Woven fabric

Percale

A smooth plain-woven fabric is familiar as a crisp style of sheeting.

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Illustrative face of a repeating weave. Warp runs vertically; weft runs horizontally. Colors, yarn thickness and spacing are examples, not a production specification.

How it is made

Warp and weft alternate one over and one under. Yarn choice, density and finishing affect how crisp or soft the finished cloth feels.

How to recognize it

Look for a fine plain-weave grid without the long face floats of sateen.

Common uses

  • Bed sheets
  • Pillowcases
  • Duvet covers

What to distinguish

Percale describes a fabric construction and market family, not a cotton variety or an automatic quality ranking.

Sources & further reading

Research checked 2026-09-27. Descriptions are original summaries; references support terminology and construction, not every product sold under a name.

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