Where does Gauze come from?

Gauze comes from Gaza, Palestine, where it dates to the Middle Ages.

Plate No. 071fabric

First documented: Middle Ages
Origin: Gaza, Levant, Palestine
Fiber: cotton, silk
Weave: open plain or leno weave
Family: plain

Plate No. 071 · fabric

Gauze

Gauze is the openest of the wovens: thin threads set far apart, sometimes with the warps twisted around each weft in the leno cross that keeps the loose threads from sliding. The result is cloth that is mostly space, which is why gauze breathes, drapes, and in its sterile cotton form became the standard surgical dressing. The same openness in silk made the floating veils of fashion; doubled and crinkled in cotton it is the summer shirting sold as double gauze.

Illustration: a field hospital supply tent in the 1910s, rolled white dressings stacked on a trestle table, canvas walls glowing with daylight, no patients — A field hospital supply tent in the 1910s, rolled white dressings stacked on a trestle table, canvas walls glowing with daylight, no patients.

Named for

By long tradition from Gaza, the Levantine weaving city, through the French gaze; the derivation is traditional rather than proven.

Common questions

What is Gauze made of?: Gauze is the openest of the wovens: thin threads set far apart, sometimes with the warps twisted around each weft in the leno cross that keeps the loose threads from sliding. It is traditionally made of cotton or silk.
Where does Gauze come from?: Gauze comes from Gaza, Palestine, where it dates to the Middle Ages.
What is Gauze named after?: By long tradition from Gaza, the Levantine weaving city, through the French gaze; the derivation is traditional rather than proven.