Very finely woven, almost sheer fabric.

An unusual finishing process used in Victorian times where cloth is pummelled under heavy teak poles and water pushed through the weave to compact the cloth and create a unique watermark finish.

Fabric cut at 45 degrees to warp and weft. May also be referred to as cross-grain.

A yarn containing two or more different fibres.

The term for the laundering of bed linen in a commercial hotel environment, where high temperature washing is used for hygienic reasons.

The name for the cotton plant after it flowers and dies prior to pollinating the next plant.

A complete piece of loom state fabric folded twice – traditionally 60 yards in length, the maximum weight of sheeting which could be carried by a mill worker.

A term for fabric over 150cm (60 inches) wide, cotton or woollen.

Fabric with a brushed, raised surface.

Generic term for plain-weave, coarse yarn fabrics of different weights. Maybe referred to as Muslin in North America or toile fabric.

Fabrics made from yarn where the yarns have been brushed prior to spinning.

The name for a fine weave of pure linen fabric which is used for bedlinen, table linen and fashion.

A more pronounced double twill.

Natural and manmade fibres regenerated from plants, such as viscose and modal.

A colour-woven fabric where dyed weft yarns and grey warp yarns create a dappled colour effect.

Thin, closely woven plain-woven Indian cloth originally used in the food trade.

Woven fabric is cut into strips and used as yarn, which has a velvet ‘caterpillar’ appearance; or fabric made from chenille yarns.

Very light diaphanous fabric made with a tightly twisted single yarn in a plain weave.

(1) A finishing process applied to cotton fabric that produces a glazed surface; (2) Hindi word for printed cloth with glazed surface. Generically implies flower-printed fabric.

Fabrics dyed in colours that resist fading.

Fabrics made from yarn where the fibres have been additionally combed, creating a better, smoother finish.

A type of embellishment stitching where a thick cord is attached with a zig-zag overstitch. This stitch was traditionally applied by Belfast hemming with each line of cord representing one hundred thread count in the fabric.

Numerical expression for size of yarn, denoting the number of 840 yard lengths or hanks per pound weight.

Cover factor is a number that indicates the extent to which the area of a fabric is covered by one set of threads. Covering power refers to the ability of an item to occupy space or to cover an area. A fabric with better cover will be warmer, look and feel more substantial, and be more durable.

A ratio used by hotel managers and housekeepers derived from dividing the cost of an item of linen divided by the number of boil washes achieved during the items lifespan. It is a measure of the economic cost of the item.

Highly twisted yarn with a granular texture and very dry touch, or a fabric made from crepe yarns.

A natural or artificial wave to the fibre or yarn.

Often reversible self patterned jacquard fabric. The design is distinguished from the background by contrasting lustre and matt textures. Usually constructed with satin-weave warps and satin-weave wefts.

A unit of measurement used to measure the linear mass density of fibres. Several filaments together are referred to as ‘total denier’. The system is used in Britain and the USA for hosiery.

A cotton twill-weave fabric in which the wefts pass under two or more warps producing a diagonal rib effect. The fabric was originally called serge de Nimes after the French town where it was originally made.

A type of weave created using a simple jacquard weft selector typically stripes and herringbones.

Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium bardbadense. Cotton with an average staple length of over 1.25 inches is referred to as Egyptian and does not necessarily have to be grown in Egypt.

Warp threads that run vertically on the loom.

This is also referred to as piece-dyed, and in this instance the fabric is dyed after it is woven. Piece-dyed is perfect for solid colour, woven cotton goods.

A mill term for the open shed of warp threads to receive the weft yarn.

A long, thin, flexible structure. Plant and animal fibres are spun to create yarns.

A single, continuous strand of fibre. Any man-made yarn of one of more strands running the entire length of the yarn.

Generic term for many plain or twill weave wortsed spun fabrics with napped surface to one of both sides.

Straight weave with lightly brushed surfaces on both sides.

Linum utisatissium, an annual herb of the Linaceae family used to make linen.

Tightly woven twill weave with defined diagonal.

The name of a growth of long staple Egyptian cotton typically farmed in the Nile delta region.

The term for unfinished cloth as it comes off the loom.

Also called ‘touch’. Describes the characteristics of a fabric e.g. soft, firm, smooth, granular.

Traditionally, hemstitching was made by hand-drawing threads out of the cloth and then stitching around the holes to create an attractive line of stitching. Today, it is sometimes created now by machine ‘punch’ stitching.

A type of damask weave with a pronounced zig-zag pattern.

The overlapping of warp and weft threads which is created by the weaving process. The number of intersections per square area defines the fineness and durability for the fabric.

A type of weaving process and a type of fabric. The process allows for an unlimited variety of designs.

Fabric with a linen weft and a cotton warp.

The machine used to create cloth by interlocking warp and weft yarns.

The term used for fabric as it comes off the loom – also called greige.

