“The Emperor With No Threads” – The Truth About Thread Count

The truth about thread count. What you need to know to pick the best sheets for you.

What Is Thread Count?

The discussion of thread count in the bedding world is largely specious. The term “thread count” was originally developed and circulated in the USA to differentiate percale from muslin. A thread count is the measurement of threads per square inch. A thread count that is 200 and over is considered to be a percale, anything under 200 is considered to be muslin. This nomenclature was never meant to apply to sateens, jaquards or other European manufactured sheeting which are not constructed using the same simple “over and under” weave of a percale. For example, to achieve a sateen, threads are “floated” on the surface.

When European sheeting made a serious entrance into the marketplace 45 years ago, Americans continued to ask this question of thread count, because the packaging was not marked with that information, as this standard of measurement had no meaning in Europe. Europeans measured some qualities by grams per square centimeters. Lest I state the obvious, they do not use inches in Europe.

Within a short time, the meme had been created. “What is the thread count? What is the thread count?” chanted the eager luxury consumers. It was meant to project an intelligent question; a question that reflected the knowledge of the consumer. After all, European sheeting was far more expensive than American percale, and if American percale listed thread counts, then so should the rest of the world.

It snowballed. European manufacturers were forced into declaring thread counts. Anichini was included in this charade, which I refer to as “The Emperor with No Threads.” Companies were afraid NOT to give the consumer a response, so they loosely created an answer to a question that should never have been asked in the first place.

We at Anichini resisted for a very long time; attempting to educate the public. But eventually, even we caved in. Every time I had to answer this question and neglected to give this full explanation, I would experience an internal cringe.  However, in all these years, we never marked thread counts on any packaging other than percales.

Once that started, the race for higher and higher thread counts took off. Because, after all, in America higher has to be better! Higher thread counts on packaging became a marketing tool. For the record, in weaving typical long staple cotton yarns, you cannot achieve much over 500 thread counts.  However, if you use twisted yarns or double yarns, you simply multiply times 2 and you get 600, 800, etc. In my opinion, if you have a sheet with a 1000 thread count, you may as well wear a raincoat to bed. The weaving is so dense, it does not breathe. VERY recently, I have seen super high thread count sheets created with yarns meant for clothing.  They are beautiful and very pricey. But this is an exception to the rule.

The most important things in selecting sheeting are…

In reality, the quality of the yarn or threads is more important than any superficially applied description.

A textile lover should be able to touch the fabric and feel it’s “hand”. How does it feel to you?  In reality, the quality of the yarn or threads is more important than any superficially applied description.

You may prefer one hand and not another. For instance, you may like linen sheets in the summer and cotton in winter. Linen has a natural coolness to the hand. You may prefer silk sheets or mist lino sheets (50 cotton/50 linen). None of this personal attraction to a specific hand has anything to do with thread count.

There are fabulous sheets produced with low thread counts. Cotton voile is a perfect example; linen is another.

In the same way that different seasons suggest a different wine, the same is true with sheeting.

A loose analogy could be purchasing wine.  Do you buy a bottle of wine because it has a higher alcohol content?  No! You know that a Riesling has a different alcohol content than a Pinot Noir, but you purchase the wine because you like the taste. In the same way that different seasons suggest a different wine, the same is true with sheeting.

Pick you sheets like you pick your wine.

Bottom line: Have faith in your sensibilities. Open the package.  Remove the sheet and feel it.  Look at your hand through it.  Is it sheer enough to your liking?  Is it heavy enough to your liking? Is it smooth enough? Is it crisp enough?  Is the sewing perfect.  Are the stitches small and even? Are the hems even? There should be no puckering. Think of it in the way you would buy high quality clothing!

Click Here To Learn More About Egyptian And Long Staple Cotton

This article was originally posted on November 18, 2010 and has been revised.

Susan Dollenmaier

ANICHINI FOUNDER, SUSAN DOLLENMAIER EXPLAINS HER LIFE AS A SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE ARTICLE. HER LAID-BACK, EARTHY STYLE IS IN SHARP CONTRAST TO THE HIGH-PACED WORLD OF LUXURY LINENS AND TEXTILES SHE HAS CREATED. SHE PURPOSELY CHOSE TO PUT ROOTS DOWN IN RURAL VERMONT, AND TO GROW THE GLOBAL ENTERPRISE OF ANICHINI THERE. SUSAN IS AN EXPERT ON TEXTILES. ALL THAT SHE LEARNED ABOUT TEXTILES, INCLUDING THEIR ANCIENT ORIGINS, ACTUAL WEAVING TECHNIQUES, HISTORY, AND THEIR HUGE ROLE IN CULTURE IS SELF-TAUGHT.

1 Comment
  1. Dearest Susan, I fell in love with my ANICHINI sheets and customs spread and shams made for me. They were ordered by The Brass Bed in Denver, CO for me around 2005. The spread and shams are good as new! The bottom sheet wore thin; a fine seamstress mended it for me as long as we could hold it together. The top sheet, though frayed, is a treasure rarely used. The pillow cases are in good shape. We have unsuccessfully tried to find a matching bottom or even a set of similar color. The color is a deep curry. It matches the heavy rope-bordered spread and 3 matching European shams. 2 rust-red, standard shams, and 1 small lovely quilted satin pillow to off top the beautiful set.

    Thank you for manufacturing such quality. I enjoyed this teaching article on thread count very much. I appreciate how you tried to educated the public. I am an educator.
    Sincerely,
    Judy Sellers Strange MA

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