Mako is a Premium Quality Extra Long Staple Egyptian cotton. Finest grade Mako spins into much smoother, finer and stronger yarn than any other cotton in the world. Only weaving these fine yarns it is possible to achieve a true Single-ply 430 thread count sateen that is soft, lightweight and breathe well yet being durable, withstanding frequent washings.
THE LEGENDARY STORY OF THIS UNIQUE COTTON SPECIE
About the year 1820 Monsieur LOUIS ALEXIS JUMEL, an active and enterprising Frenchman, discovered in a fine garden at Cairo belonging to a Bey (=arab Noblesman title) named MAKO EL ORFALI, some neglected cotton plants which had been placed there merely as objects of curiosity and embellishment. He examined them carefully, and was struck with the facility with which they adapted themselves to the soil and quickly became acclimated, and, after many observations and experiments, became convinced that the cultivation of the staple might be easily propagated throughout Egypt. It was then planted on large scale by the founder of modern Egypt, Mohammed Alì Pascià, symbol of the rebuilding of the country after the invasion of Napoleon's French troops.
"Notwithstanding all that he had done, however, poor JUMEL received no other special benefit than the application of his name to the Egyptian cotton, known in France and in Egypt itself as the Jumel cotton. But even this satisfaction was not to be left to him without a contest, for the English, with their immemorial jealousy of every title to glory won by their neighbors in France, even when it should bring only honor, disputed, or, at least, strove to ignore the title. They gave to the new cotton the name of the Bey in whose garden JUMEL had first seen the plants that suggested the enterprise, and gave it the title of "The MAKO Cotton." Under this appellation it has since become most extensively known and used in many portions of the earth."
-------The New York Times, June 26th 1864
Today, Mako cotton crops are cultivated in a tiny area east of the Nile delta and represent 0.5% of the total annual Egyptian cotton production. Cotton is picked by hand so only the flocks that are at the right stage of maturity are picked each time. The care taken with cultivating and manually picking the cotton avoids the use of defoliants and other chemical products commonly used with mechanized picking. Mako cotton fibres are extremely long (36 mm) and have a uniformity index of 88.5%. But what really makes this cotton exceptional is the fineness of its fibres, measured in micronaire, which is between 3.0 and 3.2, and the degree of brightness equal to 74.8, the best among the Extra Long Staple cottons. Despite this fineness, the stretching resistance of the Mako fibres is still high, an average of 44.30 g/tex.
These unique features of Brillance, Resistance, Cleanliness and Regularity of Mako Cotton fibers allow to spin fine-textured, lustrous yarns with a higher tensile strenght, ready to be densely woven into luxurious high thread count fabrics.
The Sheets made of this fine fabrics are extraordinarily soft with a silky hand, rich drape and a luminous sheen.
Higher thread count bed sheets are also stronger, more durable and much less likely to pill with washings and prolonged wear.
