# Composition of fabric blends?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composition-of-fabric-blends/222179>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 1, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composition-of-fabric-blends/222179 "2004-01-01T22:31:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composition-of-fabric-blends/222179/1 "2004-01-01T22:31:36Z")

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For my dad, who still bears a grudge against The Master, because he submitted this question years ago…(I think it’s a dumb question, but hey, he’s standing behind me, so please humor him…)

If you have, say, a 35% poly/65% cotton fabric, does that mean each thread is 35% poly and 65% cotton, or that 35% of the individual threads are poly and 65% are cotton?

(I guess A, because B would make the pabric pucker when it shrank.)

Please don’t disappoint me, O Teeming Millions!

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composition-of-fabric-blends/222179/2 "2004-01-02T05:00:43Z")

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I am 99% sure that it means that each thread is made of a combination of cotton and polyester.

[http://www.vardhmanthreads.com/know\_our\_threads1.htm](http://www.vardhmanthreads.com/know_our_threads1.htm)

> [@](#):
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> DURO Polyester / Cotton and Polyester / Polyester corespun threads. The Cotton / Polyester fibre spun over the polyester continuous filament core gives these threads a superior all round performance.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composition-of-fabric-blends/222179/3 "2004-01-02T05:58:28Z")

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[Polycotton yarns](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Poly+cotton+yarns%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&as_qdr=all&start=20&sa=N) are spun from a mixture of cotton and polyester fibers.  
Look at how the discussion below is phrased in terms of yarn rather than fabric:

> [@](#):
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> 100% cotton vs. blends and 100% synthetics Yarns that contain at least a portion of polyester fibers are less prone to fibrillation than 100%-cotton yarns. For instance, 67/33 blended poly/cotton yarns are less hairy than 50/50 poly/cotton yarns, which are less hairy than 100% cotton. Likewise, 100% polyester yarns are less hairy than poly/cotton blends. However, 100% acrylics and acrylic/cotton blends are similar to 100% cotton in hairiness.

[The Mystery of Fibrillation: When substrate fibers break loose](http://www.screenweb.com/garment/cont/whatdunit.html)

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/composition-of-fabric-blends/222179/4 "2004-01-02T12:27:01Z")

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> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Squink \*  
> \*\*[The Mystery of Fibrillation: When substrate fibers break loose](http://www.google.com/search?q=%25%5BURL=http://www.screenweb.com/garment/cont/whatdunit.html) \*\*

Sounds like it would make a fascinating horror movie!