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Accounting for Taste
New Labeling Criteria For Thread CountThread count has become an important factor when purchasing sheets in recent years. Many consumers automatically equate high thread count with high quality and willingly pay more for the higher numbers. For the average person, trying to understand what's what with thread count can be a little confusing, but here is how it breaks down:
Thread count is usually defined by weaving manufacturers and technical textile experts as the number of strands of yarn per inch for each direction of a woven fabric construction. That is, the number of yarns running lengthwise (warps or ends) and those running widthwise (filling or picks) are reported separately. This method of calculation was specified in American Society for Testing Materials International (ASTM) textile standards.
U.S. sheet manufacturers, however, have presented sheeting thread count by adding the number of length and width yarns together. For example, a 400 thread count percale sheet would describe a sheet fabric that has 220 yarns in the width direction and 180 yarns in the length direction. This was fine and good until plied yarns----two yarns wrapped together to make one strand---began being used to make sheets. For the most part, manufacturers using plied yarns were still counting them as one thread when calculating thread count. But, this practice had never been made a rule until recently because of conflicting standards with the U.S. Customs and Border Control's enforcement of the Harmonized Tariff Act. This act maintained that thread count is defined by the TOTAL number of yarns per square centimeter. So, an imported sheet with 220 plied yarns going lengthwise and 180 plied yarns going widthwise would mean it could be labeled as an 800-thread count sheet.
(220 x 2 plied yarns) + (180 x 2 plied yarns) --> 440 + 360 = 800.
New standards mandate that threads (a single yarn) and plies (two yarns wrapped together) be differentiated in labeling. What does this mean for consumers? Well, you can pay closer attention to the labels on sheets and bedding---or you can just feel it and judge for yourself.
