Buying Percale Bedsheets - The Only Guide You Will Ever Need

What Does Cotton Percale Mean?

The Cotton Percale meaning is a closely woven (one over/one under) fabric with genuine thread counts ranging from 200 - 600. The warp thread (vertical) passes over and under each weft thread (side-to-side horizontal) on the loom, the weft thread also passes over and under each warp thread. This produces a fine close weave cloth which is ideal for use as bed sheets. Cotton percale sheets are usually matt in appearance and feel cool and crisp to the touch.

Why Choose Cotton Percale?

Cotton percale implies a finely woven cloth and is often associated with fine quality bed linen. Top presidential suites in luxurious hotels swear by Cotton Percale as it is both robust and feels cool, crisp and comforting when climbing into bed. It is especially preferred in hotter climates and warm bedrooms for this very reason. So, if you are sleeper that regularly overheats, you can do much better by choosing percale bed linen to help you relax and unwind.

What Types of Materials Use a Percale Weave?

A good quality cotton percale from Northern Europe will cost more than the cheaper labour-market alternatives from places such as Eastern Europe, India and Asia. Woods Fine Linens only source and produce the highest quality percale from Northern European and uphold great ethical standards.

Polyester and blended fibre can also be made using the percale weave, but man-made and blended fibre will not manage your body temperature as well as cotton does, so may not be ideal for bed sheets. However, blended fibre and polyester sheets are often labelled ‘easy care’ and ‘easy iron’ on the high street for the simple reason that the man-made fibres bring that characteristic to the cloth.

In luxury bed linen, such as Woods, you will never find polyester and blended fabrics as these are often associated with chemical-based production and their qualities do not match those of plain cotton.