Bedsheet fabric is made from a fibre and a construction, and you need both names to know what you are buying. The fibres are cotton, linen (from flax), polyester-cotton blends, polyester microfibre, rayon or lyocell made from wood or bamboo pulp, and silk. The constructions are percale (a tight plain weave, matte and slightly crisp), sateen (a satin weave with a smooth, lustrous face), flannel (a woven cloth brushed to raise a soft surface) and jersey (a plain knit that stretches). Thread count, the number of warp and weft threads in one square inch, means something only between sheets of the same fibre, weave and yarn, and a plied yarn counts once: a 300-count sheet woven from two-ply yarn is not a 600-count sheet. The label tells you the fibre by percentage of weight; the weave, thread count and weight in g/m² are what tell you how the sheet will feel.
Last verified: 17 October 2026. Definitions come from Cotton Incorporated’s textile encyclopedia, the US Federal Trade Commission and the standards named in each section; the worked examples use the site’s own calculators. Sources are listed at the end.
Bedsheet fabric types at a glance
| Sheet fabric | Fibre | Construction | What the construction does | What to read on the label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton percale | Cotton | Plain weave, one over one under | Smooth, slightly crisp, matte | 100% cotton; thread count; single or plied yarn |
| Cotton sateen | Cotton | Satin weave with long weft floats on the face | Smooth and lustrous; the floats are more exposed to snagging than a plain weave | Thread count; single or plied yarn |
| Flannel | Cotton or other fibres | Woven, then brushed | Raised surface fibres give cover and softness | Fibre content; weight in g/m² if given |
| Jersey | Cotton or blends | Plain knit, not woven | Stretches; the two faces look different | Fibre content; thread count does not apply to a knit |
| Polyester-cotton | Polyester and cotton blend | Woven like an all-cotton sheet | Holds less moisture than all-cotton; polyester raises pilling | The blend ratio, such as 50% cotton, 50% polyester |
| Microfibre | Very fine polyester filaments | Woven | Holds very little moisture | “100% polyester” |
| Linen | Flax | Usually plain weave | Behaves as flax, a bast fibre | “Linen” is the fibre name, not a weave |
| “Bamboo” | Almost always rayon (viscose) or lyocell made from bamboo pulp | Percale or sateen | Behaves as the regenerated cellulose fibre it is | “Rayon made from bamboo”; a label saying only “bamboo” is a warning sign |
| Lyocell | Regenerated cellulose from wood pulp | Percale or sateen | Regenerated cellulose spun by a solvent process | “Lyocell”; a brand name may follow |
| Silk or satin | Silk, or polyester sold as “satin” | Satin weave | Very smooth and shiny | Fibre content: satin names the weave, not the fibre |
What are bedsheets made of?
Every bedsheet is a fibre turned into yarn and the yarn turned into cloth, and the two choices are independent. Cotton can be woven as percale or sateen, brushed into flannel or knitted into jersey; polyester can be woven into the same percale as cotton. That is why “what are bed sheets made of” has two answers on every packet. The fibre answer is on the fibre content label, which in the United States must list each fibre by its generic name and percentage by weight, in order of predominance, and the FTC’s labelling guide lists bedding, “including sheets”, among the products covered. The construction answer is in the product name: percale, sateen, flannel, jersey. The site’s guide to fabric constructions explains how woven and knitted cloth differ, and the A to Z of fabric types names the rest.
In trade, bedsheets are home textiles, and customs classify them as made-up textile articles. In the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System, heading 6302 is “Bed linen, table linen, toilet linen and kitchen linen”, in Chapter 63, “Other made up textile articles”. Bed linen splits by construction and fibre: 6302.10 is knitted or crocheted bed linen (jersey sheets), 6302.21 to 6302.29 is printed bed linen of cotton, of man-made fibres or of other textile materials, and 6302.31 to 6302.39 is the same split for bed linen that is not printed. A printed cotton percale sheet is 6302.21; a plain-dyed polyester microfibre sheet is 6302.32. Countries add their own digits beyond these six.
