Guide to cotton types for Indian homes — percale, mulmul, south cotton

Which cotton bedsheet is right for you? A guide to percale, mulmul and south cotton

Thread Kalaa prints on four cottons: percale (crisp, breathable, 220 thread count), mulmul (soft 3-layer muslin, breezy, India's favourite summer cloth), south cotton (lived-in and lightly textured), and canvas (heavy, structured). Percale is for everyday bedsheets, mulmul for dohars, south cotton for a hand-feel you'll miss when it's gone, canvas for cushion covers and table covers. If you're buying your first set, start with percale.

Why cotton type matters more than thread count

If you've ever stood in a bedding shop and seen "400 TC Egyptian cotton" promising "hotel luxury", you've met the thread-count myth. Thread count beyond about 250 adds no softness and often hurts breathability — the weave gets too dense for air to pass through. What actually determines how a bedsheet, dohar or quilt feels and lasts is the type of cotton, the weave structure, and how the fabric was finished.

At Thread Kalaa, we print on four cottons. Each suits different pieces, different seasons, and different personalities. This guide walks you through all four, so your next purchase is the right fit.

Percale cotton — the everyday workhorse

Percale is a plain-weave cotton with a thread count typically between 180 and 300. Our percale sits at 220 TC, which is the sweet spot: dense enough to feel smooth and crisp, open enough to breathe freely in Indian climates.

What percale feels like:

  • Crisp hand right out of the pack, softens with every wash
  • Light and breathable — no clamminess under the fan
  • Holds a sharp fold, stays flat on the bed
  • The quintessential "hotel sheet" feel without the pretension

Our everyday bedsheets are percale. If you want one cotton to rule the year — one you can sleep under in April and still want in December — percale is the answer. It's also the easiest to care for: cold wash, air dry, light iron. Lasts a decade with normal use.

Pair percale sheets with mulmul dohars in summer and cotton quilts in winter. Three cottons, every season covered.

Mulmul cotton — the summer favourite

Mulmul is a fine, loosely woven muslin. The best mulmul is handwoven, with a slight slub texture that gives it character. Thread Kalaa uses 3-layer mulmul for our dohars: two outer printed layers sandwich a third plain layer in the middle. The three layers are held together by simple hand-stitching, visible on both sides.

What mulmul feels like:

  • Soft from the first touch, softer with every wash
  • So lightweight it folds down to the size of a scarf
  • Breathes freely — air passes right through the open weave
  • Drapes like fabric, not like a stiff blanket
  • Perfect for Indian summer evenings and air-conditioned bedrooms year-round

Mulmul is India's unofficial national summer bedding. Grandmothers across the subcontinent sleep under mulmul dohars from March to October. In air-conditioned flats, from October to March as well. Mulmul doesn't trap heat; it just adds a soft, breathable layer.

Dohars make brilliant gifts. They travel well, they wash easily in a home machine, and they only get better over years. Our dohars start at ₹1,500 in Single and Double sizes.

South cotton — the lived-in feel

South cotton is a medium-weight, finely woven cotton with a slight natural texture. Woven in the handloom tradition of Tamil Nadu and Andhra, south cotton has a hand-feel that machine-woven fabrics can't match — a subtle, almost tactile depth that your fingers notice before your eye.

What south cotton feels like:

  • Soft but with character — not slippery, not stiff
  • Light to medium weight, drapes beautifully
  • Natural slight slub texture (not a defect, this is the mark of handloom)
  • Opens up with every wash, gets more supple over years
  • Reads as both "crisp" and "lived-in" at the same time

Our south cotton bedsheets are the ones customers message us about months after buying. "I keep going back to the south cotton one." That lived-in hand is addictive. It's also the cotton we recommend for people who've been through hotel-chain Egyptian cotton and want something that actually feels different.

Canvas cotton — the structural piece

Canvas is a plain-weave cotton with a much heavier yarn than percale or mulmul. We use canvas for cushion covers and table covers — anywhere the fabric needs to hold its shape and take some wear.

