How to Care for, Wash & Dry Your Egyptian Cotton Bedding

Our Egyptian cotton bed sheets are luxuriously soft, comfortable and breathable, making them perfect for helping you to achieve the best night's sleep possible. However, when you’ve invested in luxury cotton bedding, you need to know how to wash and care for it. 

There’s nothing better than the look of premium bed linen — other than the feeling of crawling beneath it, of course — but it’s important to look after your Egyptian cotton correctly if you want it to stay in the best condition. 

Here’s how to care for, wash and dry your Egyptian cotton bedding.

How to soften Egyptian cotton

Synonymous with hotels, Egyptian cotton is often seen as one of the most luxurious materials for bedding. It’s also a very durable fabric, making it an excellent choice for any bedroom. What’s more, when cared for correctly, your bed linen will not only last for years but it will become even more sumptuously soft over time.

The best way to soften your bedding is by popping it in the wash — you’ll find that it becomes softer after every cycle. Therefore, if you find that your sheets feel slightly stiff as you remove them from their packaging, it’s a great idea to put them straight in the washing machine to help them soften up. 

Washing Egyptian cotton

To keep your Egyptian cotton bedding at its best, we recommend washing your bed linen every week to prevent bacteria forming. When selecting the temperature, it’s important to always follow the cotton care instructions on your bedding — generally, we recommend washing our DUSK Egyptian cotton bed linen between 30 and 40°C.

Lastly, take extra care to make sure you don’t mix your sheets with darker coloured items. Even if you tend to use colour catcher products, there’s a chance the colours may run and ruin the luxurious, pristine look of your bed linen. 

If you’ve chosen white Egyptian cotton, you can find more expert washing tips in our white bedding care guide.

Which laundry detergent to use

When washing your bedding, we recommend that you use a minimal amount of gentle detergent and always stay away from bleach. While it may seem like a good way to remove stains, using bleach in the long-run will do more harm than good, causing damage to the cotton fibres and often turning your white Egyptian cotton bedding a yellow shade. 

With so many detergents on the market, we know that it can be tough to find the right one. To save you time, Good Housekeeping have carried out tests and chosen their best performing laundry detergents. However, we also think it’s worth doing your research and choosing an eco-friendly variety of laundry detergent. If you’d like to help out the environment, you can check out our blog for more eco-friendly tips when washing your bed linen. 

Tumble drying vs. air drying 

Line-drying your bedding is always the best way to keep your Egyptian cotton looking and smelling beautiful! However, with the unpredictable British weather, we know that this isn’t always possible. The best alternative to air drying your bedding is to tumble dry on a low heat setting — this will prevent any shrinking and keep it in the best condition. 

As always, make sure you read the care label before putting your bedding into the dryer. If you do choose to use a tumble dryer, our top tip is to remove your bed linen before the cycle ends. By taking it out just before it’s dry, this will allow you to shake creases out and reduce the time you spend ironing.

Tips for ironing your Egyptian cotton bedding

If you want your sheets to really reflect that hotel luxury look, it’s worth spending 10 minutes ironing your Egyptian cotton bed linen. Once they have been washed and are nearly dry, shake to reduce any creases before laying onto your ironing board. For the best results, select the temperature suggested on the care label and iron using long quick strokes to watch the wrinkles melt away. 

Looking for more top tips? Find expert advice and insight in our DUSK bedding guides.