The brand name of a type of metallic yarn or fabric, usually a synthetic fibre with a vaporised layer of aluminium.

A laboratory test used to determine a fabric’s resistance to abrasion.

A growth of Egyptian cotton typically farmed in the Upper Nile region.

A treatment that burns the ‘fuzziness’ off cotton to achieve a more lustrous and smooth appearance. Mercerising can be applied either to the yarn or to the finished fabric. Double-mercerised implies that both the yarn and the fabrics have been treated.

Yarns containing metal threads or metallic elements.

The colloquial term for a weaving factory derived on the traditional water powered “mills” which ground corn to make wheat.

Very lightweight, almost transparent plain weave. In North America however the term refers to Calico.

The abbreviation for English Cotton Count measurement of yarn thickness.

Cotton grown without pesticides from plants that are not genetically modified.

Extremely crisp plain-woven fabric of differing weights.

A term used in bed linen to denote the flange attached on a pillowcase or duvet cover.

Denotes a close weave high thread count, irrespective of yarn type, ideally with more than 180 threads per square inch.

The term used to describe an insertion of weft yarn into a fabric – also known as an “end”.

A complete piece of loom state fabric folded twice – traditionally 60 yards in length, the maximum weight of sheeting which could be carried by a mill worker.

The formation of little balls (pills) on the fabric surface, caused by wear or washing that entangles the fibres.

Indigenous American long staple cotton (Gossypium barbadense) named after North America Pima Indians. Farmed in Colombia as a replaced crop for Opium.

A bird’s eye raised effect – also called piquette.

The name for plain hook and loop stitching – typically 18 stitches per inch is a high density rate.

Two or more single yarns twisted together.

A type of weave typically used for making up men’s shirts. This weave achieves higher tensile strength vertically than horizontally.

The comb device used in the weaving process which pushes the weft yarn into the fell of the cloth as each shed of the warp yarns opens. The Reed family name derives from this part of the loom.

This refers to fabrics which are pre-shrunk by a controlled compressive process and then meet certain standards of washing shrinkage. Generally sanforised cotton fabrics will not suffer further shrinkage during future laundering and use.

Satin-weave fabric with a polished sheen to the face.

The name given to decorative zig-zag stitching, usually using a rayon thread . Typically 38 threads per inch.

A weave construction with the maximum amount of warps on the face of the fabric, achieving a flat, smooth and lustrous finish. Satin weave is not to be confused with Satin which, while of satin-weave construction, refers to the fabric itself.

Greige cloth which has been singed and washed only without any use of bleaches nor peroxides.

Gossypiun barbadense, a luxurious long staple cotton.

The firm side edges to the fabric running parallel to the warp. Rapier loom selvedges contain weft ends.

The room in a mill where looms are located originating from the word cowshed where outworker farmers installed their looms so that they could make best use of the natural humid conditions of North East Lancashire.

The wooden projectile which contains a pirn of weft thread and us propelled backwards and forwards across the width of the loom.

The first process in finishing greige cloth which involves running the fabric through flames at high speed to burn off surface fibres and polish the cloth.

A term used for sheeting cloths where the numbers of threads in the warp and weft directions are similar. Square constructions typically mean that the cloths are more suitable for bedlinen as they wear evenly when subjected to abrasion from all directions.

The average length of fibres in a particular growth of cotton. Higher staple length results in finer yarns and a more expensive crop.

A machine used to stretch out cloth after the bleaching and dyeing process. Stentor marks often occur in the selvedges of sheeting fabric where the clamps grip the cloth and stretch it out to the required width after shrinkage.

A growth of long staple cotton created by combining Indian Sujata (SU) and St Vincent Sea Island Cotton (VIN) growths. Suvin cotton is grown in the Tamil Nadu region of Southern India in the same fields where some of the world’s most famous tea plantations are located.

An international system of measurement used to measure the linear density mass of fibres based on metric weights and lengths.

A measurement that determines the coarseness or fineness of fabric, achieved by counting the number of individual threads in one square inch or ten square centimetres of fabric including warps and wefts.

Woven fabric with uncut loops to one of both sides.

A spiral formation applied to fibres in the spinning process to give additional strength and which allows for different colours and fibres to be twisted together for visual and tactile effect.

The threads that run the length of the fabric from top to bottom.

The term used to describe the construction of a fabric – this can easily be seen under a piece glass. Examples are plain weave, sateen, jacquard etc.

The threads that run across the fabric from selvedge to selvedge, also known as ‘picks’.

The West Indian Sea Island Cotton Association of which Reed were founding members.

Numerical expression for size of yarn, denoting the number of 840 yard lengths or hanks per pound weight.

Fabric made from yarn that has been pre-dyed before weaving. Yarn dyed fabrics tend to give a much better level of colourfastness and are almost always more expensive than their fabric-dyed equivalents.