Percale vs sateen: the two woven bedsheet fabrics
Percale is a plain weave: each weft thread passes over one warp thread and under the next. Cotton Incorporated’s textile encyclopedia defines it as a “smooth, slightly crisp, printed or dyed plain-woven fabric made of combed yarns”, and notes that percale bed sheets are available in thread counts from 160 to 300. With the most interlacings of any weave, percale holds its threads tightly in place, has no float to catch on a toenail or a ring, and shows the yarn’s matte surface.
Sateen is a satin weave. In a satin the interlacings are spread out so that no twill line forms, and each thread floats over several others before it goes under one; the floats lie flat and reflect light, which is what makes the face smooth and lustrous. Cotton Incorporated’s entry draws the line between the words: satin is the weave, sateen is a satin-woven fabric of yarns other than silk, and satin fabrics are sometimes defined as warp-faced while sateen is filling-faced, with the weft floating on the face. The long floats are the trade-off: they are exposed to abrasion and snagging in a way that a plain weave’s short interlacings are not. The site’s classification of weave patterns draws both weaves.
| Percale | Sateen | |
|---|---|---|
| Weave | Plain, one over one under | Satin, weft floating over several warp threads |
| Surface | Matte, slightly crisp | Smooth, lustrous |
| Interlacings | The most possible | Few, spread out |
| Exposure to snagging | Low: no floats | Higher: long floats on the face |
| Related name | None | “Satin” names the same weave in any fibre, silk or polyester; read the fibre content |
Thread count: what it measures, and the ply trick
Thread count is the number of warp ends plus weft picks in one square inch of cloth. Cotton Incorporated’s definition adds the rule that matters: “When determining threads per inch, plied yarns count as one yarn.” A plied yarn is two or more single yarns twisted together, and it is still one thread in the cloth. The test method behind the number is ASTM D3775, “Standard Test Method for End (Warp) and Pick (Filling) Count of Woven Fabrics” (current edition D3775-17, reapproved 2023), which counts ends and picks separately and applies to all woven fabrics; the ISO equivalent is ISO 7211-2, which reports threads per centimetre. Neither applies to jersey, which is knitted, so a jersey sheet has no thread count.
The ply trick multiplies the real count by the number of plies in each yarn. The American Textile Manufacturers Institute asked the FTC to rule on companies marketing bedding with high counts “achieved by counting yarns within a ply as individual yarns”. The FTC’s reply of 18 March 2002 declined to give a formal advisory opinion, but said a thread count claim must have a “reasonable basis”, that it would give consensus test procedures such as an ASTM method “great weight”, and pointed to a down comforter whose packaging changed from “760 White Goose Down” to “finely woven 380 2-ply fabric” after an FTC investigation. In 2005, after the National Textile Association sought clarification, the FTC’s Division of Enforcement went further in a staff opinion. As reported by the trade press on 12 September 2005, the FTC’s associate director for enforcement said consumers “could be deceived or misled by the practice of stating an inflated thread count”, that the count should be stated followed by the ply (a 300 thread count with two-ply yarn, in his example), and that “a representation of 600 thread count for this same product would likely mislead consumers”.
So read a thread count with three questions. Is it the same fibre and weave as the sheet you are comparing it with? Is the yarn single or plied (look for “2-ply” or “multi-ply” in the small print)? And what does the sheet weigh? A higher count of single yarns means finer yarn packed closer, which is what makes a smooth, dense cloth; a higher count achieved by multiplying plies means nothing of the kind.
