Time to say it, and someone needs to:
All this debate about Sterile vs. organic and Boiling vs. not is ALL a matter of Personal Preference and much due to poor information.
Water - Even if micro filtered still has some contamination. 99% Pure is still 1% who knows what.
Most Distilled water is BLEACHED and filtered for mineral removal.
Spring water may as well be from your well. Naturally filtered by the earth(Same principal)
Sterile cotton may have been decontaminated with Hydrogen Peroxide, but it is then flushed/rinsed and specially dried before being shaped and packaged.
Organic cotton cannot really be much, if any safer/cleaner as Cotton grows on the top side of the plant, exposed to ANY airborne pollutants as well as roots being subjected to any water born pollutants carried into any given field. (no? check out the Chesapeake Bay initiatives for clean water)
That said, cotton products are treated as personal use items and care is taken in preparation and packaging.
Once open, the choices you make may or may not help or hinder cotton condition.
We are all experts in our own minds - just remember, even experts disagree.
Sterile or Organic - Boil or Don't. It simply comes down to choice until someone publishes scientific evidence.