What canvas feels like:

  • Structured — stands up, holds a shape, doesn't drape
  • Durable, resists pilling and abrasion
  • Takes block-print pigment beautifully — motifs stay crisp
  • Washes well, keeps its structure through years of use

If you're styling a sofa with cushions, you want canvas. The cover sits properly, the print pops, and the cushion doesn't slump into a sack of fabric after a month. Our canvas cushion covers are a signature piece — small, high-impact, and the easiest way to bring hand-block printing into a room.

At a glance — which cotton for which piece

Cotton type Best for Hand-feel Price range
Percale (220 TC) Bedsheets, pillow covers Crisp, breathable ₹1,200 to ₹2,500
Mulmul (3-layer) Dohars, summer blankets Soft, lightweight, airy ₹1,500 to ₹3,000
South cotton Bedsheets with character Soft, slight texture, lived-in ₹1,800 to ₹3,000
Canvas Cushion covers, table covers Structured, durable ₹600 to ₹1,800

How to pick for your home

Three quick heuristics to make the choice easy:

  1. If you sleep in a warm climate year-round (Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, coastal Kerala): percale sheets + a mulmul dohar. Skip the quilt entirely. You'll never need it.
  2. If you live where winters get cold (North India, hill stations, Europe, North America): percale sheets + a cotton quilt for winter, dohar as a summer swap. Rotate through the year.
  3. If you want one special piece to feel the difference: pick south cotton. It's the hand-feel that tells your fingers "this is different cloth." Most addictive first purchase.

What cotton isn't — the clear "no" list

Thread Kalaa prints only on 100% cotton. Here's what we don't do, and why:

  • Polyester bedding — traps heat, doesn't breathe, releases microplastics in every wash. Hot to sleep in. Short lifespan despite feeling "like new" for years.
  • Poly-cotton blends — advertised as "wrinkle-free" but you lose cotton's breathability and gain the polyester downsides at a fraction of the plastic.
  • Microfiber "silk-feel" sheets — pure petroleum product. Suffocating in Indian summer, static-y in winter, lands in landfill in a few years.
  • Bamboo rayon marketed as "cotton" — technically a plant source but processed with heavy chemicals into a viscose that bears no resemblance to the plant.

If you want to understand why we draw this line hard, read our next piece: Why Thread Kalaa doesn't do polyester, blends, or microfiber.

Related reading

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

What is the best cotton for Indian summer bedding? Mulmul (3-layer muslin) is the best cotton for Indian summers. It is light, breathable, and lets air pass through freely. Our dohars are mulmul and are the most common summer bedding across India.

What is 220 TC percale cotton? 220 TC (thread count) percale is a plain-weave cotton with 220 threads per square inch. It is the sweet spot for softness and breathability — crisp without being stiff, dense without trapping heat. Thread Kalaa uses 220 TC percale for all everyday bedsheets.

Is south cotton better than Egyptian cotton? It depends on what you value. Egyptian cotton (if genuine) is longer-staple and smoother. South cotton has a lived-in, hand-woven character with a slight natural slub that most "luxury" sheets lack. Both are 100% cotton; the choice is aesthetic preference.

Why don't Thread Kalaa sheets have a thread count label? Thread count above 250 adds no softness and often hurts breathability. We list the actual weave type (percale, mulmul, south, canvas) because that tells you how the sheet will feel and perform. Thread count beyond 220 is a marketing number, not a quality signal.

Can I machine wash all your cotton types? Yes. Percale, mulmul, south cotton, and canvas all machine-wash on delicate cycle with cold water and mild detergent. Dry in shade to protect the hand-block pigment. See our full care guide.

Which cotton is most durable? Canvas is the most durable because of the heavier yarn and tighter structure — it is why we use it for cushion covers and table covers that take daily use. For bedsheets, percale and south cotton both last 10 to 15 years with proper care.

— Written with love by Aditi Rai, founder of Thread Kalaa. Jaipur, 2026.

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