The bedding you use can make a huge difference to the quality of your sleep. Cotton, for example, is much more breathable and cooling, compared to polyester blends. If you are looking to upgrade your sleeping situation, then try my top recommendations for the UK organic cotton bedding brands.

For many of us, cotton is our top choice when it comes to bedding. And for good reason. Cotton is breathable, hypoallergenic and long-lasting.

What’s more cotton helps to draw moisture away from the skin. This has two benefits. It helps to keep you cool during hot summer nights and helps to keep you cosy during the autumn and winter chills.

Due to the many benefits of cotton, cotton is the second most-produced fibre in the world, after polyester. Choosing organic cotton is one great way to make a tangible positive impact on the environment.

Why Organic Cotton?

Until recently, it was claimed that using organic cotton uses 91% less water compared to non-organic cotton. However, these claims have now been thoroughly debunked. This doesn’t make organic cotton a bad choice though when it comes to bedding. Organic cotton is grown without synthetic chemicals and pesticides and without genetically modified (GMO) seeds.

Conventional cotton, on the other hand, is grown with synthetic chemical inputs and/or genetically modified seeds.

Removing synthetic pesticides from the cotton-growing process is good for the environment – reducing the risk of biodiversity loss associated with pesticides. It also helps to protect the health of farm workers, and cotton pickers, as well as communities living close to cotton farms.

Choosing organic cotton, such as Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified cotton over inferior standards, such as BCI Cotton, also helps maintain a market for organic cotton.

The Best Organic Cotton Bedding Brands To Know

To help you find the best organic cotton bedding brands, here are the Moral Fibres’ top picks when it comes to duvet covers, pillowcases, fitted sheets and more:

Cottsbury

• Bedding sizes available: single, double, king and super king
• Price: from £12 for a single flat sheet
• Available directly from Cottsbury

For the biggest range of organic and fairtrade certified cotton bedsheets, duvet covers and pillowcases, Cottsury is the place to try.

Founded by someone who’s seen the inside of fashion’s biggest factories and didn’t like what they saw, Cottsbury is about doing things differently – and doing them right. Every thread of its organic cotton bedding is traceable, from the seed planted in the organic farms in Odisha in India to the final stitch sewn in their Fairtrade-certified factories.

You won’t find toxic dyes or mystery materials here. Just super soft GOTS-certified cotton, that’s produced without pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. That means better for your skin, safer for the planet, and fairer for the people who make it.

Cottsbury even has a no-plastics policy – which means it doesn’t package its products in plastic. Plus it’s teamed up with The Seam to offer a reduced-price repair service to keep your bedding in better shape for longer.

Use the exclusive code MORALFIBRES15 to get 15% off your order at Cottsbury.

Natural Collection

• Bedding sizes available: single, double, and king
• Price: from £88.95 for a single duvet cover
• Available from Ethical Superstore

Natural Collection’s range of bedding only comes in a cream colour. Rather than a specific design decision, this is because Natural Collection’s organic cotton bedding is naturally whitened. As no chlorine or optical brighteners have been used the sheets are therefore not a ‘true’ white and are more cream or ecru.

Natural Collection has been supporting sustainable production, ethical innovation and green ideas since 1999.

With duvet covers available in single, double and king size, alongside matching pillowcases, the only thing missing from the range are fitted sheets.

Rise & Fall

• Bedding sizes available: single, double, king, EU king, super king and emperor.
• Price: from £110 for a duvet set, comprising of fitted sheet, duvet cover and two standard pillowcases.
• Available from Rise & Fall

Named the best British bedsheets by Harper’s Bazaar, GQ and The Telegraph, I wondered if Rise & Fall could live up to the hype.

I’ve looked, and it turns out Rise & Fall is a great choice for organic cotton bedding. Its duvet sets are made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton. Plus, the cotton used is extra-long staple, known for its strength, softness and durability.

Rise & Fall is also B-Corp certified, demonstrating its commitment to social and environmental responsibility. What that looks like in practice is that Rise & Fall’s manufacturing partners are carefully selected for their quality, ethical working practices and environmental standards.

The bedding is also OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certified. This means that every component – including the main fabric and threads – is tested against a list of over 1,000 regulated and non-regulated harmful chemicals.

Certifications aside, what I especially love is that by working directly with manufacturers and producing in small batches, Rise & Fall works to reduce overproduction and unnecessary waste. It’s a huge hidden part of the textile industry, and it’s great to see brands taking a stand.

Marquis & Dawe

• Bedding sizes available: single, double, king and super king
• Price: from £55 for a single duvet cover
• Available from Not On The High Street

Marquis & Dawe’s range of organic cotton bedding comes in heaps of different shades – including moss green, dusk blue, white and perfectly pale – a creamy hue. These are available in organic percale cotton and in organic cotton sateen depending on your preference.

If you are wondering what sateen is, then again, like percale, sateen isn’t a blend of fibres. Instead, sateen refers to the weave of the cotton fibres.

When making sateen, the cotton is woven to maximise the visible threads on the top side of the fabric. This gives sateen a softness and shine to the upper side of the fabric, whilst the bottom side has a dull appearance. Sateen is also silky, and wrinkle-resistant. It’s also heavier, so tends to be warmer.

If you are a hot sleeper, then I’d pick regular cotton over sateen. And if you are always cold then sateen may be a cosier choice for you.

Marquis & Dawe’s range of bedding is made in Portugal and is both 100% GOTS-certified organic and Oeko-Tex certified. It all ships without plastic, so there’s no waste associated with your order.

More Sustainable Bedding Resources

As always, I seek to keep this page updated, so as and when I find more organic cotton bedding brands I’ll be sure to list them here. In the meantime, I’ve got heaps of eco-friendly bedding resources to help you out:

• Try my guide to the best UK organic mattresses
• If you’re looking to avoid animal-based materials, try my guide to the UK vegan mattresses
• Here’s my guide to sustainable duvets in the UK
• And here’s what to do with your old pillows when they are done.

Wendy Graham