Am petrecut sute de ore scrutand si dormind pe zeci de seturi de foi de bumbac si stim din experienta ca producatorii uneori conteaza firele, dubland numerele pentru a face foile sa para mai luxoase. Potrivit numerosilor experti pe care i-am intervievat, foile foarte bune – cele care se simt moi si se poarta bine dupa ani de utilizare si spalare – au, in general, un numar de fire cuprinse intre 200 si 600, in functie de percal sau satin. Dar, sincer, numarul firelor nu este cel mai important lucru de luat in considerare. O multime de alti factori – cum ar fi tipul de bumbac si firele din care sunt confectionate foile – sunt mai importanti in alegerea unui set moale, rezistent la uzura.
Am discutat cu cinci experti pentru aceasta piesa si toti au fost de acord ca numarul de fire este un indicator important al foilor de calitate, dar ca ar trebui sa fiti suspicios cu privire la cifrele prea mari sau prea mici. Producatorii calculeaza numarul de fire adaugand firele de urzeala verticale si de batatura orizontale intr-un centimetru patrat de tesatura. Asa arata tesatura pentru foi de percal (realizate cu o tesatura simpla) si foi de satin (realizate cu o tesatura din satin):
Tesatura simpla are firele de urzeala (verticala) si de batatura (orizontala) alternand uniform. In tesatura satinata firele de batatura „plutesc” peste mai multe fire de urzeala (de obicei patru) la un moment dat, rezultand o tesatura mai neteda si mai lucioasa.
Preethi Gopinath, director al programului de textile MFA de la Parsons si unul dintre scriitorii ghidului nostru de foi de bumbac, si Shannon Maher, presedinte si profesor asistent al departamentului de dezvoltare a produselor pentru casa la Fashion Institute of Technology, ambii au cantarit cel mai bun fir conteaza pentru fiecare tesatura:
Percale
- Gopinath a spus ca un numar de 250 pana la 300 de fire a fost optim (exista totusi spatiu de miscare, deoarece Maher a spus ca 200 este de asemenea bun).
- Gopinath ne-a spus ca un numar de 400 pana la 500 de fire pentru percal ar putea reflecta o foaie mai densa din fire fine si de buna calitate. Peste 500 nu a fost „necesara sau probabila”, a spus ea.
- Percalele de calitate medie se situeaza in jur de 180.
Sateen
- Gopinath si Maher au fost de acord ca foile de sateen de buna calitate au variat intre 300 si 600 de fire. Numarul s-ar putea strecura mai sus, dar acest lucru ar crea o foaie foarte grea.
- Average-quality sateen ranges from about 250 to 300.
Judging from our testing experience, we think those ranges are pretty spot-on. In our cotton sheets guide, our favorite percale set (L.L.Bean’s 280-Thread-Count Pima Cotton Percale Sheet Set) has a 280 thread count. Both of our top sateen recommendations (the JCPenney Home 400 TC Wrinkle Guard Sheet Set from JCPenney and Cuddledown’s 400 Thread Count Cotton Sateen Bedding) are 400 thread count—which, incidentally, Maher noted was her ideal number for sateen.
“Thread count really measures fabric density,” said Missy Tannen, co-founder of Boll & Branch. “Too high of a thread count means that air doesn’t circulate well and you’ll sleep hot.” Percale thread counts are lower simply because the plain weave allows for fewer threads in a square inch. Gopinath told us this made percale lighter and cooler, which is preferable in hotter temperatures or for hot sleepers. Sateen, with its higher thread counts (that is, more densely packed yarns), tends to be softer but also heavier than percale. A higher thread count is more important for sateen because it reduces the likelihood of snagging the longer floats—the weft yarns that skim across several warp yarns. flipboard.com
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Higher-thread-count sheets are made with finer (thinner) yarns. The more yarns that fit into a square inch, the smoother, denser, and more durable the fabric. Fine yarn is also more expensive to produce, thus resulting in pricier sheets (and why densely woven sateen is more expensive than percale). Cheap sheets are made with thicker yarns, resulting in lower thread counts and a rougher feel.
The best yarn is made from long-staple or extra-long-staple (ELS) cotton; longer threads of cotton fiber in each yarn help those alternating warp and weft yarns stay smooth and flat. (You can read a longer explanation of this topic in our post about whether Egyptian-cotton sheets are worth splurging for.) That’s why long-staple cottons, including pima, Supima, and sometimes Egyptian-cotton fabrics are considered more luxurious. Maher also recommended looking for sheets made from combed cotton like our percale upgrade pick, Riley’s Percale Sheet Set; in this process manufacturers comb out debris and too-short fibers from the cotton before spinning it into yarn that can weave into softer, smoother, and more durable fabric.
“When it comes to thread count,” Tannen said, “most people forget that the quality of threads is far more important than the quantity.” Andres Modak, co-CEO and co-founder of Snowe, noted, “Luxury sheets aren’t simply the result of a high number; first you need the highest quality yarns, expertly woven.”
When you see counts above 300 for percale or 600 for sateen, that sometimes means the manufacturers are using ply—the number of single threads twisted together in yarn—to artificially inflate the thread count, namely counting two-ply yarns as two yarns instead of one. That means a 500-thread-count sheet made with two-ply yarns might be advertised as 1,000 thread count. Single-ply yarn is more pliable and lends itself to softer fabrics than those containing multiple plies of yarn. As Maher told us, “This is a marketing effort.” She added that manufacturers raise the number to capture customers’ attention, since people tend to perceive a higher-thread-count sheet as better. In 2005 the Federal Trade Commission issued an opinion (PDF), but not a firm set of rules or guidelines, advising against this practice. But our experts noted that although many manufacturers have stopped, they do still see it happening.
Even the print on sheets can indicate something about the quality of the fabric. Maher and Gopinath both told us that printed sheets were typically produced on lower-thread-count percale cotton to keep costs down. When manufacturers invest in a higher thread count for sheets, they don’t want to cover up that texture. “You want that to be the selling point,” Gopinath said. Print is “a cheap way of applying pattern,” Gopinath told us, an alternative to actually weaving a design into the fabric, like with a damask or jacquard.
Next time you’re shopping for sheets, instead of agonizing over the thread counts, first decide whether you want percale or sateen, and then stay within the established ranges that we covered above. Focus on the quality of the cotton instead of the thread count. As Vicki Fulop, co-founder and chief communications officer of Brooklinen, told us, “Thread count certainly matters, but it’s not the only thing that matters.”
