The Best Fibers for a Knit Blanket: Merino Wool, Organic Cotton, and Egyptian Cotton

Most blankets and throws sold today are manufactured with acrylic or polyester fibers. Almost nobody checks because almost everything feels soft; however, the first time you touch a blanket tells you very little about the quality. What separates a good knit from an ordinary one is how it feels after a year of use: whether the surface is still smooth, whether it still drapes, and whether the colors and pattern still look sharp.

Biquette knits in only three fibers: extra-fine merino wool, organic cotton, and Egyptian cotton.

We’re covering what each one is, how it changes the way a knit looks and feels, why we don't use anything else, and how to judge a blanket in your hands before you buy it.

For the full buying guide, see how to choose a knit throw blanket.

How does fiber change the way a blanket feels?

The same pattern knit in two different fibers can come out feeling like two different blankets. Fiber decides most of what you notice when you use one.

• Softness. Fine fibers bend when they touch skin, and coarse fibers poke. Long fibers also make a smoother yarn with fewer ends sticking out, so there's less to feel as scratchy points - you can immediately tell the difference when you’re brushing the back of your hand against different knitted materials.

• Warmth and comfort. Natural fibers breathe. For example, wool pulls moisture away from your skin and cotton absorbs it, so the blanket stays comfortable through a whole evening rather than turning warm and damp twenty minutes in.

• Drape and weight. Wool is springy and lightweight in comparison for its warmth. Cotton is denser and settles over you. Neither is better, but the way they feel draped over you is very different.

• Color and detail. Natural fibers take dye into the fiber itself, which gives color depth instead of a surface shine. Additionally, smooth, fine yarn shows each stitch clearly. Since our blankets carry artwork from independent artists, translated stitch by stitch into the knit, our fiber and yarn selection also influences how sharply the designs show up in our final knits.

• How it ages. Good natural fibers soften and relax with use and washing, and they keep their shape and color. So, the longer you use knits made from natural fibers, typically the better they feel

Extra-fine merino wool

Our merino is extra-fine grade, sourced and spun in Italy. At just 19.5 microns, our wool is exceptionally soft against the skin, while its extra-long 50–70 mm fiber length enhances durability and reduces pilling. Mulesing-free and ethically raised, this 2/30 Nm yarn is preshrunk for dimensional stability and refined comfort from the first wear

Much of what makes it feel expensive comes down to fineness. Each fiber is a fraction of the width of ordinary wool, so a single strand of yarn holds many more of them. The yarn feels dense and smooth rather than hairy, and the fibers are fine enough to bend against your skin instead of poking it. Most people who say they can't wear wool have only ever touched the coarse kind.

Merino fibers are also naturally crimped, like a spring. In a knit, that crimp makes each stitch look full and rounded, and it gives the blanket loft, the slight give when you press into it. The crimp traps air, which is why a merino blanket feels light for how warm it is. It also means the blanket recovers its shape after being sat on or folded, instead of stretching out and staying stretched.

The comfort holds up over a long evening. Wool absorbs a lot of moisture vapor before it feels damp, so the blanket stays comfortable rather than turning warm and sticky under you. Additionally, wool’s natural odor resistance means fewer washes, and because ours is pre-shrunk, it keeps its size wash after wash.

Organic cotton

Our organic cotton is grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. It's virgin fiber, meaning it has never been spun into anything before, and it's ring spun.

Both of those details matter for how the blanket feels. Recycled cotton comes from fabric that has been shredded back into fiber, which breaks it into short, weak pieces. It usually has to be blended with polyester to hold together, and it feels coarser for it while virgin fiber keeps its full length which contributes to refined softness. Additionally, ring spinning twists virgin organic cotton fibers slowly and tightly into a yarn that's smooth, dense, and strong.

In a knit, cotton behaves differently from wool. It has almost no crimp, so it drapes and settles over you with a pleasant weight instead of springing up. The surface is matte and cool the first time you touch it, and it breathes well, which makes it a good fit for babies and for anyone who sleeps warm. Cotton takes dye deep into the fiber, so colors come out even and clean.

Organic cotton is a fantastic overall fiber as it also improves with use. In fact, cotton is stronger wet than dry, so it handles frequent washing well, and each wash relaxes the fibers a little more. A well-made cotton knit is noticeably softer in its second year than the day it arrived.

Egyptian cotton

We use hand-picked, long-staple Giza 86 Egyptian Cotton, prized for its exceptional softness, strength, and longevity. Egypt's long growing season and climate produce extra-long staple fiber, some of the longest cotton and well recognized as one of the best quality cottons in the world.

Hand-picking is part of that quality. Mechanical harvesting can break fibers and pull in debris. Picking by hand keeps the fibers long and clean, and length is what the rest of the qualities depend on. Long fibers can be spun into a very fine yarn that's still strong, because each fiber overlaps with many others along its length.

In a knit, that fine, smooth yarn lies flat and even, and it gives the sharpest stitch definition of our three fibers, so every line of an artist's design reads clearly. Because the fibers lie parallel, the surface reflects light evenly which gives the yarn a slight natural sheen and makes colors look deeper and richer than the same dye on ordinary cotton.

We use a 16/2 Ne yarn count which delivers a balanced hand feel, so to the touch, it's cool and smooth, closer to fine bed linen than to a typical cotton throw, and it retains that feel even through years of washing.

Why don't we use acrylic or polyester?

Synthetics have real advantages. Namely, they’re cost-effective, light, and colorfast, and they survive almost any wash. For a blanket that will go through a lot of wear and tear, such as a camping blanket, they're a reasonable option.

The tradeoff is that they're engineered to feel soft in the store, and that's the best they'll ever feel. They build static and don't breathe, so they get warm quickly and then clammy. Colors often have a flat, plasticky shine due to the material, and heat from a dryer can permanently flatten acrylic so it loses its loft and drape. Over time the surface mats and the pattern loses definition. Every wash also sheds microplastic fibers.

A synthetic blanket is priced well to be temporary and manufactured at scale; however, we believe quality and longevity shouldn’t be a tradeoff and the three fibers we use are chosen so the blanket is still the one you reach for years from now.

How our fibers compare

Fiber is half of it. How the yarn is spun and knit decides the rest, which we cover in what makes a knit blanket feel luxurious.

Every Biquette knit is knit to order in our Mineola, New York factory with strictly these three fibers. Browse our premium knit blankets here and our premium knit scarves here