Cotton yarn, by count, blend and spinning system
A count, a spinning system and a blend before anything else: the yarns the raw material desk quotes, how a count is written so it cannot be read two ways, and what an enquiry needs to say.
A thirty count combed compact and a thirty count carded rotor are both called thirties, and they are not the same product or the same money. That is why a yarn enquiry is a count, a spinning system and a blend before it is anything else. This page sets out the yarns the raw material desk quotes, how each one is made and what it is for, how a count is written so it cannot be read two ways, what an enquiry needs to say, and how the mills that quote it are checked. There is no price on it: a price comes from a mill, in writing, for your specification.
Carded, combed, compact, open end and air jet
Carded, combed and compact are levels of yarn preparation. Ring, open end and air jet are ways of spinning. Each pairing is a different product, so a quotation names both.
Carded or combed
Carded is the ordinary route. Combing pulls out the short fibres and neps before spinning. Roughly a sixth of the fibre leaves as noil and is sold on cheaply, so you pay for the fibre that left as well as the fibre that stayed. In exchange you get a cleaner, stronger, smoother yarn, and above about 40s it is not optional.
Ring spun
The oldest system and still the best. Strongest yarn, finest counts, the softest hand. It is the slowest and therefore the dearest, and it is what a good T shirt or a fine shirting is made from.
Compact
Ring spinning with the fibres drawn together before twisting. Fewer protruding fibre ends, so less hairiness, more strength and less pilling in the finished garment. A premium over plain ring, and worth it in fine counts and in anything that will be worn next to skin.
Open end, or rotor
Much faster and much cheaper, and the yarn is bulkier, more even and roughly fifteen to twenty per cent weaker than a ring yarn of the same count. Practical up to about 30s. Denim, terry, home textiles and heavy jersey are largely rotor spun and none the worse for it, but a rotor yarn in a fine shirting is a substitution, not a saving.
Air jet and vortex
Very fast, very low hairiness, and stiffer in hand. Mostly used on polyester and blends. It is a different product rather than a cheaper version of ring yarn.
Blends, twist, waxing and certificates
Blends
A blend is a machine setting and each split is priced separately, so cotton rich is not a specification. Write the split and the tolerance on it: 60 per cent cotton and 40 per cent polyester, plus or minus 2 per cent on the ratio, checked per lot.
Twist
How much the yarn is twisted for its thickness. More twist means more strength up to a point, then a harsher, livelier yarn. Weaving warp is twisted harder than weft, and knitting yarn is twisted softer than either, because a hard twisted knitting yarn makes a fabric that spirals. If a mill offers a weaving yarn for a knitting programme, this is why it will not do.
Waxing
A light wax on knitting yarn so it runs through the needles. Yarn for weaving is not waxed. It is a small thing that stops a delivery being usable if it is wrong.
Certified yarn
Organic, recycled, BCI and OEKO-TEX are certificates rather than adjectives, and no mill can quote against the adjective. Name the standard, and expect the quote to say what the certificate covers, the licence number, and whether a transaction certificate travels with the shipment. Certification is one of the six things that move a yarn price.
How a count is written, so it cannot be read two ways
Ne, the English cotton count, is the number of 840 yard hanks that weigh one pound, so a higher number means a finer yarn. Tex runs the other way: grams per 1000 metres, the system the test laboratories use, where a bigger number is coarser.
Ply notation is the most expensive ambiguity in the trade: 2/40s normally means two 40s singles making a resultant 20s, but some mills use the same mark for the resultant, and the two readings differ twofold in fabric weight. Ask for singles and resultant stated separately, in writing. A single is written 30/1 Ne. If it is plied, write both out: two 30 Ne singles giving a 15 Ne resultant.
The yarn count converter reads one count in every system.
Buying yarn and fabric, step by step
One process buys both: the thirteen steps a cone of yarn and a roll of cloth share, from the spec to the record that carries into next season.
Read it instead
Buying yarn and buying fabric run on the same thirteen steps. Here they are, in the order they actually happen.
A thirty count combed compact and a thirty count carded rotor are both called thirties, and they are not the same product or the same money. That is why the spec leads.
Step one. Write the spec. For yarn, the count, the spinning system, the blend and the twist. For cloth, the construction, weight, width, finish, and the tests it must pass.
Two. Decide where to buy from: the duty into your country, the payment terms you can carry, and which country is actually deep in what you need.
