Q: What exactly is “low twist” yarn?
A: In the spinning process, yarn is twisted to add strength and provide greater uniformity, aiding the weaving process. The greater the twist, the more durable and substantial the yarn.
To create a low twist, the yarn is actually untwisted. Only longer staple cotton fibers—with their inherent strength—can be used in constructing low-twist yarns. The de-twisting action creates more air and space between the fibers, which yields a terrycloth fabric that’s especially soft and absorbent. This feature also decreases the time it takes the towel to dry after use or washing.
Q. What’s the difference between low-twist cotton towels and the more standard ringspun cotton towels?
A. You’re probably familiar with single-ply, 2-ply and 3-ply yarn. What you might not know is that while a single is, of course, a single strand a yard, “single” is also a term used to describe yarn that’s twisted in a single direction. Tecnically speaking, then, multiple strands of yarn can still be correctly described as a “single” if they’re all twisted in the same direction.
As far as 2-ply and 3-ply yarn is concerned, they consist of multiple strands of spun yarn that are twisted in the opposite direction from which they were originally twisted. This is done because twists add considerable strength to cotton fibers, and each multiple direction of a twist adds even more strength. That’s why a 3-ply towel is generally stronger than a 2-ply, and a 2-ply towel will tend to be stronger than a single-ply.