Worked example: two “300 thread count” sheets, weighed
Thread count tells you how many threads; the yarn count tells you how fine each one is, and together they give the fabric’s weight in grams per square metre (GSM). The site’s fabric GSM calculator works it out from the construction: GSM = 23.25 × [EPI × (1 + warp crimp) ÷ warp Ne + PPI × (1 + weft crimp) ÷ weft Ne], where EPI and PPI are ends and picks per inch, Ne is the English cotton count (higher is finer) and crimp is the extra length a thread takes bending over and under. The weaving calculations page derives the 23.25. Here are two example constructions, both genuinely 300 thread count, with 6% warp crimp and 4% weft crimp assumed:
| Example construction | Sheet A: single yarn | Sheet B: two-ply yarn |
|---|---|---|
| Yarn | 60s Ne single | 2/80s: two 80s singles plied, resultant 40s Ne |
| Ends × picks per inch | 170 × 130 | 150 × 150 |
| Thread count (plied yarn counted once) | 300 | 300 |
| Count if each ply were counted | 300 | 600, the figure the FTC says would likely mislead |
| Warp contribution | 23.25 × 170 × 1.06 ÷ 60 = 69.8 g/m² | 23.25 × 150 × 1.06 ÷ 40 = 92.4 g/m² |
| Weft contribution | 23.25 × 130 × 1.04 ÷ 60 = 52.4 g/m² | 23.25 × 150 × 1.04 ÷ 40 = 90.7 g/m² |
| Fabric weight, loom state | 122.2 g/m² | 183.1 g/m² |
Open the calculator set to sheet A or sheet B to check the figures or try your own. Sheet B is half as heavy again, with the same thread count. Labelled “600”, it would look finer than sheet A when it is in fact woven from thicker thread, and it will feel heavier and denser, not silkier. Weights from a formula are loom-state; finished sheets are weighed, by ISO 3801 or ASTM D3776, because washing, shrinkage and finishing all change the figure. Both constructions are examples for the arithmetic, not a description of any product.
Polyester-cotton sheets: what the blend changes
A polyester-cotton sheet is usually a percale woven from yarn in which polyester and cotton fibres are blended, and its label must give the ratio by weight, such as “50% cotton, 50% polyester”. The FTC allows a 3% tolerance on a stated percentage, so a label reading 50% cotton can describe cloth with 47% to 53% cotton. Fibre content of a cotton-polyester blend is tested chemically: ISO 1833-11 uses sulfuric acid to find the share of cellulose fibre, such as cotton, in a mixture with polyester.
The clearest difference the polyester makes is how much water the sheet holds. The official moisture regains used in trade calculations are 8.5% for cotton and 0.4% for polyester, as given in an IIT Delhi course on textile moisture and the commercial regains are tabulated in ASTM D1909. Regain is the water a dry fibre takes up in standard air, as a percentage of its dry weight; the official regain is an agreed value close to that figure, and a blend’s regain is the weighted mean of its fibres:
| Sheet fibre content | Working | Blend regain |
|---|---|---|
| 100% cotton | 1.00 × 8.5 | 8.50% |
| 60% cotton, 40% polyester | 0.60 × 8.5 + 0.40 × 0.4 | 5.26% |
| 50% cotton, 50% polyester | 0.50 × 8.5 + 0.50 × 0.4 | 4.45% |
| 35% cotton, 65% polyester | 0.35 × 8.5 + 0.65 × 0.4 | 3.24% |
| 100% polyester (including microfibre) | 1.00 × 0.4 | 0.40% |
The site’s blend regain calculator, set to 50/50 cotton-polyester, shows the 4.45% as the blend’s standard regain; change the cotton share to 35 for 3.24% (the calculator shows 3.23 because of rounding). A 50/50 sheet holds about half the water of an all-cotton one in the same air, and a sheet that is mostly polyester holds little more than a third. Regain is a fibre property, not a sleep test, but it is the reason to choose a higher cotton share if you sweat at night.
The second difference is pilling. A 2021 study in the journal Heliyon on polyester-cotton fleece notes that “the introduction of polyester fiber into fabric construction has resulted in an increase in pilling”, and pilling resistance is what tests such as ASTM D4970 (Martindale tester) rate on a 5 to 1 scale. The site’s polyester page covers the fibre itself and blended fabrics covers why blends are made.
Linen, bamboo, lyocell, microfibre, silk, flannel and jersey sheets
Linen is the fibre name for flax, so “linen sheets” names a fibre, while “bed linen” in shops and in the customs heading means bedding of any fibre.
