Which is better: percale or poplin?

Good sleep is important for everyone. And it can be provided not only by silence and a comfortable mattress, but also by high-quality bedding. The sheet is in spools, and the silk duvet cover constantly moves out - it means that you have chosen the wrong fabric. In addition to very inexpensive coarse calico, expensive sateen, expensive silk for sewing bed linen, they take poplin and percale - fabrics of the middle price category.

Back in the XIV century. Italians invented a special “papal” fabric. This is how popeline is translated from Italian. It was the fabric of rich people, because it was woven from silk. Moreover, it was two-sided: one-color on one side and patterned on the other. Today poplin is 100% cotton fabric or with the addition of synthetic fibers. It is used for sewing everyday clothes, including children's, nightwear and shirts, curtains and towels. For luxury bedding, natural wool and silk are added to cotton. But the main thing is not the composition, but the way of weaving the threads.

It was in the Middle Ages that they came up with the idea of ​​using thinner threads for the base of the canvas and twice as thick for the weft. As a result, the fabric is thin; a small transverse scar is visible on its front side. Modern poplin has a density of 110 to 120 grams per square meter (about the same density has a high-quality coarse calico or satin). Poplin can be bleached, dyed, multi-colored or printed by color shade.

The fabric has a number of advantages: softness, silky tint, resistance to crease, high density, democratic price, beautiful appearance (including 3D effect).Over time, customers understand that poplin clothes do not require ironing, do not deform, breathe well and retain heat well. Under natural fabric, the body does not sweat, does not feel tactile discomfort. Clothes can withstand up to 200 washes at a temperature of 30 degrees and do not require special care. The material is inert to static electricity, that is, it does not electrify.

We are talking about a cotton fabric with a very dense thread weave made of yarn of medium thickness (a similar cloth made of a thin thread - cambric). The Persian pargal from India made it to Europe, where the Frenchman Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot in 1774 decided to use a percale soaked in linseed oil to make sails. By the way, in the ship and aircraft industry (for sewing parachutes and covering aircraft elements), this concept has a masculine gender. When this word is used in sewing, the fabric is spoken of in the feminine gender.

Now percale is used in parachuting and sailing, but bed linen and covers are sewn from it., since the dense fabric does not allow down-feather components and other types of fillers to pass through. Printed and one-colored percale is used to sew children's and women's clothing. Percale is made from untwisted paper quality long-staple cotton yarn.

Due to the use of glue, it is necessary to correctly wash the item for the first time: it should be delicate at a temperature of 20 degrees, without a strong spin. In the future, it is also recommended to wash bed linen using the delicate mode and water temperature of 60 degrees. Do not use bleach when washing, but softeners and softeners are encouraged. This will not only give the laundry a pleasant smell, but will also make ironing easier. With each wash, things will be softer and more pleasant to the touch. Experts say that percale will withstand up to 1000 washes.

Thus, percale has many positive characteristics.

• Very high strength.
• High level of wear resistance for cotton fabrics. The service life of the products is eight years.
• Density - 130-150 grams per square meter. This is a high figure for cotton fabrics.
• The fabric is slightly deformed and does not form pills on the surface.
• Due to the fact that the yarn is not twisted, the fabric is smooth and soft to the touch.
• The ability to maintain the required temperature. It is not for nothing that this fabric appeared in hot India - percale has a cooling effect. At the same time, in the cold season, it perfectly retains heat.

• The use of dressing has led to resistance to ultraviolet rays, which means that the pattern does not fade for a long time.
• The special weaving technology makes the fabric silky.
• Easily dyed not only in the form of yarn, but also when applying prints and 3D drawings.
• If the linen is made of 100% cotton, then the bedding set will have a high level of hygroscopicity, and the body will not sweat under the covers.
• Not subject to electrification.
• The presence of a percale bedding set is prestigious to have in any home.

There are several negative aspects due to which buyers are in no hurry to buy percale bedding.

• High level of crease: after washing the laundry, you will need not only ironing, but possibly steaming as well.
• Modern manufacturers began to add artificial fibers to natural fibers. This lowers the price of the product, but degrades its quality.Such a bedding set will be less permeable to air and moisture, which will lead to restless sleep due to excessive sweating.
• At the beginning of the purchase, the laundry crunches due to the use of glue, although this effect will disappear over time after washing.

