Batiste is the softest of the lightweight opaque

Opacity (optics)

Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, etc...

 fabrics. It is made of cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

, polyester

Polyester

Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...

, or a blend.

Description

Batiste is a balanced plain weave. A fine cloth made from cotton or linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

 such as cambric.

Type

Lightweight opaque fabrics are very thin and light but not as transparent as sheer fabrics. The distinction between the two is not always pronounced. End uses include apparel and furnishings. Organdy

Organdy

Organdy or organdie is the sheerest and crispest cotton cloth made. Combed yarns contribute to its appearance.-Description:Organdy is a balanced plain weave. Because of its stiffness and fiber content, it is very prone to wrinkling...

 (a sheer fabric), lawn, and batiste begin as the same gray goods.

They differ from one another in the way they are finished. Lawn and batiste do not receive the acid finish and, thus, remain opaque. Better quality fabrics are made of combed yarn

Combing

Combing is a method for preparing carded fibre for spinning. It separates out the short fibres by means of a rotating ring of steel pins. The fibres in the 'top' it produces, have been straightened and lie parallel to each other...

s.