“Bamboo” sheets are, in nearly every case, rayon. The FTC’s guidance How to avoid bamboozling your customers says most “bamboo” textile products “really are rayon”, made from bamboo pulp with chemicals in a process that emits hazardous pollutants, that only fabric made directly from mechanically processed bamboo fibre may be called bamboo, and that rayon made this way should be labelled with its generic name, for example “rayon made from bamboo”. A claim that the fibre keeps antimicrobial properties from the plant needs the same proof as any other claim. On 8 April 2022 the FTC announced that it was seeking civil penalties of $2.5 million from Kohl’s and $3 million from Walmart for marketing textiles made of rayon derived from bamboo as bamboo, and announced proposed settlements for those amounts. The site compares the two plant fibres in bamboo vs hemp.
Lyocell is regenerated cellulose spun from a solution of wood pulp in a solvent that is recovered and reused. For its TENCEL lyocell, Lenzing states that more than 99.8 percent of the solvent is recovered and fed back into the loop, and that the wood comes from certified or controlled sources. That is a figure for the solvent, quoted by the maker; it is not a figure for water.
Microfibre sheets are woven from polyester filaments much finer than ordinary textile fibres. Their fibre content reads “100% polyester”, so they hold as little moisture as any polyester (the 0.40% row above). Silk is a protein fibre from the silkworm’s cocoon, usually woven as satin for sheets; because satin names the weave, a “satin” sheet may be silk or polyester, and only the fibre content says which. Flannel, in Cotton Incorporated’s definition, is a woven fabric brushed by revolving cylinders covered with bristles, raising the surface fibres “to create cover and softness”. Jersey is “a plain knit fabric made on a single set of knitting needles”, with all the loops pulled to one side, so the two faces look different; it stretches like a T-shirt, and it is classified separately as knitted bed linen.
Organic, certified and sustainable bedsheets: the labels that carry proof
A sustainability claim on a sheet is only as good as the certificate behind it. Three are common on bedding, and each certifies something different:
- GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certifies organic fibre through processing. By the GOTS questions and answers, a product labelled “organic” holds at least 95% certified organic fibre, and one labelled “made with organic” at least 70%.
- OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certifies that the finished article was tested for harmful substances, every thread and accessory included. It says nothing about how the fibre was grown. OEKO-TEX sets stricter limits for products with more skin contact, and names “bed linens” as its example of class II, products with direct skin contact.
- The fibre content label itself, which is the only place that tells you whether “bamboo” is rayon and how much of a blend is polyester.
Sheets last longest when they are washed as the care label says. Shrinkage in washing is measured by ISO 5077 using the domestic washing and drying procedures of ISO 6330, and a sheet that shrinks after it is cut ends up short on the mattress, which is why makers cut sheets larger than the finished size.
For makers: how much fabric one sheet takes
Bedsheet fabric for making sheets is bought by the roll, and the fabric per sheet depends on how many cut widths fit across the roll, a whole number. The site’s bed linen cut plan calculator, set to a 260 × 180 cm flat sheet in sheet A’s 122 g/m² fabric, adds 12 cm of hems lengthwise and 4 cm across, then divides out 6% residual shrinkage: the cut is 289.36 × 195.74 cm. Only one cut width fits across a 240 cm usable width, so a 44.26 cm strip down the side of the roll, 18.44% of its width, is wasted, and each sheet takes 2.98 m of the roll, 0.87 kg, after 3% cutting loss. A cut width of 120 cm or less would fit two pieces across, which is why pillowcases and narrower sheets are planned onto the same roll.
Questions about bedsheet fabric
Which fabric is best for bed sheets?
There is no single best one; choose the fibre for moisture and care, then the weave for feel. All-cotton holds far more moisture than polyester (cotton’s official regain is 8.5% against polyester’s 0.4%); percale gives a crisp, matte cloth and sateen a smooth, lustrous one; flannel is brushed for softness and jersey stretches. Compare thread counts only between sheets of the same fibre, weave and ply.
Is polyester-cotton good for bed sheets?
It is a workable sheet with two known trade-offs. A 50/50 polyester-cotton sheet holds about half the moisture of all-cotton (a blend regain of 4.45% against 8.5%), so it absorbs less sweat, and the polyester share increases pilling. Read the ratio on the label: the more cotton, the closer it behaves to an all-cotton sheet.
