Cotton vs. Sateen
Cotton is one of the most common fabrics on the market today. Used in tee shirts, bedding, handkerchiefs and a variety of other products, cotton is soft, absorbent and easy to clean. However, regular cotton, which is sometimes referred to as Egyptian cotton, isn't the only fabric made from the cotton plant.
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Cotton
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Cotton comes from the cotton plant. Cotton is grown, and then the puffy, white parts of the plant are collected. The seeds are stripped out and then the cotton is spun into thread. The thread is then turned into fabric. This makes cotton a very "green" fabric, since it's grown naturally.
Sateen
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Sateen is a type of cotton fabric. What makes it different is that when sateen is woven from cotton thread, most of the threads are placed on the surface. This method of weaving gives sateen a satiny shimmer. Though primarily used in bed sheets, this weaving method is also used to make pillow cases and cotton clothing.
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Softness
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The primary advantage that sateen has over cotton is how soft it is. Not only does it have the shimmer of satin, but sateen is much softer even than other cotton fabrics. This is the main reason it's used in bedding, since it can add extra comfort when it's time to go to sleep.
Endurance
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Due to the way that sateen is woven, with all of the threads on the surface, it's not as durable as regular cotton fabric. In order to make up for that, though, sateen can be multilayered. However, that takes a great deal more work and more material than it would to make a more traditional cotton item.
Price
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Because it's softer, smoother and requires more work and different processes to manufacture, sateen is generally more expensive than cotton. This should only be expected, since sateen can be thought of as cotton, plus a little bit extra.
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