Mercerisation was named for the British chemist John Mercer, who developed the process and received a patent for his work in 1851. It starts with gathering the cotton and spinning it normally. Because cotton with long fibers responds better to mercerisation, Pima, Egyptian, and Sea Island cotton are usually chosen for the process. The cotton thread is held under tension and submerged in a highly alkaline bath of sodium hydroxide. After treatment, the mercerised cotton is placed into an acidic bath to neutralise it. Once this process is complete, the cotton can be dyed and knitted, woven, or packed as stand-alone spools of thread.

Mercerised cotton has a deeply lustrous and somewhat fancier appearance. In addition to having rich color saturation and a shimmering look, mercerised cotton is also much stronger than conventional cotton thread. The process shrinks the cotton fibers, tightening and smoothing the grain of the thread. Because the cotton is preshrunk, mercerised cotton also tends not to shrink as much as regular cotton, so consumers can be more confident about the fit of mercerised garments.

Socks made from this material absorb sweat and wear much better than socks made from cheap, untreated cotton.