Added 2026-09-27 from trending overseas buyer search questions. We update this centre daily.
A fabric is always measured selvedge-to-selvedge — the full width from one finished edge to the other. That is the nominal width you see on a bolt or a spec line. But the two woven edges, the selvedges, are tighter and often carry pinholes or mill marks, so they are not where you place a pattern piece. The usable (or cuttable) width is what sits between the selvedges, and it is the only number that drives your marker and your yield.
Selvedge edges typically take about 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) per side, so a roll quoted '150 cm' usually yields roughly 146–148 cm of cuttable width. If you plan your layout on the nominal number, you quietly lose a few centimetres on every panel — and on a production run that adds up to real metres of cloth.
Woven cloth is wider off the loom (greige or loomstate width) than after dyeing and finishing. Wet processing relaxes the fibres and the stenter frame sets the final width, so the finished width can be several centimetres — sometimes several inches — narrower than the greige width. As a rule of thumb reported by mills: a cotton twill may lose 3–5 inches (about 8–13 cm) greige-to-finished; viscose challis can lose 6–8 inches; a polyester chiffon barely moves. Always specify and confirm the finished cuttable width, not the greige width — greige is an internal weaving number, not what lands on your cutting table.
Even after finishing, some fabrics relax further in the wash, and that relaxation is mostly in the width direction. A cloth that measures 150 cm cuttable off the roll can drop to 145 cm or less after the first home wash, tightening the garment across the chest and hips. The mill controls this with residual-shrinkage finishing; ask for the width-shrinkage figure and the test method on the specification. Our shrinkage testing is covered in the shrinkage andamp; dimensional stability guide.
| Nominal width | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 89–91 cm (35–36 in) | Narrow shirting and lining cloths |
| 140–152 cm (54–60 in) | Most apparel shirting and suiting — the workhorse range |
| 160–180 cm (63–71 in) | Wider cloths for coats, jackets, home textiles |
At Nantong Huayuan we weave shirting, poplin, twill, oxford, chambray and yarn-dyed cloth in-house, and we quote the finished cuttable width on every order — greige numbers stay inside our weaving department. The exact width for a construction is confirmed in writing at enquiry.
Two fabrics at different widths are not the same amount of cloth per metre. Before you compare a quote, divide the price per metre by the width in metres to get price per square metre — or, better, ask how many garments you get per 100 metres at your marker. Going from a 115 cm cloth to a 150 cm cloth can add roughly 28–35% more usable area per metre, often letting a cutting table fit an extra piece across the roll with no extra length. Width is a costing lever, not a footnote.
Send the end use and target width through the quote request, or email gxy@ntboerli.com. We hold OEKO-TEX, GRS, GOTS, OCS and BCI; certificate numbers are available on request.
Usually not. '60-inch' is normally the selvedge-to-selvedge (nominal) width; the usable cuttable width is a few centimetres less after the selvedges are excluded. Always ask for the cuttable width in writing.
Most likely the quote was read as greige/loomstate width, or as nominal rather than cuttable. Greige cloth shrinks several centimetres during dyeing and finishing. Specify finished cuttable width and confirm it at enquiry to avoid the gap.
Divide price per metre by width in metres to get price per square metre, or ask for garments-per-100-metres at your marker. Width changes usable area a lot, so price-per-metre alone is misleading.
Yes, some cloth relaxes further in the width direction on the first wash. Ask for the width-shrinkage result and test method on the specification so you can plan the marker on the post-wash width.