Don’t know your weft from your warp? Browse our glossary of terms and you’ll be well on the way to becoming a bona fide linen expert.

Egyptian cotton – Regarded as the finest grade of cotton with extra-long fibres, it results in an exceptionally soft and luxurious fabric. Egyptian cotton generates less lint and is more durable than other cottons. We heart Egyptian cotton.

Hand – The way the fabric feels when touched. Terms like softness, silkiness and crispness are all terms that describe the “hand” of a fabric.

Modal – A category of manufactured fibres known for their strength. The fabric retains its shape well.

Percale – high-quality close-textured woven cotton with a minimum thread count of 180 threads per square inch.

Pile – During the weaving process, tension in the warp is altered to create loops in the fabric.

Pima cotton – Previously called American-Egyptian, this is a high-quality hybrid of Egyptian cotton and cotton grown in the Southwestern USA. The cotton is exceptionally soft and the fibres are strong and firm.

Polyester – The most common polyester for fibre purposes is polyethylene terphthalate, or PET. It is a strong synthetic fibre that resists shrinking, stretching, mildew, abrasion and wrinkling. It washes easily and dries quickly. It is also used to make plastic soft drink bottles.

Sateen – The cotton fabric is woven so that the surface is smooth and the finish lustrous, resembling satin. Bear & Duck ’s signature range of bed linen has a sateen finish.

Thread count – The higher the thread count, the softer the “hand” or feel of the sheet, and the more pill-resistant it will be.

Warp – The cotton that runs lengthwise in a woven fabric. The warp is stronger and denser than the weft (crosswise) yarns.

Weft – The horizontal (crosswise) threads that intersect the warp (lengthwise) threads in a woven fabric. This direction of the fabric has more stretch than the warp but less than the bias.