Three. Read the market: the cotton under the yarn, the yarn inside the cloth, the supplier’s currency, and the freight on your lane.
Four. Ask three to five mills, and send every one the same spec, quantity and term, so the quotes compare.
Five. Get quotes, samples and test reports, and judge them against the spec, not against each other. Three quotes for three slightly different things is the oldest trick in the trade.
Six. Put the quotes on one basis, landed with freight, duty and the cost of the payment term. For cloth, take out the yarn content first. It is calculable to the gram.
Seven. Negotiate: price, validity, tolerance, the delivery schedule, the minimum per colour, and how claims will be handled.
Eight. Place the purchase order with every spec line on it, and for cloth, the sealed sample attached. That sample is the referee every later argument goes to.
Nine. Inspection before it ships: cones drawn before loading, or cloth scored on the four point system. The inspector is paid by you and reports to you.
Ten. Collect the documents, with the proof of origin if a duty preference depends on it.
Eleven. Clear customs. The rates into Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China are on the duty page, dated, beside the schemes that can take them to zero.
Twelve. Check the delivery against the contract, and run a trial before committing the lot. Faults found in the trial are a claim. Faults found in bulk are your cost.
Thirteen. Pay the balance and record the mill’s performance: what it tested, how it ran, whether the dates held. That record is your leverage next season.
Both processes, step by step with the tools beside them, are on the guide. Free, and there is nothing to sign up to.
Where the yarn is quoted from
Spinning mills in Pakistan, India, China and Bangladesh. Choosing between them is a step of its own in the raw material guide, choose origins and terms, and the duty page sets the markets side by side.
We do not route anything between India and Pakistan. Trade between the two countries has been closed in both directions since May 2025.
What a yarn enquiry needs to say
Eight lines: the seven every request carries, with the twist added, because yarn is where the twist decides whether a delivery can be used at all.
- The count and the system. 30s ring combed, or 16s open end, with singles and resultant stated separately if it is plied.
- The blend, and its split. Cotton rich is not a specification.
- The twist, or at least the end use. Knitting or weaving, and for weaving, warp or weft.
- The quantity, in your own unit, and whether it is one lot or a season against a schedule.
- The certification, named. The standard, not the adjective.
- The destination port, not only the country, because the freight leg is priced port to port.
- The Incoterm, so both sides know who pays the freight and where the risk changes hands.
- The month you need it landed, which is not the month you need it shipped.
If you genuinely do not know one of the lines, say so rather than guessing: a wrong count costs more time than a blank one. What a request needs from you sets out the seven for yarn and fabric alike.
Before two yarn quotes can be compared
A quotation has to carry eleven lines before it can be set beside another one honestly: the count and its tolerance, combed or carded with the spinning system, the twist, the blend and its split, the cotton’s origin and staple, the certification with its scope, and five more. A quotation missing any of them is neither expensive nor cheap yet, because you do not know what it is for. The quote checklist has all eleven.
How the spinning mills are checked
Listed
The company exists. Registration seen, website and working contact confirmed, product range recorded.
Checked
Capacity, machinery and product range confirmed against documents, not just against a claim on a website.
Verified
Certifications seen and validated at source, export record confirmed, and references taken from buyers who have shipped.
Inspected
A third party inspection agency checks the goods on a specific shipment. Arranged on request, paid by the buyer, report sent to the buyer.
What moves a mill from one level to the next is written out on the four checking levels.
Common questions
What is the difference between combed and carded yarn?
Carded yarn is cleaned, drawn and spun. Combed yarn goes through one more machine that pulls out the short fibres and neps, leaving a smoother, stronger, more even yarn and leaving fibre behind as waste. That is why a combed and a carded yarn of the same count are two products, not two prices for one.
What is the smallest quantity of yarn I can ask for?
It is the mill's number, not ours, and it depends on what you are asking it to spin. Say the quantity in your own unit and whether it is one lot or a season against a schedule, and the first reply tells you whether it can run.
Can you quote organic or recycled yarn?
Yes, where the mill can prove the certificate. Name the standard rather than the adjective, and expect the quote to say what the certificate covers, the licence number, and whether a transaction certificate travels with the shipment.
What does it cost to ask for a yarn quote?
Nothing. You pay no fee to send a request, to receive quotes or to be introduced to a mill. The supplier pays us a success fee, and only when a shipment actually happens. If nothing ships, nobody pays us.