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Pillow ticking ??

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Doe

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What is it....is it just pillow cover? bed sheet? or something else? went to MEIJER today and didn;t fine (pillow ticking) just bed cover and pillow cover/sheet. I'm trying to make my own patch and what thread count is best!!...it has to be 100% cotton right?.. or is it egyptioan cotton for best resoult.. sorry for all these ????, I'm still new at this!! and trying to save alittle $$$ :thumbsup: Thanks guys!! O-ya.. one more can patches be made out of cotton canvas or is it just to thick and tough?
 
I'm sure the canvas will be too thick. Just go to Wal Mart and ask the little lady in the sewing department for some pillow ticking (it will likely be white with blue stripes). Buy a yard of it, take it home and wash it and cut it up into the size you need.
 
It's the cotton fabric used to cover pillows and mattresses. Most is striped, but not all.

Flannel will work, denim will work, muslin will work, fustian will work (all are cotton), just about any natural fiber will work. Stay away from synthetics or blends as they melt.

Pillow ticking just happens to have a small thread count, is durable and is very consistant in thickness
 
Take a micrometer with you to the fabric store, and measure the thickness before buying. Tighter weaves in fabric make them more durable. ( A tighter weave means that there are more threads per inch in one fabric compared to another.) Pocket drill is another fabric that is very strong and tough, due to the high thread count per inch. Its the material used to make pockets in men's dress pants, and in army uniforms.
 
I have seen some with blue stripes and some with red stripes at Wal-Mart. While you are there, pick up a couple of yards of cotton flannel and make cleaning patches :thumbsup: .
 
Red stripe /blue stripe
Granny said one is pillow tickin', and the other is bed tickin' (forget which is which), but one is thicker than the other from what I've noticed.
don't know if it's thread count or heavier weight thread.
The stripe's colors were to readily identify which was which for wear/use.
 
Just measured the blue striped pillow ticking from Wal-Mart with my Lyman dial caliper and got .018". Not bad.
 
If you need a thick patching, Wal Mart sells 10 ounce cotton duck (canvas). It comes in white and beige (tan), which I have used. Often have trouble finding patches, but now they have that duck in red! So I bought 1/4 yard (8 inches of the 60" wide bolt) to test. You could buy two inches of a cloth to try. The label reads "James Thompson & Co. Inc. 100 % cotton 10 oz. duck canvas cloth. UPC 84132217185". $4.65 per yard. My micrometer ratchet reads .021 on the washed cloth. One way to test for tightness of weave is to blow through the cloth. Loose weave is easy, tight is hard to blow through.
 
The pillow ticking I picked up ran .018 for blue stripe and .015 for red stripe.
 
Doe said:
What is it....is it just pillow cover? bed sheet? or something else? went to MEIJER today and didn;t fine (pillow ticking) just bed cover and pillow cover/sheet. I'm trying to make my own patch and what thread count is best!!...it has to be 100% cotton right?.. or is it egyptioan cotton for best resoult.. sorry for all these ????, I'm still new at this!! and trying to save alittle $$$ :thumbsup: Thanks guys!! O-ya.. one more can patches be made out of cotton canvas or is it just to thick and tough?

Doe don't forget it is not the thickness of the patch material it is the weave and how tight the fabric is woven (the thread count like you said) is the main thing. If the material is not woven tight enough then it will burn through and thus accuracy will suffer.

The thickness of ones patch will be dicatated by what your barrel likes in regards to the size of the ball you're using. That is what the thickness should be all about. But if the weave is not tight enough, I don't care how thick the patch is, it will not seal the charge behind the ball and the blast of fire and hot gasses will burn past the ball causing accuracy to suffer as I said earlier.

Holding the material up to the sunlight will tell you alot. You will be able to see that there is light behind the material but you won't be able to see light coming through the material (does that make any sense?)

:shocked2:

rabbit03
 
rabbit03 said:
Doe said:
What is it....is it just pillow cover? bed sheet? or something else? went to MEIJER today and didn;t fine (pillow ticking) just bed cover and pillow cover/sheet. I'm trying to make my own patch and what thread count is best!!...it has to be 100% cotton right?.. or is it egyptioan cotton for best resoult.. sorry for all these ????, I'm still new at this!! and trying to save alittle $$$ :thumbsup: Thanks guys!! O-ya.. one more can patches be made out of cotton canvas or is it just to thick and tough?

Doe don't forget it is not the thickness of the patch material it is the weave and how tight the fabric is woven (the thread count like you said) is the main thing. If the material is not woven tight enough then it will burn through and thus accuracy

:shocked2:

rabbit03
What would be a good or better thread count?
 
The higher the thread count ( per inch), the tighter the weave. The tighter the weave, the stronger the fabric. You are going to subject that piece of cloth to about 7,000 Ft lbs. of pressure, after all.
 
Just to help out a bit, here is where the cow bit the corn regarding ticking and similar. Check one end or the other of the cardboard that pillow/mattress ticking is rolled on in the fabric place. It will say 100% cotton, or whatever the cloth blend is. All cotton is what you want. Pillow ticking is traditionally red striped in a pattern similar to the traditional blue of matress ticking.Red is usually a bit thinner. Ticking is just an old time name for the material traditionally used for bedding pillows or matresses, usually home made. When it is made they moisten it with a bit of liquid starch and iron it smooth to look pretty and wrinkle free and roll it up. It is nominally 36" wide. You buy by the yard of length or fraction, as in "give me a 1/2 yard." Wash before using to get the starch(sizing) out and it gets soft and fluffy.My blue striped ticking usually comes out at .017/.018" with tight calipers. I just smooth mine out with my hands when it comes out of the dryer and fold it up.

It will rip neatly in whatever width you want for a strip patch in the direction of the stripe.Just pull loose threads off the ripped edge. I often cut a little button hole type hole in the end of a ripped strip to hook the strip on a shirt button for easy access when at the range shooting a lot out of pouch and horn. I like to cut them at the muzzle. You can roll a strip or so up and put it in a baggie , add patch lube, microwave or knead with a little lube till the amount of lube absorbed into the cloth is what you want. If you leave them dry till it's shooting time and you have a lube that will not melt in summer sun, a sardine or tuna can filled with lube works great to "thumb" a length of patch across to lube at loading. A good slurp lets you spit patch too. Now as mentioned, pocket drill is good for thinner patch needs. That is the cotton pocket material in most men's pants, including jeans and duckheads. It measures .011" for me. Good stuff but I can never get enough so I buy .010" from *x-yoke. Very high thread count of 320 threads to the inch from expensive sheets/pillowcases is typically .008" when well used. It works well often times in good but not so deep rifling like in some 36s and 45s. Well worn duckheads(all cotton heavy chino pants) measure .017" for me. They are thicker or thinner depending on where you cut the cloth on the pants. I never used jeans. Measure.

I put the detail in even though most here know this stuff, because lots of new folks visit the forums. Hope to help some shoot better or have an better time. Wonky
 
Great post! I completely agree that white pillow covers a are incredibly versatile in home decor. They really can brighten up a space and provide a clean, fresh look. I love how you mentioned their adaptability for different seasons; it’s so easy to switch them out with colorful or patterned pillows for a new vibe. Plus, they’re so easy to maintain! I recently bought some high-quality white pillow covers, and they’ve really transformed my living room. Thanks for sharing your insights!
 
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