Update, September 15, 2016: Walmart will also stop selling the Fieldcrest 500 thread count Satin-Stitch Damask Egyptian cotton sheets and 500 thread count Geo Pattern Egyptian cotton sheets, after their investigation found the linens are not genuine Egyptian cotton, the Wall Street Journal reports. Customers who purchased these falsely labeled sheets will receive a full refund, and Walmart will donate the remaining sheets left on shelves. Unlike Target, a Walmart spokeswoman said the retailer will not cut ties with the brand, but will work with it to "implement strong controls and better label the products they supply to us."
Original, August 24, 2016: Target is refunding customers for hundreds of thousands of pillowcases and sheets that were falsely labeled as Egyptian cotton but were actually made from another fiber, according to Bloomberg.
The sheets in question are Fieldcrest 500 thread count Satin-Stitch Damask Egyptian cotton sheets and 500 thread count Geo Pattern Egyptian cotton sheets, which were sold for as much as $175 per set at Target.
If you purchased either between August 2014 and July 2016 you can easily claim your refund on Target's website — but only if you bought the products online or have a loyalty card. "We value the trust that our guests place in us. The Target team will continue to work closely with all vendors to help ensure that the products we offer to our guests meet or exceed their expectations," Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, told Bloomberg. Target also did confirm that the sheets were indeed made from cotton, just not Egyptian cotton
Luckily, if you really like your sheets, you can totally keep snuggling up with them. "The fact that the product is being recalled doesn't have anything to do with safety," explains Lexie Sachs, Senior Textiles Product Analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute.
Sachs went on to explain the simple difference between the two is that Egyptian cotton is considered an "Extra Long Staple" cotton, which means the fabric is softer, more durable and often more expensive than regular cotton. There's no real way you can verify whether your sheets are made from Egyptian cotton, but experts can use a high-tech DNA test to prove whether a certain fiber is truly Egyptian cotton.
[h/t Bloomberg
