A fabric with loops on one or both sides, often used for absorbent products such as towels and robes.
Terry is a looped pile fabric. In woven terry, a tight weft is crossed by two series of warp threads, one tight and one slack, and the slack series forms the loops, as a U.S. Customs ruling on cotton toweling describes. A later ruling, citing the Harmonized System’s explanatory notes, adds that the loops are generally on both faces, sometimes on one, and may be cut. Shearing the loops on one face gives velour toweling: terry loops on the back, a smooth sheared pile on the face.
French terry is a knit. Cotton Incorporated describes it as a knit fabric with soft loops on the inside and a smooth outer surface, used for sweatpants, hoodies and pullovers, and notes that the terry cloth of towels and robes is more absorbent. The line between terry and velour is the loop: knit velour is a terry construction that has been sheared and brushed.
In job listings
Terry seldom names a role. Its familiar form, the towel, runs through luxury hotel housekeeping: room attendants replace towels and bed linen, porters carry linen and towels between the floors and the laundry, and ironers press sheets, towels and table linen. See current roles that handle towels.