Percale and poplin also have fundamental differences.

• The difference in the thickness of the threads used during production. In the manufacture of poplin, threads of different thicknesses are used along the weft and warp, which gives a special appearance to the fabric. In the production of percale, threads of the same thickness are used.
• The production also differs in technology: poplin is woven according to the principle of double-twisted - double twisting of the thread, while the percale is created by the old method of weaving (one smooth untwisted thread is woven crosswise).
• The use of sizing technology in the production of percale and the absence of this in the production of poplin is the third difference. It makes the percale much stronger.
• For housewives, the more important difference is the need to iron more "luxury" percale. While the more affordable poplin doesn't need it.
• If we compare poplin and percale to the light, it will be clearly noticeable that poplin is more "perforated" material, and percale is denser.
• Percalee has a low percentage of shrinkage during washing, which allows you to choose the right size of laundry at the time of purchase.

All of these fabrics are cotton. The difference is in the production technology, which means in the further appearance, strength, and price. The satin canvas is soft and delicate, with a gloss, almost does not wrinkle. Sleeping on such a non-slip sheet is very pleasant. The effect is achieved thanks to the method of weaving threads, which is called "satin". Thin double twisted threads form a diagonal rib on the front side. High-quality satin has a high density (higher than poplin, closer to percale).

After mercerizing (processing the canvas with concentrated alkalis), the fabric becomes stronger, more durable and resistant to staining. Satin bedding has, perhaps, all the positive characteristics for a cozy good night. Therefore, it is called a silk substitute. Moreover, the material is much cheaper than silk, but much more expensive than poplin, percale or coarse calico.

Satin will last about 8 years and survive three to four hundred washes. The densest type of satin (satin jacquard) is also the most beautiful. It is embossed-textured, with a convex pattern. But it wrinkles a lot, almost like a percale. Calico is the cheapest fabric in the line listed. Plain weave of filaments of the same thickness forms a "cross", superimposed on one another. Coarse calico has several types, which are very different from each other in density, and therefore in appearance, service life and price.

• Bleached or plain dyed fabric with a density of 142 grams per square meter. It is used for beds in public institutions with a bed fund (sanatoriums, hotels, hospitals, boarding houses).
• "Lux" with a density of 125 - the highest quality type, since thinner but stronger threads are used in the manufacture.
• "Ranfors" more like poplin because of its high density, but it is still considered a type of coarse calico.

• "Standard" - density 125 grams per square meter.
• "Comfort" - 120 units.
• "Light" – 110.
• Sparse calico with a density of 80 grams per square meter, it looks more like chintz.

An unpretentious buyer can always choose a coarse calico bedding set at his pocket. This fabric almost does not shrink, most often does not fade, it allows moisture to pass through well, has hypoallergenic properties, so allergy sufferers appreciate it.

If this is your first time purchasing poplin or percali bedding and do not know where to stop, determine the selection criteria. Typically, bed sheets with pillowcases and duvet covers are selected according to the following criteria.

• The composition of the material. Knowing that initially both fabrics are cotton, you should pay attention to additives: wool and silk in poplin will shrink, and polyester in percale will make it difficult to breathe.
• Production technology. Adding the percale fiber adhesive will make the laundry much stronger, but also give the fabric crunchiness.
• Coloring. The same glue will allow more thorough dyeing of fabrics and ensure a longer preservation of the original color. While poplin can shed from washing, the colors will gradually fade.
• Percale is definitely much more durable. Look through the fabric or place it on your hand, compare it to poplin and see for yourself.

• That is why the service life of the percale set will be several years longer.
• But only if you wash it correctly, while poplin is much easier to care for.
• In terms of the degree of wrinkling, poplin definitely wins, which can not be ironed at all, since it does not wrinkle.
• Also, poplin is a softer and more delicate material.
• Both materials (if they are 100% natural) are breathable, hygroscopic, and do not electrify.
• Percale has a richer appearance, while poplin has a more interesting texture.
• The price of both fabrics is about the same (percale is a little more expensive).

Happy choice!

In the next video, you will find an overview of bedding made from percale, poplin and coarse calico.