Is Your Love Life Dead or Alive? It Could be Down to Your Bed Sheets

Sport-Branded Sheets Biggest Turn-Off for Slovenly Singles

LONDON, May 19, 2011 - Bed linen could be the deal-breaker when it comes to final success in the
bedroom, according to new research of 2,000 UK adults by COTTON USA in
association with Drapers magazine. It seems that singletons could be falling
at the last hurdle, with 43% listing football team-themed sheets as the
biggest turn off. Other themed bed linen, such as Star Wars, follows closely
behind as a repellent for over 20% of those polled.

A shocking 18% of singles admitted that their sheets were changed by
their parents and, when left to their own devices, over a fifth of singletons
only change their bed linen once a month With almost a fifth of singles
believing it acceptable to use and keep a duvet cover for over ten years, the
statistics imply that with no one to impress, they are slacking in the
cleanliness department.

Durability and the look and feel of fabric are top of the consumer list
when buying a new set of bed linen, demonstrating that quality is crucial.
However, with over three quarters of unattached shoppers spending only GBP50
or less on a new set of bedding, it is clear that the recession has taken its
toll on consumer buying habits.

Encouragingly though, more than half of consumers say that quality of
fabric, its longevity and durability or its comfort, look and feel encourages
them to buy cotton items, demonstrating that when they do purchase new bed
linen, they buy it to last.

Steph Thiers-Ratcliffe, International Marketing Manager, COTTON USA
comments: "The research suggests that whilst young, single consumers may not
be shopping for bed linen as often and are changing their sheets less, the
quality of the fabric and the durability of the sheets are paramount to
enabling these choices.

"Our COTTON USA 'Naturally' Mark is a symbol of purity, strength, comfort
and quality and helps shoppers to identify premium cotton items that are made
to last."

Notes To Editors

About the research

The research was carried out for COTTON USA and Drapers magazine by One
Poll, an independent research company. Fieldwork in the United Kingdom was
conducted from 18th to 21st January 2011. 2,000 UK adults were surveyed. The
answers were analysed to give the results stated above.

Contact: Sophie Coughlan; sophie.coughlan@kaizo.net; +44(0)203176-4706

.