Soft Clothing and its Art: Combed Cotton

There’s that one shirt you always put on without giving it a second thought, despite having many new shirts around you. It is not the fanciest shirt you own, but you love wearing it and after washing it fifty times!

Most likely, that is the combed cotton shirt because clothing made of combed cotton is soft thanks to the process of which most consumers are unaware.

Quick Summary Box

What Is Combed Cotton Clothing?

The clothes manufactured from combed cotton make use of yarn which has been combed using fine metal teeth prior to spinning. It involves removing all the short fibers and also removing the contaminants from the fiber so that only the long fibers remain. This can be likened to the combing of long hair, where the tangles are sorted out and only the clean hair remains.

How Does Combing Create Soft Cotton Fabric?

According to the National Cotton Council and Britannica, cotton fiber contains 90% cellulose. Nonetheless, the raw cotton fibers vary in length. Short ones stick out of the yarn like tiny splinters. They’re what make cheaper fabric feel scratchy and fuzz up into pills.

Combing removes many of those short fibers. Depending on the mill, the waste (called noil) can be roughly 10 to 20 percent of the material. That’s a real cost, and it explains the higher price.

Results appear fast. The long fibers run side by side. Thus, the yarn becomes strong and smooth. Additionally, fewer loose ends mean less pilling. That’s the whole secret behind soft cotton fabric that stays soft.

Combed vs. Carded vs. Extra-Long Staple Cotton

For context, standard upland cotton runs around one inch in staple length. Extra-long staple varieties like Pima go well beyond that. Supima says its cotton makes up less than one percent of the world’s supply, which is why it’s pricey.

Why Comfortable Everyday Clothing Starts With the Yarn

Most people shop by color and cut. Fair enough. Nevertheless, it is the yarn that determines the characteristics of the garment on the 200th day, not the first one.

Let’s consider a commute in Los Angeles. You leave your car parked at the parking lot of the Fashion District, spend some time in an air-conditioned office, and then you go for a hike under the sunset sky near the Griffith Observatory. The regular clothes that are worn every day should deal with these extreme changes easily.

For example, a tee knit from combed yarn drapes cleanly under a jacket. The collar of the carded tee tends to have a similar weight but looks and feels bunched.

The Real Drawbacks

Combed cotton isn’t perfect. One, the cost of combing is higher due to the fiber loss, which adds up to a few dollars for each piece of clothing. Two, this fiber wrinkles and shrinks when subjected to high temperatures.

Furthermore, it is difficult to dry cotton fabric. For example, while going for a hike in the rainy season, you will have no option but to go for artificial fibers since they will prevent sweat from accumulating on your clothes. Hence, you must select what best fits the job.

Why Choose Valiant Mindset?

It is geared towards meeting the needs of everyday wear for both men, women, and kids looking for comfort and ease. It also offers free shipping when purchases exceed fifty dollars and returns within fourteen days.

Still, no single store suits everyone. If you want technical performance gear, you’ll likely want a specialist. For daily pieces that feel good and keep their shape, it’s a reasonable place to start.

Conclusion

Combed cotton clothes will not change your wardrobe immediately. But the effect that they have is to make your favorite clothes comfortable and long-lasting. It all begins at the spinning mill and continues until it reaches your skin.

Just remember to look at the label next time. You should be looking for combed cotton clothes for your everyday wear, and save the other cheaper clothes for your less frequent use.

Want to feel the difference?  Shop the Men’s, Women’s, or Kids’ collections, or visit the New Arrivals.