What is GSM?

GSM: Gram Per Square Meter

GSM is abbreviation for "Gram Per Square Meter". It is widely used in knitted fabrics to measure the density of the fabric, and to show how thick the fabric is. It just means if we take one square meter of the knitted fabric, what the weight of the piece of fabric is. Of course, the higher weight, the thicker the fabric is.

Sampling Machine & Weighting Machine

We normally take a sample from the fabric by using a sampling machine like this and weigh it using the specialized weighting machine.The sample we take using the sampling machine is 100cm². If the weighting machine shows 2g, it means the fabric is 0.02g/cm². Thus by calculation, the fabric is 200g/m² (200gsm). 

Example

For example, when we say the flannel fleece is 250gsm, it means that one square meter of the flannel fleece fabric has weight of 250 gram. When we say the flannel fleece is 380gsm, it means that one square meter of the flannel fleece fabric has weight of 380gsm. So of couse, the 380gsm flannel fleece is heavier and thicker than the 250gsm flannel fleece.

Relating To Price

For knitted fabric, we frequently give price quotes as dollar per kilogram ($/kg). This is widely used for knitted fabrics, especially for larger quantity of orders. When asked to give price quotes as dollar per meter ($/m), we usually do simple calculation. For example, if price is $4/kg, and if one kilogram contains 2 meters, it means that the price per meter is $2/m.