Cotton Bed Linen

Cotton bed linen is our overall preferred fabric for bed sheets. With fabric woven and finished by heritage weavers it is exceptionally soft, breathable, will stay white and have brilliant longevity. It will also get softer with each wash. 

Always follow the care label on your linens in case of special finishes, embroideries and so forth.

Cotton bed linen is machine washable, dependent on any special finishes or embroideries – please always check your care label. 

When washing your cotton bed linen, use a sparing amount of detergent to avoid product build-up. We recommend to avoid detergent with optical brightening agents or any products containing chlorine. Most “sustainable” detergents are without OBAs, but please check the ingredients.

Cotton bed linen will get softer with every wash, but if you like to use a fabric softener we recommend distilled white vinegar as a natural alternative, and possibly adding a few drops of lavender essential oil to your wash. Chemical softeners add a film to textiles.

Avoid overfilling your washing machine to allow detergent and the water to properly distribute. Ideally, wash your bed linen alone and in any case with similar colours. Synthetic materials are harder than natural fibres - it is best to wash natural fibres absent of synthetics.

Never use bleach, even diluted. It weakens natural fibres and will degrade them over time.

Bed linens are suitable for spin wash, but note care labels and use these as definite guidance in case of hand embroidered elements or similar. It is best to spin cottons to avoid drying processing time.  If you have delicate details on your bed sheets, a cotton or linen bag is useful to wash your sheets within - some washing machines can have drums that can damage delicate details on textiles.

Washing your sheets weekly or twice weekly is optimum - it will enable your sheets to stay whiter and brighter for longer as oils are not penetrating the cotton as much. 

For cotton bed linens, you can either air dry or tumble dry them (dependent on the care label). 

Air drying is the best way to dry your sheets, if you can. When air drying bed linens, the optimum way is to stretch them out flat. Rebecca Udall cotton bed linens will have few creases when air dried this way. 

If you are tumble drying your bed sheets, ensure to do so on a low heat and always remove your bed sheets before they are fully dry. Drying your sheets to a crisp in the tumble drier will make the fibres go frizzy and therefore feel rough. Cotton wants to retain an element of moisture.

Percale cotton will dry faster than sateen cotton, and a lower thread count will also dry more quickly. 

There is nothing comparable to ironed sheets. Iron cotton on a medium to high heat. Embroideries, including scalloped embroidered ends, also look best for an iron. Embroidered details are best ironed on the reverse - it will make the embroidery pop.