Egyptian cotton?

True Egyptian cotton is grown along the banks of the Nile River. Its long, fine fibres make a uniform, strong and smooth thread when twisted into yarn.

The words "Egyptian cotton" can simply be used as a marketing ploy. Much of what is labelled "Egyptian cotton" also contains cotton grown in other parts of the world.

So check the fine print. Unless the label says "one hundred percent Egyptian cotton" it may contain only a shred.

Gabrielle Hoffman, bed linen buyer for Christchurch department store Ballantynes, advises: "Price is usually a good indicator - genuine Egyptian cotton sheets will be more expensive".

But you don't have to rely solely on price to make sure you are getting the real thing - look for the Egyptian cotton "Authentic Seal of the Egyptian Government" on the packaging.

Other options

Cotton grown in Egypt is not the only high-quality cotton. Long-staple cotton grown elsewhere under similar climatic and geographic conditions is arguably of equal quality. For instance, pima cotton grown in the south-west states of the US.

And cotton seems to be shoppers' current fibre of choice. Gabrielle's noticed a trend away from synthetic threads towards natural fibres: "Although we always try to keep polycottons on the shelf, the trend is more towards 100% cotton".

Ethical threads

Have you ever thought about where your sheets came from? 'The Observer Magazine' in the UK has reported that child labour is rife in the cotton plantations of the Nile Valley. Children as young as seven are paid a pittance to work long days exposed to harmful pesticides, to satisfy the rest of the world's demand for luxury bed linen.

You can't buy fairtrade-certified cotton sheets in New Zealand but you'll find organic cotton sheets in specialist bed linen stores and online (try www.wallacecotton.com). Fairness is a founding principle of organic agriculture. Evidence of a rigorous organic-certification scheme provides some assurance that the working conditions of those who produced the fibre have been considered.