What are percale sheets?
Percale sheets are made from cotton. Percale feels cool and crisp, with a texture that’s structured yet lightweight, and a matte finish. The overall percale look is quite pulled together—especially when ironed. Our Percale Sheets have all of those signature percale characteristics—yet are incredibly comfortable to sleep on. It took us nearly a year to make percale sheets this perfect. Here, we answer all of your percale questions.
Why launch percale sheets?
Percale Sheets were one of the most requested products from our customers. Hundreds of calls came in where customers asked for percale bedding—if not by name, then by description. They would mention wanting something crisp, cool, classic, something akin to hotel sheets. Percale fits the bill.
What is percale?
Percale is a cotton fabric with a simple and tight weave. It has a medium weight and a firm, smooth, matte finish.
How does percale feel?
Percale's tight weave lends the fabric a structured, crisp texture. Fine Italian linens are often made of percale. So are many 5-star hotel sheets. Think of a classic white button-down, and you’ll have the idea of what percale is.
What was our percale development process like?
It took us nine months and dozens of prototypes to perfect percale. While some percale is crisp and structured to the point of crunchy, ours is crisp yet incredibly comfortable. Missy Tannen, our co-founder and head of product design, tells the behind-the-scenes story. “In order to achieve that ideal feel, we played with three things,” she says, “the diameter of the yarn, the number of plys and the thread count. Every one of our 25-plus percale weave trials took time. It’s not like printing out paper! Each trial—with its different thread counts and yarn sizes—requires manually setting up the loom, a process that takes days. Finally, we found the percale that worked for us—cool and crisp yet comfortable, with approximately the same weight as our Signature Fabric sheets.”
How are our Percale Tailored sheets different from our Signature Fabric sheets?
While our Signature Fabric sheets are soft and drapey, Percale sheets are crisp and structured. Percale also sleeps cooler. Both fabrics start with the same long-staple organic cotton—the difference is in the weave.
Our Signature Fabric has a “four-over, one-under” weave on the loom that creates a flexible, drapey fabric that has a soft and cozy feel, which is what we have become known for. Percale has a “one-over, one-under” weave that’s tighter, which results in a fabric that holds its shape and has a crisper texture. When you are deciding between percale vs. sateen sheets—our Signature Fabric is akin to the highest-quality sateen weave—think about whether you want to sleep in sheets that are soft and drapey (Signature Fabric) or crisp and cool (Percale).
Where can you buy Percale sheets?
Right here! The pricing is consistent with our Signature Hemmed Sheet Sets and Pillowcase Sets. It actually costs us more to make percale fabric, but it was important to us to price them the same so people don’t feel pressured to choose one or the other based on cost. "We want people to find the sheets that feel the most comfortable to them," says Missy.
