Just Because It’s Overpriced Doesn’t Mean It’s Good

How Fancy Names Like “Microfibre” Hide Cheap Bedding Materials

Walk into any bedding store today and you’ll see bedsheets priced at RM600, RM800, sometimes even over RM1,000.

Luxury packaging. Soft-touch displays. Fancy fabric names that sound technical and premium

Yet many of these bedsheets are still made from cheap synthetic fibres.

Price does not equal quality.
And bedding brands have become very good at hiding that fact.

The Biggest Bedding Myth: Expensive Means Better

Most people assume one simple rule:
If it’s expensive, it must be good.

In bedding, this logic breaks fast.

Why?

Because material cost is low, while branding, storytelling, and retail markups are high. Polyester costs brands very little to produce. Bamboo and TENCEL blends often cost far less than long-staple natural cotton.

Yet they’re priced like luxury through clever naming and visual storytelling.

Polyester Didn’t Go Away. It Just Got Renamed.

Polyester has a bad reputation. People associate it with heat, sweat, and skin irritation.

So brands stopped calling it polyester.

Instead, you’ll see terms like:

• Microfibre

• Ultra-fine fibre

• Performance fabric

• Soft-tech weave

• Cooling fibre blend

Here’s the truth.

Microfibre is still polyester.

Why Polyester Sheets Feel “Amazing” in the Store

This is where many people get misled.

Polyester-based sheets often feel incredibly soft at first touch. Sometimes softer than cotton.

That softness comes from:

• Chemical softeners

• Silicone coatings

• Uniform synthetic filaments

But this softness is surface-level.

After repeated washes:

• Breathability drops

• Heat retention increases

• Odours cling

• Static builds

• Skin irritation becomes more likely

Natural fibres don’t rely on coatings to feel comfortable. Synthetic ones do.

Bamboo and TENCEL: The Grey Area Brands Exploit

Bamboo and TENCEL are not automatically bad. The issue is how they’re processed and blended.

Most bamboo bedding on the market is actually bamboo viscose or rayon. The fibre is chemically dissolved and re-extruded. To improve durability and reduce cost, it’s often blended with polyester.

Same story with many TENCEL products.

Brands lean heavily into words like:

• Eco

• Natural

• Sustainable

• Cooling

But the final fabric behaves closer to a synthetic than a true natural fibre.

That’s why many people experience unexpected skin issues over time. We’ve covered this specifically here:
👉 https://katin.life/blogs/news/are-polyester-bedsheets-aging-your-skin

Overpriced Happens When One Label Is Ignored

The most honest part of any bedsheet is the fabric composition tag.

If you see:

• Polyester

• Microfibre

• Poly-blend

• Rayon blend

• Viscose blend

You are not buying a premium natural fabric, regardless of price.

A RM900 polyester bedsheet is still polyester.

Why These Sheets Still Sell at High Prices

Three reasons:

1. Softness bias
   People equate softness with quality, ignoring airflow and moisture control.

2. Lifestyle marketing
   Hotels, influencers, and luxury visuals distract from material reality.

3. Name manipulation
   Polyester sounds cheap. Microfibre sounds advanced.

Same fibre. Better story.

What Actually Deserves a Higher Price in Bedding

A genuinely premium bedsheet is expensive for real reasons:

• Long-staple natural fibres

• Minimal chemical finishing

• Certified safe dyes and processing

• Better airflow and moisture regulation

• Long-term durability, not day-one softness

Not because the packaging looks good on Instagram.

The Skin Contact Reality Check

Your bedsheet touches your skin longer than:

• Your clothes

• Your sofa

• Your towels

If a fabric traps heat or relies on chemical coatings, your skin reacts first.

That’s why people report:

• Night sweating

• Back acne

• Itchiness

• Poor sleep despite “soft” sheets

And often blame stress, weather, or hormones instead of the fabric itself.

The Bottom Line

Expensive bedding isn’t automatically good bedding.

Fancy names don’t change fibre behaviour.
Marketing doesn’t improve breathability.
And softness doesn’t equal skin safety.

If you want a reference point for what a pure, no-nonsense natural cotton bedsheet looks like, this is a good benchmark:
👉 https://katin.life/products/snow-white

No gimmicks. No renamed plastic. Just clean material.

Always check the fabric label.
Always question the name.
And remember: plastic is still plastic, even when it’s called something nicer.