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Tip of the Month - January
"What is the real difference between all of those high thread count sheets that are out there?" This is still one of the most common questions we are asked. We do a lot of research and testing and actually use many sheets with different thread counts before we make a decision to buy any to sell to you customers.
There are four basic steps that affect the quality of a sheet. The finest feeling sheets start by using the best cotton with the longest staple, usually about three inches long. A staple is what you pull from a ball of cotton. Shorter staple cottons can result in yarns that break and fabrics that pill.
The cotton is then spun into continuous yarn. High quality spinning ensures a durable yarn that will not produce sheets that pill or feel rough with normal use. The yarns are woven into sheeting, usually percale (crisp) or sateen (shiny and silky) and are then finally finished.
Finishing is a process applied to a cotton fabric after construction on the loom to improve the appearance (e.g., shiny sateen), change the feel (e.g., textured seersucker), or facilitate care (e.g., easy care finish) and may also include bleaching, dyeing, glazing, moire, sizing, or softening. All sateen sheets go through calendering, a finishing process that produces a flat, glossy, smooth surface by passing the fabric under pressure between a series of heated cylinders.
The companies that we do business with in Italy and Switzerland use finishing techniques and processes that are closely guarded secrets. Companies in China and India may be able to buy the same machines and looms and may even have access to the finer yarns, but they have yet to master the techniques and chemical formulas necessary to properly finish luxurious fabrics.
If any of these four steps are compromised, the result may be a sheet that feels thick or rough, pills, doesn't hold up, or doesn't launder or iron well.
The lifting of textile quotas have resulted in a flood of sheets being imported into the United Sates with higher thread counts that are actually inferior products. One solution that will make it easier for the customer to decide on what to purchase is a label on every sheet package that includes: type of yarn, ply count, thread count, weaving process, and chemicals used in finishing. Such labels, much like nutrition labels on food products, would give customers all of the necessary information to really compare different sheets and thread counts.
If you would like to know more, please feel free to call or e-mail us. We are always happy to send you swatches of any of our fabrics and we guarantee everything that we sell.
Mark Scheuer
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