What thread count is best for sheets?
No standard names a best thread count. Cotton Incorporated’s encyclopedia gives 160 to 300 for percale sheets, and a count is honest only if plied yarns are counted once, as Cotton Incorporated’s definition says and the FTC’s staff expect. A higher count of single yarns means finer, denser cloth; a “600” that is 300 threads of two-ply yarn does not.
Bedsheets come under which category?
Home textiles, and in customs, made-up textile articles. The Harmonized System puts them in heading 6302, “Bed linen, table linen, toilet linen and kitchen linen”, split into knitted bed linen (6302.10), printed bed linen (6302.21 to .29) and other bed linen (6302.31 to .39) by fibre: cotton, man-made fibres or other.
Is a microfibre bedsheet good or bad?
Microfibre is very fine polyester, so it is soft but holds very little moisture: polyester’s official regain is 0.4%, against cotton’s 8.5%. It suits people who want a soft sheet and do not sweat much at night; people who do will find an all-cotton sheet holds far more of it.
What is the difference between percale and sateen sheets?
The weave. Percale is a plain weave, one thread over one under, giving a matte, slightly crisp cloth. Sateen is a satin weave in which the weft floats over several warp threads on the face, giving a smooth sheen; the floats can snag more easily. Both can be woven from the same cotton yarn.
Sources and corrections
- Definitions of percale, sateen, satin, flannel, jersey and thread count: Cotton Incorporated, CottonWorks textile encyclopedia (read 17 October 2026).
- Thread count: ASTM D3775-17(2023); ISO 7211-2; FTC Division of Enforcement, letter to the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, 18 March 2002; the 2005 FTC staff opinion as reported in Home Textiles Today, 12 September 2005 (the letter itself was not found on the FTC’s site).
- Labelling: FTC, Threading your way through the labeling requirements under the Textile and Wool Acts; FTC, How to avoid bamboozling your customers (2009) and the press release of 8 April 2022.
- Classification: World Customs Organization, Harmonized System 2022, heading 6302.
- Moisture regain: ASTM D1909; IIT Delhi, NPTEL course FAQ on moisture in textiles. Pilling: Heliyon (2021); ASTM D4970.
- Certification and fibre makers: GOTS questions and answers; OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100; Lenzing, TENCEL Lyocell.
- Fabric weight and fibre content testing: the site’s records for ISO 3801, ASTM D3776, ISO 1833-11, ISO 5077 and ISO 6330.
Change log. 17 October 2026: rewritten in full around the questions readers ask, with a thread count worked example and a moisture table computed in the site’s calculators. Removed from the earlier version because no source supports them: percentage savings attached to almost every fabric (organic cotton “reducing environmental impact by 100%”, recycled polyester saving “7,000 plastic bottles per ton”, dyeing “cutting chemical use by 20%”), lifespans in years for each fabric, two unnamed company case studies, market growth figures, and claims that bamboo sheets resist dust mites and bacteria. Corrected: lyocell’s closed loop recovers solvent, and its maker’s figure is more than 99.8% of the solvent, not “99% of water and solvents”; “bamboo” sheets are almost always rayon and must be labelled so in the United States; the earlier page’s citation of a page on this site about bedsheet fabrics pointed to an address that holds an article about embroidery machine shuttles, and its other citations could not be traced.
How this page is kept
Last verified: 17 October 2026. Definitions come from Cotton Incorporated’s encyclopedia and the standards named beside them; the thread count rules from the FTC’s own letter and guidance and, for 2005, from the trade press report of the staff opinion; customs headings from the World Customs Organization; and sustainability figures only from the certifier or fibre maker that publishes them, named in the sentence. The worked examples use the site’s fabric GSM, blend regain and bed linen cut plan calculators as they stood on this date, and each prefilled link was opened to check that it shows the figures quoted. The two example constructions are for the arithmetic and do not describe any product. Found an error? Please tell us through the contact page, naming the section and the source that disagrees.
