bearisgray

I have some older cottons that feel "crispy" and do not ravel - at all - when washed.

Does anyone know what makes them that way?

nativetexan

Hmmm, my many years old cotton sheets are great. hate the ones i bought in recent years. so even sheets used to be good. but today's fabrics are made in such different ways and from different Countries, i have no idea.

peaceandjoy

I wonder if it is more like chintz?

SophieHatter

Chintz would be my guess too. Is it curtain fabric type cotton (y'know, big floral patterns, quite thick, kind of thing)? Does it feel smooth and look slightly shiny? It used to be fashionable to coat curtain and upholstery fabric in a kind of glaze. I used some in a quilt and washed it in the machine and it went ridiculously crinkly and won't iron flat, but oh well, it's all part of the charm! My other old cotton fabrics are pretty much the same as new fabrics, unless they've had a hard life in which case they are softer.

I've also discovered recently that there are different ways of weaving cotton fabrics - I bought two new sheets, one sateen weave which is soft and floppy and one percale which is smooth and crispy and holds creases, so maybe it is percale weave cotton? Is it bedclothes fabric? If you look really closely you can see the threads are arranged in wiggles in the floppy fabric and straight lines in the crispy fabric - there's probably some pictures on google if you want to compare it with yours!

Otherwise I guess it might not be pure cotton - perhaps it is one of those strange 1980s viscose fabrics?

Onebyone

I have some very old cotton fabric and it is heavier but has a better drape then the new fabric of today. It doesn't ravel unless I pull the threads. I think it has to be the way the fabric use to be manufactured and how the type of thread used then to make the fabric.

cashs_mom

My mother used to use something she called "polished cotton" that had a crispy finish somewhat like chintz. That might be what it is?

Battle Axe

Some of how the fabric appears is in the growing of the cotton. We were always told that cotton is a hollow stem, like a straw. If the sides start to collapse, you get something different. How strong the sides are depends on the growing season and where it was grown. Pima Arizona has a slightly longer growing season and that cotton is prized. Other parts of the world are actually better for the long season that cotton requires.

Maybe this Global Warming thing will benefit the cotton production.

sprice

Thanks, BA, for the explanation. I've heard of Pima cotton and know it makes nice soft knit T-shirts but didn't really know why it is different.

Rose_P

In eighth grade sewing class in 1960 we were asked to bring cotton fabric that had been mercerized. I don't know much about the process, but Wikipedia says it involves treating the fabric with lye. It's supposed to make the fibers stronger and give them more luster. I still have some of the scraps and they are as nice as they were when new. Possibly this is what you have.

SallyS

They could have a no-iron finish added to them. It tended to "plasticize" fabrics.