and smooth. The elegant sateen sheets are also naturally more wrinkle resistant.
There are several important questions you need to ask yourself when it comes time to purchase luxury bed linens. The first being, how valuable is your rest and recovery? At Sabana, we take R & R seriously. We want to ensure that if you choose exactly the right product, you will improve the quality of your sleep to an extent that you may not have thought possible. As we all know, improved quality of sleep means an improved quality of life.
So, here is how to pick between a sateen and a percale.
First, let’s answer the question of whether thread count matters? The answer is “yes”, but perhaps not in the way you might think. Thread count, or TPI (threads per inch), is a measure of the coarseness or fineness of a fabric. It measures how many threads you can find in one square inch (or 2.54 square cm). This will include both the vertical (warp) and horizontal (weft) weaves of the fabric. A higher thread count can indeed mean that you are getting a softer, better quality sheet. It means there are more threads of yarn per square inch, creating a tighter weave. For example, if a product is advertised as having a 200TC, that means it has 100 vertical and 100 horizontal single-ply threads per square inch. If it has a 400TC, that would indicate 200 vertical and 200 horizontal, and so forth.
Of course, the thread itself is extremely important. How fine are the yarns themselves? How many are twisted together? Every thread in any fabric has a ply, which is about the number of threads twisted together. Single-ply means every thread has a single strand of yarn. Two-ply means two strands are twisted together, and so forth. Thread count will reflect the thread ply, so a product with an 800TC can have 200 vertical two-ply threads and 200 horizontal two-ply threads, which will amount to a total of 800. Two-ply and single-ply can present the same thread count but have a totally different weight. More importantly, they will feel much different to the touch.
So, what is the difference between sateen and percale? Simply put, their structure. Percale presents a traditional one-yarn-over and one-yard-under weave. Sateen, on the other hand, will have a one-yarn-under and four-yarn-over weave.
They don’t necessarily have different thread counts, just a different way of organizing the threads. Percale is soft, durable, lightweight and perfect for summer months. The regular weave also means it will become softer every time you wash it.
Sateen, on the other hand, with much more thread exposure due to the four-over, is warmer and buttery-soft. It is heavier in weight than percale, and has a luminous and silky appearance.
In the end, both are wonderful. They just serve different purposes and tastes. Some of our customers choose the linens that best suit their daily needs, while others purchase both and use them interchangeably with the seasons.
EGYPTIAN COTTON
If you want to produce the finest luxury bedding available, the process must begin by using the finest raw materials. All the techniques and manufacturing skills in the world will fall short if you don’t start with elite materials. Egyptian Cotton™ is one of the finest raw materials in the world, and that is why we use it in all of our products.
Here is what makes Egyptian Cotton™ so unique. It comes from a special region that is hot and sunny all year long. This climate provides the cotton plants with the stable conditions they need to thrive and develop robustly. In addition Egypt reaps the benefits of the Nile River, which provides irrigation typically not available in such hot climates.
With certified Egyptian Cotton™, every single thread is picked by hand. By contrast, most other cotton producers have caved to the cheaper machine picking. The Cotton Egypt Association ensures that all cotton meeting the Egyptian Cotton™ specifications is picked by hand, in the traditional fashion.
Egyptian Cotton™ is the perfect cotton for the spinning process, and allows us to make the finest of yarns without sacrificing strength. This ensures that the resulting fabric will be stronger, softer, and magnificent in appearance.
As cotton that meets the lofty standards of the Egyptian Cotton™ brand makes up less than 1% of all the cotton in the market, it is as rare as it is precious. It is the most expensive cotton in the world because its quality is unmatched. Only the finest clothing and bedding can boast such quality. Cotton’s satiny effect, elevated resistance, and extremely soft touch make it the best raw material in textiles.