Where does Drugget come from?

Drugget comes from France, first documented in the 1600s.

Plate No. 171fabric

First documented: 1600s
Origin: France, France
Fiber: wool, linen
Weave: coarse plain weave, wool or wool on a linen warp
Family: plain

Plate No. 171 · fabric

Drugget

Drugget is a coarse, inexpensive cloth of wool, or wool woven on a linen warp, made for hard everyday use. From the seventeenth century it served as cheap clothing for laborers and, later, as a protective floor covering laid over carpet or boards. It was deliberately plain and cheap, a utility cloth rather than a fashion one, and its name became shorthand for humble, serviceable material. Where finer cloths were named for their luster, drugget was named for its thrift.

Named for

From the French droguet, from drogue in its old sense of a cheap or trifling thing; the cloth was named for its thrift rather than its luster.

Also known as

droguet

Modern equivalent

The closest cloth in this catalogue you can source today.

Baize →Felt →

Common questions

What is Drugget made of?: Drugget is a coarse, inexpensive cloth of wool, or wool woven on a linen warp, made for hard everyday use.
Where does Drugget come from?: Drugget comes from France, first documented in the 1600s.
What is Drugget named after?: From the French droguet, from drogue in its old sense of a cheap or trifling thing; the cloth was named for its thrift rather than its luster.