**Hi All. Some fans of ours were a little confused about what the thread count means in cotton. I've posted this information for your reading pleasure and to help better understand the quality of a boxxxers(tm) undergarment. All the best!
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The Truth About Thread Count
The high thread count story hit the bedding market in the mid to late 1990s and has since dominated all conversations about sheets. Now over ten years later it's still the focus of questions asked the most by our customers.
Sheeting Quality Indicators
Fiber Quality
Yarn Size
Finishing
Thread Count & Construction
Fiber Quality: 100% cotton sheets are by far the most popular and widely used type of sheets. (We do also like silk, cotton/silk, modal and linen; but we’re going to focus on 100% cotton.) There is a huge variety in the quality of 100% cotton sheets. The highest quality cotton is long staple cotton. Staple refers to the length of the cotton fiber; the longer the fiber the better because it creates stronger and finer yarns. Among long staple cottons, the longest are Egyptian extra long staple and Pima (sometimes called Supima).
Yarn Size: The fineness of each yarn is what the term yarn size refers to - the higher the yarn size, the finer the yarn. (think of men’s suiting where they often speak of 100s wool etc) Finer yarns allow for lighter, more supple fabric. The yarn size in quality sheets is typically between 40 and 100. Up to 120s may be used also, but are pretty rare (and the resulting product very expensive). Higher thread counts are created with finer yarns, as more of them can be woven into a square inch. Also, super fine yarns can be twisted together, creating 2 ply yarns that can then be woven into sheeting. When 2 ply yarns are made with a very high yarn size, they make a nice product that is not at all weighty or blanket-like.
Finishing: After the cotton yarns are woven into a fabric, the fabric needs to be finished. This includes singeing and mercerizing. The singeing process is vital; it burns off the tiny fuzz that can later develop into pilling on your sheets. Mercerizing is a treatment conducted under tension, in order to increase strength, luster, and affinity for dye. Bed linens of lesser quality may not be singed or mercerized.
Thread Count & Construction: Thread count is simply the number of threads per square inch of fabric. These consist of vertical threads (warp) and horizontal threads (weft) woven together. Construction refers to how the thread count is achieved (# of warp and weft yarns, # of picks in the weft, use of 2 ply yarns etc.) To achieve higher thread counts, sometimes 2 ply yarns are used and sometimes multiple yarns (picks) are inserted into the weft. The FTC has ruled that plied yarns should each only be counted as one thread for the purposes of thread count. This is not enforced, but in response the market has moved more toward single plies with multiple picks as the preferred method of achieving higher thread counts. In weave quality terms alone, the best fabric would be made with single ply yarns and have a single pick; but the highest thread count you can get with this type of construction is about 400. Above that, 2 ply yarns and/or multi-picks must be used.
