Cheesecloth is easy to find and easy to buy wrong. Supermarkets, Walmart, Target, craft stores, fabric stores, and the paint department all stock it, but most shelf packs print no grade at all, and an unlabeled household pack is often the most open weave sold. Here is the quick test: if you are making ricotta or straining yogurt this weekend, buy a pack that says grade 90 or “ultra fine,” from the kitchen aisle or online. If the cloth is going over a turkey or onto a Halloween prop, any cheap open-weave roll will do.
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Cheesecloth is a loosely woven cotton textile used to separate solids from liquids in food preparation and to add a gauzy layer in decorating. Two buyers land on the same shelf needing opposite things. The kitchen buyer wants filtration: straining stock, pressing paneer, hanging yogurt overnight, squeezing nut milk, shaping mozzarella during cheese making, and bundling spices into a bouquet garni. Homemade kefir asks for the same fine weave. Roasting cooks drape a butter-soaked layer over poultry, though a brine bag handles wet-brining better.
The craft buyer wants the opposite: an airy, open textile that hangs and drapes. Halloween is the biggest seasonal spike, with ghost props and cobweb draping from late September into October, alongside Halloween costume shopping. Thanksgiving week is the second spike, when kitchen shelves empty first.
Which Cheesecloth Grade Do You Need?
The grade number tells you how tight the weave is: it maps to the count of threads per inch running in each direction, so a higher grade means a finer mesh. The grade table published for cheesecloth runs from #10, the most open, to #100, the finest.
| Grade | Threads per inch | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| #10 | 20 x 12 | Draping, table decor, frost cover, turkey basting |
| #40 | 24 x 20 | Bouquet garni, rough straining |
| #50 | 28 x 24 | Spice bundles, general kitchen use |
| #60 | 32 x 28 | Cheese making, draining larger curd |
| #90 | 44 x 36 | Yogurt, nut milk, fresh cheese, clarifying broth |
| #100 | 54 x 46 | Soy milk, almond milk, fine purees |
University of California Master Food Preservers group grades 10 through 50 as general-purpose cloth, call grade 60 a medium weave common in cheesemaking, and describe grade 90 as the extra fine weave preferred for small-curd cheeses. A package with no grade printed on it is usually at the open end, so treat it as #10 until proven otherwise.
- Name the smallest particle you need to catch. Herb stems are large. Curd, pulp, and plant milk sediment are not.
- If food passes through it, start at grade 90. It blocks fine particles without stalling the flow.
- If nothing passes through it, drop to grade 10 through 40, which costs less per yard.
- Double the layers instead of jumping a grade for a one-off job.
We tell readers who strain food more than once a month to skip the unlabeled supermarket pack entirely. Folding a #10 cloth four times still leaves gaps that a single layer of grade 90 does not.
Unbleached or Bleached, Hemmed or Raw-Edged
After grade, four details on the label decide whether a pack suits your job: bleaching, hemming, fiber, and size.
Bleached versus unbleached. Unbleached cotton keeps its natural cream color. Bleached cloth is whitened, and UC Master Food Preservers note it is typically processed with hydrogen peroxide rather than chlorine. Their guidance treats both as acceptable for food, with one catch: unbleached cloth can carry tiny cotton seed specks, which matter in a soft white cheese. Bleached stock also suits decor, where the whiter tone reads cleaner. Whichever you buy, wash it before the first use.
Is reusable cheesecloth worth it?
Yes, if you strain food weekly. Reusable cheesecloth has hemmed edges and a tighter weave, so it survives a washing machine cycle without unraveling. Raw-edged sheets fray, and some are sold as single use outright: the Regency Natural ultra fine pack (9 sq. ft., unbleached, grade 90) is labeled that way on Walmart’s listing. Check the product photo for a hem before ordering.
Fiber and certification. 100 percent cotton is the standard. Organic cotton carries the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) mark when genuinely certified. Skip synthetic blends, because polyester can melt against a hot pan.
Cut size and yardage. Rolls sell by the square foot, commonly 9 sq. ft. and 36 sq feet, with commercial rolls running to 100 yards. Precut squares at 20×20 inch or 36×36 inch cost more per foot but waste less, and they drape over a strainer or a mason jar without slipping. Most recipes call for two or three folded layers, so a single yard disappears fast.
Which Store Aisle Has It
Four departments carry this product, and they stock very different weaves under the same name.
Supermarkets, Walmart, and Target
Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Meijer, Giant, Shop-Rite, Food Lion, Acme, and The Fresh Grocer stock it in the kitchen gadget or baking aisle, near parchment paper, foil, and canning supplies. Selection is usually one small open-weave pack: fine for wrapping a fresh turkey, not for straining. At Walmart, look in kitchen gadgets or kitchen linens first, then the fabric and crafts area; the app’s store map shows the aisle for your location. Ordering through their website covers grades the shelf skips. Target keeps a smaller assortment in kitchen tools, so check the Target listing before driving over.
