Three Sheets to the Wind, or Less

Bed sheets are normally sold by "thread count" -- how many strands of fiber run horizontally or vertically through a given inch of the fabric.  Two large retailers, Bed Bath & Beyond and Wal-Mart, have been sued for selling sheets with lower thread counts than those marked on the packages.

It should be an interesting case, with a potential trade usage issue, given that the meaning of "thread count" used by manufacturers and that used by the Federal Trade Commission appear to be different -- a study reportedly showed that 8 out of 9 sheets had fewer actual threads than advertised.  Manufacturers appear to count a double-ply thread as 2 threads, while the FTC says it's only 1.  Stay tuned.

[Frank Snyder]