Thread count

Thread count is used as a measure of coarseness or fineness of fabric. It is used especially in regards to cotton linens such as bed sheets. Thread count is taken as a very simple measure of fabric quality.

Thread count is measured by counting the number of threads contained in one square inch of fabric, including both horizontal and vertical threads.

Extremely high thread counts (typically over 500) tend to be misleading as they usually use 'plied' yarns. i.e. one yarn that is made by twisting together two finer threads. For marketing purposes, a fabric with 250 yarns in both the vertical and horizontal direction will have the component threads counted to a 1000 thread count.

In addition to thread count and whether plied yarns are used to boost thread count numbers, factors such as the origin and length of the cotton staples should be considered.