All About Percale

Bed linen from percale is soft, durable and smooth, which makes it the preferred fabric choice for bed linen. Percale is a dense fabric made by 1/1 technic – one thread on the surface and one thread on the bottom and the material can be anything from cotton, cotton sateen to polyester or a mix mix. The thread count and fabric type determine the quality of the percale. The percale we offer on homeslinen.com is only composed of 100% cotton.

Features

100% cotton percale is cool and keeps moisture away from the skin, making it perfect for warm weather. Linen sets with higher number of threads are smoother, but the 1/1 technic makes it naturally smooth, despite the thread count. The thick weaving technique makes percale more durable and long lasting compared to fabrics, woven differently. Percale would not shrink after washing and in time gets softer, making it a great choice for an everyday bed linen set.

Composition

The word “percale” refers to the technique of weaving the fabric rather than its composition. So bed linen sets from percale can be made from different materials such as cotton, polyester or mix of both. Cotton is the most popular material, but since the weaving is so thick, this often leads to wrinkage. To avoid this, manufactures often add polyester or silk. If you like certain material, carefully check the percale content before purchasing the linen set. Cotton percale mixed with polyester creases more difficult and it’s cheaper, but the fabric is not so smooth. The highest quality percale is made from 100% cotton and the best types are Egyptian, Pima and Supima cotton.

Threads count

According to international standards, percale must have at least 180 TC per square inch. This is the general criteria for quality of the fabric and literally means the sum of vertical and horizontal threads per square inch. The higher this indicator, the thicker the fabric. But this can be misleading. To achieve higher thread count and quality, sometimes manufactures use thinner yarn, which makes fabric to tear and wear out more easily. Remember the rule, when choosing a percale bed linen set, the minimum thread count should be 180 TC for cotton and 120 TC for linen.

Bed linen set collection of percale>>