Thread Count Exaggerations

Thread Counts - It’s all About Marketing

Thread count has become an important selling point for all kinds of sheets and comforter covers. For years, 200 count was considered the standard for luxury in bedding, but that number has now soared to over 1000 threads per square inch.

Prices are all over the board and even discount stores offer sets of high thread count sheets at really attractive prices. Once upon a time, the best sheets were made in Italy or Switzerland, but now they are made all over the world.

Further, thread count was made by counting the threads in the warp (vertical) direction and in the weft (horizontal threads, remember “weft to right”) direction in one square inch of fabric. These threads were almost always one ply. Now manufacturers will twist two threads in a way that allows them to double the sheet’s thread count.

Higher thread counts usually meant more luxury but that is not always the case. As a test, we purchased 20 different high-count pillowcases from different stores, web sites, and catalogues and washed them at our usual good laundry to see how they turned out.

The results were shocking. A 1500-count sheet made in China felt like a much cheaper sheet and actually felt stiff rather than silky and smooth. Another 1000-count sheet made in India was not only rough feeling but also had hems and seams that weren’t parallel, an important trait of better quality linens.

So how can you tell the $100 sheet from one that is much more expensive? You will usually get what you pay for, so higher priced sheets will usually be nicer than less expensive ones. To protect yourself against the poorly made sheets, be sure that you can return the sheets from whoever you purchased them from if they do perform or feel as you expected.

According to Home Textiles Today, two years after the adoption of a clear American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) definition and, separately, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff opinion on how advertising and product packaging my reflect thread counts, the issue of accurate thread count remains vague for some suppliers and retailers. And where the definition and ruling are not being observed, it can be confusing for consumers.

If a single labeling standard is to be established, there will have to be truth in advertising, e.g., packages and labels must differentiate between a 300 count, two play thread and a 600 count two ply thread, even though both are labeled 600 count. The quality of the yarns may also be included as standard information and may consider tensile strength as well as thickness.

In this article, ABC news reveals more about “The Truth Behind Treadcounts”. For even more details, visit “The Fabric of our Lives.”