Selvedge

Selvedge (US spelling selvage, also written self-edge) is the self-finished lengthwise edge of a woven fabric: the edge is closed by the structure itself, so it cannot fray. It is produced simply by letting the last warp threads interlace back the other way, and by reinforcing that turn with a denser pick.

What makes an edge self-finished

The selvedge exists because the warp does not stop at the edge of the cloth — it reverses:

1. The last few warp ends are lifted in reverse, so the weft loops back on itself.
2. A denser pick is inserted to lock the reversal.
3. The pattern repeats, and the edge is held through handling, washing and finishing.

Because the edge is structural, it survives laundering and abrasion in a way a cut and overlocked edge does not. That is the whole commercial argument for a selvedge: the buyer pays for it once instead of buying a fabric whose edges need to be secured.

Where it matters commercially, and where it does not

The clearest case is cut-to-width. When a buyer specifies a cuttable width, a selvedge means the full nominal width is usable fabric. On a non-selvedge edge you lose the width that gets turned, or has to be cut and finished. At 160–330 cm that margin is not trivial, and it is the difference between ordering the width you need and ordering more than you need.

What to ask about it

The skewed-edge question is the one most often skipped and it matters most on wide cloth, because a selvedge locks whatever the warp tension was, and that tension has to hold across the full span.

Mill greige context

Selvedge is a loom consequence, not a finishing decision, and it is one of the clearest places where a mill's warp control is visible. On Weaverine greige polyester programs the woven base sits roughly in the 55–120 GSM range at 160–330 cm widths on 650+ waterjet looms — and a selvedge held straight across 330 cm is a genuinely different warp-tension problem from the same construction at 150 cm.

Weaverine does not publish a selvedge specification on this page. Whether a given width comes with a clean selvedge, and how it behaves after your finishing route, are questions about a specific construction. Ask for a sample at your width and check the edge before you commit the order — and see warp and weft for why width and edge tension are the same problem.