Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-01-14

duced their quotations, and
whatever breaks are offered in
the January linen sales are the
result of price-cutting by re-
tailers. The stores have just gone
through a tight Christmas sea-
son that fell behind last years
sales, their inventories are high
and they're fighting harder to
get people to buy.
Despite the price concessions,
smartest attitude for wage
earners is to use this mont's
sales simply to fill in current
needs and not try to stock up.
Five percent doesn't begin to
CANCEL the 50-60% rise in prices
of sheets the past two years. A
typical sheet that was S1.59
under OPA has been selling for
$2.48 just prior to the White
Sales
Furthermore, there's a good
chance sheets will be lower in
the White Sales coming again in
May. Sheets are in fairly good
supply now, with stores getting
immediate delivery compared to
the three-months wait of a year
ago. With other cotton goods
like mems shirts coming down,
there is strong feeling among
trade experts that the mills will
have to reduce sheets too within
the next six months.
Unfortunately, the risk the
mills are taking is that they may
delay reductions to tht point of
creating unemployment in their
own industry and a further
tightening-up of consumer buy
ing power. So far, however, the
mills have not curbed produc-
ton of sheets noticeably in an
effort to maintain high price
levels, as has happened in
some other textile trades.
Among mills trimming prices
somewhat for the White Sales
are Pacific Mills, Nashua and
Wamsutta. Cannon has increas-
ed the quality of its percale
sheets for the same price, but
percale is too expensive anyway
for most families. One boon is
a general reduction in the price
of seconds-sheets with slight
misWeaves or other imperfec-
tions that don't noticeably affect
usefulness if you select them
carefully. Seconds are now 712
to 159o less than perfect sheets
of the same quality; last year
the price difference was only
SO. Another boon is that mod
erate-price 128-count m u j n
sheets are now more available
Last year the mills were con-
centrating more heavily on pro-
ducing the expensive grades.
If you do go out to buy sheets
this month, there are three inn
portant points you ought to
know:
What type of sheet is most
suitable for your needs;
2-HoW to compare quality
and value;
3-What brands or stores Of
fer chances of getting good
values.
Sheets are not hard to COM
pare. Most are labelled with the
thread count. A sheet marked
"64x64" is called TYPE 1913"
meaning it has 1913 threads to
the square inch, One that has,
say, 68x72 is TYPE 140". The
closer the two figures are, or If
they're exactly the same like
"64x64", the better balanced
(and stronger) the sheet is in
length and width.
Type 1913 is the standard mus
lin sheet. 1t generally doesn't
pay you to buy lower count,
certainly nothing less than 112.
A sturdier sheet is the Type 140,
sometimes called heavyweight
muslin" When you get past 100
count, you enter the percale
grade, and the sheet becomes
finer and lighter, but is not as
strong as muslin altho more ex-
pensive. Muslin is generally
better choice than percale unless
you have some special need for
soft or light sheet. If you have
laundry done by the pound, per-
Gale won't cost as much to have
washed.
The thread count also gives
you a handy measure for COM
pairing prices. For example, you
can shop to see who offers the
lowest price on 140-count sheets.
But besides the thread count,
examine sheets - by holding
them up to the light - to make
sure there are no thin spots
which may prove to be points
of weakness, that the vertical
and horizontal threads are about
the same thickness, that there
are no knots in the material, and
the sheet is woven in straight
lines lengthwise and across. If
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