Standard Greige Constructions: A Reference Table

How do you read the entries in this table?

Each entry reads count first, density second: 40×40/130×66 is 40s warp and 40s weft, woven at 130 ends and 66 picks per inch. Higher count numbers mean finer yarns; higher density numbers mean more threads per inch. GSM figures are approximate loom-state weights calculated from the register construction, not measured lot weights — confirm the weight of your lot per enquiry. The finished weight is a different number again, reached on the finishing route. Widths are quoted per enquiry rather than tabulated here, because a width is only meaningful with its basis and unit attached.

This page is the lookup; the method — what each number fixes and what the notation deliberately leaves out — is how to read fabric construction. Read that once and every row below becomes self-explanatory.

Which greige constructions are standard?

Weave is not tabulated here because it is not recorded per line in the register — it is confirmed per enquiry, the same as width. Where the prose names a weave family it follows from the market name, not from a register field; if weave matters to your end use, state it in the enquiry rather than inferring it from the construction alone.

These are representative lines, not the whole range: the library carries 489 greige loom-state entries across counts from coarse canvas to fine cambric, in 100% cotton, poly-cotton and cotton-stretch. Statuses reflect the register at its last generation date and are confirmed per enquiry — a Limited line can clear, and a Made-to-order line needs a production window.

The full range is browsable and filterable in the fabric library, including the greige category on its own.

Which construction sits behind each fabric name?

Buyers assume a market name fixes a construction — that "poplin" or "cambric" is a specification. It is not: a market name describes a family of constructions sharing a character, and only the count and density fix the cloth. Two suppliers' "poplin" can differ in count, density and weight while both being honestly named. The register rows above show the mapping in the honest direction — construction first, name second:

• Cambric and lawn — fine counts (50s–60s) in lighter, more open plain weaves; the loom-state GSM sits well under 100 g/m².
• Poplin — fine-to-medium counts with ends clearly outnumbering picks (e.g. 40×40/130×66), giving the fine crosswise rib the name implies.
• Sheeting — medium counts at balanced, moderate density (e.g. 30×30/76×66); the general-purpose workhorse of the greige trade.
• Twill, drill and herringbone — coarser counts at high warp density in twill interlacings, carrying loom-state GSM from around 200 g/m² upwards.
• Duck and canvas — among the coarsest counts, at low density but maximum yarn mass; the heaviest rows of the table.
• Always order by construction + name, never name alone — the name orients, the numbers commit.

How do you choose between two constructions at the same weight?

The same GSM can be reached from opposite directions: coarse yarns at low density, or fine yarns at high density. The number that matches is the weight; almost everything else differs. Finer-count, denser cloth gives a smoother surface, better print definition and a tighter cover at the same weight — at a higher yarn cost. Coarser-count, opener cloth gives more body and tooth, and suits garment washing and rugged end uses. Decide by the end use and the downstream route, not by the weight alone — and put the deciding construction on the order.

If the route is printing, density is a print-definition decision too — choosing a base fabric for digital and rotary printing covers what fine-line work demands of a base.

What do Available, Limited and Made to order mean?

When is a non-standard construction worth developing?

When no register line lands on your finished requirement — a specific weight-and-hand combination, a density your print route needs, a stretch percentage the pattern demands — the answer is made-to-order development rather than forcing the nearest standard line. The trade-off is honest: development adds a sampling loop and a production window, and in exchange the construction is exactly yours. The gate is the same as everywhere else in the greige trade: a sample approved before production, with the construction, bands and reference written on the order.

How that process runs — from brief to approved development — is set out under custom fabric development.

Related knowledge

• Low-MOQ greige cotton fabric

  The commercial route for the constructions in this table — availability and minimums.

• How to read fabric construction

  The method this lookup assumes — what count and density notation fixes, taught once.

• What a greige fabric specification must state

  The other eight fields an order must state around the construction you pick here.

• Air-jet vs rapier vs shuttle looms

  The machinery side of the same decision — what the loom type means for the construction you order.

• From greige to finished: how width, weight and length change

  Why every GSM above is labelled loom-state — and how the finished figures get fixed.

• Low-MOQ fabric sourcing from Pakistan

  The confirmed minimums that decide whether a line above fits your programme size.

Frequently asked questions

On typical values: every construction in the reference table is a live register entry from the Burhan Enterprises Digital Fabric Library, shown with its loom-state GSM calculated from construction (approximate, not a measured lot weight); statuses reflect the register at its last generation date and are confirmed per enquiry. Finished figures are agreed per order against an approved sample. Physical swatches override anything tabulated here. Burhan Enterprises is a sourcing and export partner and coordinates through partner mills and processing units.