What Is Terrycloth?

How is terrycloth made?

Terrycloth is made from a ground cloth plus an additional set of warp yarns that stand out from it in small loops, on one or both faces. The loops are left as loops, so the surface is a looped pile rather than a cut one. Terrycloth is usually made from cotton, according to the CAMEO materials database of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Because the pile comes from extra warp yarns, terrycloth is a woven cloth. That matters when you shop: the trade also uses the word “terry” for a knitted fabric with loops on its back, which behaves differently (see the comparison below).

Where does terrycloth come from?

Looped-pile towels were woven in the Ottoman Empire, in Bursa and Istanbul, before a family plush manufactory in Lancashire, England, took up the cloth in the mid-19th century. Amanda Phillips, writing in the Textile Museum Journal in 2025, notes that the Ottoman structure may be related to silk velvet.

Phillips traces the move to Britain to Henry Christy, a British ethnographer. In the mid-19th century he saw women in the Ottoman Empire making towels with a texture he did not know. He gave a piece to his brother, who ran the family hatting and plush manufactory in Lancashire, and it was passed on to the mills’ chief engineer.

In 1851, Christy’s “Royal Turkish Towel” won a prize at the Great Exhibition in Victorian Britain, and a patent was registered to its inventor, Samuel Holt. Holt was later drawn to New Jersey by investors, where he supervised the American Velvet Company and kept working on cotton terrycloth and silk velvet. “Turkish towel” is still listed as a synonym for terrycloth in the CAMEO database.

What are the properties of terrycloth?

Terrycloth’s defining property is absorbency: CAMEO describes it as “very absorbent”, which is why it is used for towels and robes. How absorbent a given piece is depends on its loops, its fibre and its weight.

• Loops. Cotton Incorporated’s buyer’s guide says longer loops mean more softness and more absorbency.
• Fibre. Cotton absorbs water and washes clean of odour, while synthetics such as polyester tend to repel moisture and do not dry as effectively, according to the same guide.
• Faces. Loops may cover one face or both.
• Purpose. Cotton Incorporated separates the two jobs: towels need absorbency and bulk, while apparel fabrics need comfort, drape and breathability.

How is terrycloth graded or measured?

Terrycloth is measured by weight in grams per square metre (GSM), read together with the pile type and the yarn.

The same guide says a higher GSM means a denser, more absorbent towel, and advises checking whether the pile is cut or looped terry. These ranges are for towels; for robes and clothing, compare stated weights between similar pieces rather than against towel figures.

Yarn words on a tag also carry meaning. Cotton Incorporated says plied yarns indicate strength, and that combed or ring-spun cotton makes softer, longer-lasting towels. Zero-twist or low-twist yarns feel soft but are not durable.

How does terrycloth appear on a clothing label?

Terrycloth does not appear on a label as a fibre: US and EU rules require the fibres and their percentages by weight, such as “100% cotton”, and “terry” only describes how the cloth is built.

In the US

• Under the FTC’s rules, most textile products, towels included, must show fibre content, country of origin, and the name or Registered Identification Number (RN) of the manufacturer or another company that markets or handles the product.
• Fibres are listed by generic name with percentages by weight, in descending order. Fibres under 5% are generally shown as “other fiber”, unless they have a definite functional significance at that amount. Wool is the exception: the FTC says wool or recycled wool must be disclosed by name and percentage even below 5% (16 CFR 300.3(b)).
• Pile fabrics can be labelled in two ways: for the product as a whole, or with the pile and the backing given separately plus the ratio between them. The FTC’s example reads “100% Nylon Pile 100% Cotton Back (Back is 60% of fabric and pile 40%)”.
• Fibre percentages have a 3% tolerance, but there is no tolerance when a label says the product is made of one fibre, as in “100% cotton” or “All cotton”.
• Care labels for clothing are required by a separate FTC rule, 16 CFR Part 423.

In the EU

• Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 requires the name and percentage by weight of all constituent fibres, in descending order (Article 9(1)).
• A “100%” or “pure” cotton terry may still contain up to 2% extraneous fibres (5% for carded products) where this is technically unavoidable (Article 7(2)).
• Fibres that cannot easily be stated at manufacture may be grouped as “other fibres”: up to 5% for one fibre or 15% collectively (Article 9(2)).
• The label must be in the official language or languages of the member state where the product is sold, unless that state provides otherwise (Article 16(3)).

How is terrycloth different from French terry, fleece and bouclé?

Terrycloth is a woven cloth with loops of extra warp yarn; French terry and fleece are knits, and bouclé gets its loops from the yarn itself.

Cotton Incorporated’s CottonWorks notes that French terry is “not technically a terry”, because floats rather than a terry sinker form its loops. It also describes French terry as technically an un-napped fleece.

How do you tell good terrycloth from poor terrycloth?

Good terrycloth has a stated weight that suits its job, loops of a useful length and a fibre that absorbs; each can be checked in a shop.

1. Look at both faces. Check whether the loops cover one side or two. If one side has been sheared smooth, CAMEO calls the cloth French terrycloth.
2. Turn a garment inside out. If the loops sit only on the back of a smooth knitted face, it is French terry, not woven terrycloth. If the back is fuzzy rather than looped, it is fleece.
3. Find the GSM. On towels, 400–600 gsm is the lighter, faster-drying range and 600–800 gsm the plush range. Higher means denser and more absorbent.
4. Compare loop length. Between two similar pieces, the longer loops should feel softer and absorb more.
5. Read the yarn words. See the yarn terms above; zero-twist yarn trades durability for softness.
6. Read the fibre line. Cotton absorbs; a polyester-rich terry will not dry as well.

Red flags

• A US-market product with no fibre percentages, no country of origin, or no company name or RN.
• A “French terry” garment that is woven, or a “terry” robe whose inside is brushed rather than looped: the name and the cloth do not match.
• A towel sold on softness alone. Cotton Incorporated notes that softeners and finishes may fade.

How do you care for terrycloth?

Care for terrycloth by following the care label, which in the US is required on clothing by the FTC’s Care Labeling Rule.

Cotton terry washes clean of odour, according to Cotton Incorporated, which also says cotton towels get softer over time. It adds that softeners or wrinkle-resistant treatments may fade, so some of the softness you feel in a shop may not last.

Is terrycloth sustainable?

Terrycloth has no environmental profile of its own: it is a construction, so its impact is that of its fibre and how that fibre was grown and processed. Because it is usually made from cotton, the useful questions are the ones you would ask of any cotton, including whether it is certified organic cotton.

Longevity is the part you can judge in a shop: Cotton Incorporated links plied, combed and ring-spun yarns to stronger, longer-lasting towels.