If you’re out there looking for a sweatshirt, you’re going to be bombarded with a ton of different options. Remember that while style is important, there is more that goes into the making of your favorite clothing than the color of the fabric or the logo on the front. There is the quality of the fabric to consider.

That’s why, although the aesthetic value is important, it is not the only option you should consider when you’re looking for a comfortable new garment to add to the closet. Don’t be fooled by imitations and garments made from synthetic fabrics that promise super performance when you can get the same and better from the real deal. Here are some of the things that make a cotton sweatshirt, specifically a 100% cotton sweatshirt, a better choice all around.

Why a Cotton Sweatshirt?

Among the many other synthetic fibers out there that manufacturers use to create sweatshirts you will find polyester, nylon and many others added to the mix, such as rayon and spandex. These fibers promise to hold their shape, offer superior comfort, and a number of other things, but at the end of the day, it’s just plain hard to beat cotton.

Insulation

In the first place, cotton is a great insulator with a number of benefits over alternative fibers that will become more and more evident as you proceed through this article. Cotton is a great insulator, as mentioned, but it is valuable in the summer as it is in the winter. While this might seem counterintuitive, with a little bit of explanation it all becomes more clear.

Why cotton is an excellent insulator in the winter should be apparent enough, especially if you have ever worn a comfortable heavyweight sweater before. The cotton fibers are hollow and trap air close to your skin, which can help keep you warm when the temperatures are on the decline. That makes heavyweight cotton sweatshirts and coats a great option for the winter months.

However, cotton is also a great insulator in the summer months, but not because it keeps you hot - it actually helps keep you cooler than many other fibers. First off, wearing a cotton garment in warmer weather can help shield you from the rays of the sun, but the true value of cotton in the heat remains to be shown.

Because cotton constitutes a naturally breathable fabric (it is hollow, after all), it helps to wick moisture away from your skin and allows it to evaporate into the air. This means that cotton can wick sweat away from your skin to help keep you cool and comfortable, even when it’s hot. That’s what makes cotton a great choice for clothing in the summer as well as the winter, although you might want to shed the heavier sweatshirt in the summer months for a lighter cotton t-shirt!

Durability

In addition to being a great insulator throughout all of the seasons, cotton is also naturally a very durable material. Woven cotton fibers have a fairly high tensile strength (which is also the reason that a lot of natural cordages are made from cotton) which makes it suitable for creating clothing.

Because cotton fibers are so durable, they stand up very well to use. Cotton garments hold their shape extraordinarily well over the long term when cared for properly, which is easy, by the way, just see below. In addition to holding their form, they are actually stronger when they are wet, which means that cotton garments can stand up to repeated washings remarkably well.

The fact that cotton fibers are naturally durable also means that cotton garments wear very well. They are not as likely to tear, fray, or otherwise “unravel” than many other fibers including some synthetics. This makes cotton a great natural alternative to these.

Comfort

There is also the fact that cotton is naturally soft and comfortable throughout the seasons. Of course, there are different types of cotton fabric, and some are softer than others, but cotton is still an extremely versatile and comfortable fiber with which you can do a lot.

For example, all of our fabric that we use here at Just Sweatshirts to create our shirts and sweatshirts is ring-spun cotton so that it will not pill. This keeps the fabric softer for longer and prevents it from creating the annoying little pills that sometimes dot other cotton fabrics.

Because cotton is a natural fiber that is inherently soft and resilient, this allows it to stretch to fit the form of the wearer. This means that a cotton garment, even a form-fitting one, will accommodate your natural contours over time and will become even more comfortable. This is a lesser-known attribute of cotton but one that promotes its value significantly. It’s commonly known that leather will “break-in” to better fit the wearer, but not as widely known about cotton.

In addition, as cotton is naturally soft, the more cotton a garment contains, the more comfortable it will be. What we mean specifically by this is that cotton fabrics, such as those used in the production of our 100% cotton sweatshirts and shirts here on our website, are not itchy or irritating. This makes cotton much more suitable for those with sensitive skin than some synthetic fabrics.

Hypoallergenic

On the note of irritation, it is worth mentioning that cotton, particularly 100% cotton, is hypoallergenic. Cotton is hardly ever implicated in triggering allergic reactions and therefore is safe for almost everyone to use. This is one of the prime reasons that so many manufacturers use cotton yarns and fabrics to create delicate articles like baby blankets and clothing for young children. It is also the reason that so many medical bandages and gauzes are made from 100% cotton - it reduces the risk of reaction and it is much safer to use.

