There is also cotton pocket drill cloth.
The qualities that make for a good patch for round ball is tight weave and consistent thickness. Pillow and mattress ticking were woven to prevent the tiny downy feathers used in from poking through the material that makes up the pillow and pricking one's head while trying to sleep. Mattress ticking is the same thing. Since we are not making pillows that are required to keep the feathers inside the bag, quality. of ticking has gone down. Cotton Drill cloth is made with a tight weave and an extra thread for wear in pockets that contain things that can quickly wear through other fabrics and drill is softer than canvas and holds lubrication a bit better. Denim is woven for wear and is slightly thicker than drill cloth or mattress ticking. It works well for patching of a smaller ball while giving a reasonable grip of the rifling. Canvas is the thickest and designed for heavy duty wear. Well washed, it also works for patching.
Tightly woven linen cloth of 100% flax is also good for patching. I can take the abuse of a very tight fitting patch. Most modern linens are mixed with polyester fabric so beware when looking at linen.
That said, the difference is thickness of fabric, tight weave and made of 100% cotton or 100% from flax.
Even so, beware! I was looking at the utility cloth at JoAnn's Fabrics nt long ago and they had two types of pillow ticking from different sources. The ticking from China had a loose weave and was thinner from the pillow ticking from India. The ticking from India had more sizing and needed two washings to adequately remove the sizing. The so-called mattress ticking was as thin as the pillow ticking. Both the red striped and the blue striped ticking from the same source had the same thickness.
Measurement is only applicable after the material has been washed.
Note: Denim salvaged from used clothing will have different thickness due to wear.
