How to tell genuine Egyptian cotton

Egypt grows well under one percent of the world's cotton, and far more than that is sold under its name. In 2016 a US retailer pulled its Egyptian cotton sheets after tests found most were not. Nothing about the label has become harder to misuse since. Here is what a sourcing lead can check.

What the name is supposed to mean

Staple length. Egyptian varieties grow fibres of 35 millimetres and more, against 26 to 29 for the upland cotton that makes most of the world's garments. Longer fibres spin into finer, stronger yarn with fewer ends, which is why the difference is visible in towels, bedding, shirting and fine jersey, and why it is close to invisible in a heavyweight fleece. We say that on our own site rather than sell the story everywhere.

Four questions to ask any supplier

Where was the cotton grown?

Egyptian cotton is a place and a plant: extra-long-staple Gossypium barbadense varieties grown in the Nile Delta, Giza 45, 86, 87, 92, 94 and 96 among them. A supplier who cannot name the variety or the crop year is selling a label.

Where was the yarn spun?

Bales leave Egypt and are spun elsewhere, then knitted and sewn elsewhere again. The fibre may be Egyptian; the chain is not. Ask for the mill and the spinning country on the yarn invoice.

Is the mill licensed?

The Cotton Egypt Association licenses mills and brands to use the Egyptian Cotton mark and runs DNA tests against a reference library. A licence number is checkable; a logo on a swing tag is not.

What does the test report say?

A fibre test states staple length, micronaire and strength. Extra-long-staple reads 35 millimetres and above. Upland cotton, which most of the world's cotton is, reads 26 to 29. The number settles the question.

Why one country matters

When the cotton is grown, ginned, spun, knitted or woven, dyed and sewn in Egypt, the origin claim rests on documents that exist anyway: the bale receipt, the yarn invoice, the mill licence, the fabric test report and the certificate of origin. That is also what makes the goods qualify for preferential entry into the EU, the UK, Turkey and the Gulf, where the rule is that the fabric is made in the country of export. A garment cut in Egypt from imported fabric qualifies for neither the name nor the duty treatment.

What we put in front of you

Suez Works works with licensed mills. The swatch box carries the fabric test report for each fabric in it, the mill documents for the factory on your order are available on request, and the yarn can be traced on programmes that want it. If a fabric does not need extra-long-staple cotton to be good, we say so and quote it in the construction that fits.