Of course, given the scope of this article, what it means for you is that a cotton sweatshirt will probably be much more comfortable than a synthetic one, while at the same time coming along with all of the other benefits listed in this article. It also will increase the degree to which cotton can be seen as a comfortable alternative to synthetics.

Healthier

Taking the value of cotton’s hypoallergenic properties just one step further, cotton is also safer to wear, whether you suspect allergies or not. For example, and as mentioned, cotton absorbs and releases moisture, bringing it away from your skin. As it does not hold onto it, it can help keep your skin dry. That’s one of the reasons that cotton is the best fabric to use for underwear.

At the same time, the fact that cotton is naturally wicking means that it can help protect you from irritation, chafing, and infection. Clothes that stay damp and trap moisture near your skin are likely to cause the aforementioned irritation and chafing, but cotton helps to protect against that. This goes hand in hand with how cotton just feels more comfortable than so many other synthetic fibers.

Ease of Maintenance

Cotton is also relatively easy to care for, which is a big bonus when you tie everything else together. A lot of fabrics require care, but in the old days, washing cotton fabrics in a tub and setting them out to dry in a cool breeze was all that was required to bring cotton back up to speed. These days not too much has changed, and cotton is still a fabric that is easy to maintain.

Cotton can shrink if not properly cared for, but that is about as tough as it gets with cotton. Besides, our fabrics are preshrunk before we cut or sew them, so it’s much less of a concern with our cotton shirts and sweatshirts. Even so, cotton is much easier to clean and care for than many other fabrics, so you don’t have to worry about following a carefully delineated pattern of maintenance. Cotton does most of the work for you and pays you back tenfold.

Sustainability

Last but certainly not least, cotton is the green fabric. It might even be the original green fabric, as cotton has been grown, spun, used, and reused for thousands of years. Cotton is not only renewable but its impact on the environment is low; in fact, it is a part of the environment. Plus, it comes with all of the other benefits included here; it’s like the gift that keeps on giving.

Because cotton is grown instead of being produced synthetically with petrochemicals, it can be seen as a renewable resource. We’re never going to “run out” of the raw materials for producing cotton, so long as we have seed from good stock, good land, sun, and water. All of those things are renewable as well, so it’s not like we can run out of cotton; we can just grow more.

Modern techniques in cotton farming have also improved the process, reducing the need for land as well as the crop’s impact upon it. For example, modern techniques in cotton farming have increased cotton yields while at the same time diminishing soil erosion. It might even be argued that cotton farming positively impacts the environment.

Nowadays, cotton farmers use the entire plant, and not just the familiar, fluffy fibers. The seeds become feed for livestock and can even be pressed for their oil, which has a broad variety of uses. In addition, the other parts of the plant can be repurposed to other economically viable uses. Modern farming techniques and processes have largely eliminated the waste, even from factory farming. In other words, there is effectively no waste produced and the cycle is a clean one that does not harm the environment.

Finally, cotton is biodegradable, which makes it even more beneficial to the Earth and the environment than synthetics. It’s not so much that people throw clothes away, but the only real byproducts of cotton farming are the fibers and the parts of the plant that return to the soil to feed the next generation of cotton or other crops. The same can’t be said for synthetics, which are produced in a factory.

Plus You’ll Look Great!

There’s one more thing that cotton has up its sleeve, specifically when you are talking about the 100% cotton sweatshirts and other garments you can find here at Just Sweatshirts. That is that you’ll look great in it!

Whether you’re naturally drawn to the classic look of a collegiate sweatshirt like a crewneck sweatshirt or something more contemporary like a selection from our Privé Collection, there is something right here on our site to appeal to any taste!

Our mission is to provide our customers with the highest possible quality, 100% cotton shirts, and sweatshirts that money can buy. As a part of that mission, we place a huge emphasis on not only the comfort of the fabric but also on the finished look of the final piece. That’s why we use ring-spun cotton to prevent pilling, pre-shrink our fabrics, and offer such a range of classic and modern styles.

Most importantly, everything you find here at Just Sweatshirts is made from 100% cotton that is luxuriously soft, comfortable, and resilient. Our clothing, available not only in a number of styles but in colors and weights as well, can give you that “lived in” feeling right out of the gate. It’s also something that you need to experience to understand, but if you want to learn more, give us a call today!

Give Us a Call!

We could expand beyond the scope of the benefits included in this short article, but for the sake of brevity, if you would like to learn more about the amazing natural properties and benefits of cotton, you can always call us up.

Give our team a call at 1-866-888-5878 any time you want to learn more about the benefits of cotton, want to learn more about our processes, or have any questions about our products. Customer satisfaction is a large part of our mission, and we would love to hear from you.