I'm just an ignorant caveman, but I'm curious what makes "ticking" better than, say, just regular cotton canvas (like this http://www.hancockfabrics.com/product/iMainCat/3248/iSubCat/3379/iProductID/9017/9017.html )?

The canvas comes to about 1/2 as expensive, once you figure in the enormous difference in width (ticking is 32" wide, canvas is 72" wide...)

I'm guessing that the idea is that ticking has a higher thread count, for a more comfortable feel, but I tend to put a wool blanket between the mattress and the bedsheet, anyway (for warmth), so I'm not sure I'd appreciate it?