Bamboo Bedding vs. Percale Cotton – The Difference Explained

Short answer: Percale is not a material but a dense, matt cotton weave with a crisp surface. Bamboo viscose is smooth and drapes heavier, more like satin. Percale lasts longer under rough use, bamboo is softer and releases moisture faster. If you sleep hot, bamboo wins.

What percale is

Percale is a weave: a dense plain weave in cotton that gives a matt, crisp surface which feels slightly cool for the first few minutes. It is the weave used in good hotels, and it takes many washes. The price of that density is that the fabric is stiff at first and only softens after a good many washes, and that it turns noticeably heavy once it is damp.

Softness and surface

Bamboo viscose has a smooth fibre surface and drapes heavier than percale, which gives a fabric that falls down the body rather than standing away from it. The softness is there from the first night rather than arriving after twenty washes. The look in the bed is different too: percale is matt and tautly made, bamboo has a little drape and a faint sheen. The full range sits under bamboo bedding, where colours and sizes are listed on every item.

Cooling and moisture

This is where the practical difference is largest. Percale feels cool to the touch, but the cotton holds on to moisture once it has absorbed it, which is why a percale sheet turns heavy and clammy on a warm night. Bamboo viscose takes the moisture into the fibre and releases it into the air again, so the layer between skin and fabric disappears faster. If you sleep hot or wake up clammy, that is the difference you feel.

Measurements and sizes

Bedding has no fit, only measurements. Measure the duvet and not the bed, and order the size sewn into the duvet. The two common single sizes are one hundred and forty by two hundred and one hundred and forty by two hundred and twenty centimetres. The sets sit under bamboo single bedding 140x200 and bamboo single bedding 140x220 cm. A cover that is too short rides up at the feet all night.

The rest of the bed

Bedding works together with what you wear. Cotton nightwear under a bamboo cover still holds moisture where the fabric touches the skin, so change both if you want the full effect. See bamboo nightwear for women and bamboo nightwear for men. The same goes for the bathroom, where bamboo towels and the rest under bamboo homewear solve the same problem.