Craft, fabric, kitchen, and paint aisles
Hobby Lobby and Michaels sell craft-grade rolls, right for decorating and wrong for filtration. Independent fabric stores cut it by the yard off the bolt, usually the cheapest way to get a large piece. Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table stock the finer culinary grades; see their online catalog. The paint department at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ace sells plain cotton cheesecloth for staining and faux finishes (Home Depot lists a 2 sq. yd. bleached Trimaco pack), next to tack cloth, which is the same kind of gauze treated to be sticky. Neither is sold for food contact, so keep both in the workshop.
Ordering Cheesecloth Online
Online is where grade selection actually exists. Physical stores rarely stock more than one option, so if you need a specific number, order it.
Amazon, the largest online retailer, carries the widest range, from budget single-use sheets to hemmed organic cotton squares. Grade, size, and bleaching usually sit in one listing, and customer reviews are the fastest way to learn whether a product sheds lint. Browse the full selection #ad.
Specialty and restaurant suppliers. Cheesecloth.com sells nothing else, so grades and sizes are listed plainly instead of buried. Organic Cotton Mart and Country Trading Co focus on unbleached certified organic fabric. New England Cheesemaking Supply sells two weights: its cheesecloth at 60 threads per inch and butter muslin at 90, both washable and meant to be boiled before each cheese batch. Restaurant supply houses sell by the case and list grade in the spec table. For 100-yard rolls and photography prop bundles, eBay is the practical route; search by grade number plus yardage or you will scroll past hundreds of small packs. Check current listings.
Substitutes When the Shelf Is Empty
A clean, dye-free flour sack towel is the best stand-in for most kitchen jobs. Its weave is usually tighter than cheesecloth but looser than a dish towel, so it strains finely and drains a little slower. The rest depends on the job:
- Nut milk bag. The closest match for almond milk, soy milk, and Greek-style yogurt. The drawstring lets you squeeze hard, and the nylon or cotton bag rinses clean faster than loose cloth.
- Coffee filter in a sieve. Catches very fine sediment in stock or cold brew, but it clogs quickly. Good for a cup, slow for a quart.
- Butter muslin. The cheese maker’s answer when the cheese is slipping through. It drains more slowly than grade 60 cloth.
- Paper towels. Fine for gravity draining over a sieve. They tear the moment you twist them.
No substitute drapes like the real thing for basting poultry or decorating, so for those jobs a cheap open-weave roll is still the right buy.
Food-Safe Use, Washing, and When to Replace It
Food-safe use comes down to three rules: buy cloth sold for kitchen use, wash it before the first batch, and clean it right after every use. Craft and paint-department cloth is not labeled for food contact, and coated tack cloth never belongs near an ingredient. For cheese making, boil the cloth before each use, as cheesemaking suppliers recommend.
To stretch its life, rinse in cold water right after use so proteins and butterfat do not set in the fibers, then wash hot with an unscented detergent and no fabric softener. Softener coats the fibers and slows filtration. Air dry instead of tumble drying, since heat shrinks the weave unevenly. Replace a piece when any of these show up:
- The weave has stretched open. Hold it to a window: if the light pattern looks uneven, the grade is gone.
- Edges have frayed past the hem and threads are shedding into food.
- A stain or odor survives a hot wash. Butterfat and rennet residue go rancid, and soaking does not fix that.
- It strained raw poultry drippings. That piece goes in the trash, whatever its grade.
Soft fresh cheese shows the difference fastest. Homemade ricotta cheese curdled with lemon juice or citric acid forms small, soft curds, and an open #10 weave lets a good share of them run into the whey bowl.
Picks by Job
When we choose picks for this guide, the first filter is a printed grade number, then hem quality and bleaching. Prices move often, so check the current price at the link.
Best overall: grade 90 unbleached cotton cheesecloth, 36 sq feet. Fine enough for nut milk and stock, large enough to cut down for several jobs. Check price on Amazon
Best reusable: hemmed 20×20 inch organic cotton squares. Hemmed edges stop the fraying that kills cheaper squares in the wash, and the size suits draining curd or hanging yogurt. Check price on Amazon
Best budget: grade 50 two-yard pack. Enough for decor, spice bundles, and basting. Not a straining cloth. Check price on Amazon
Best for fine straining: grade 100 precut squares. The tightest common mesh, worth it for soy milk and silky purees. Check price on Amazon
Start by deciding whether food passes through the fabric, then buy the grade that matches instead of the package in front of you. If you cook with it more than twice a year, order a hemmed grade 90 roll online and keep a cheap craft roll for decorating. Buying cheesecloth this way stops the annual scramble in late October and Thanksgiving week.
Cheesecloth Questions, Answered
What grade do I need for straining?
Grade 90 handles most kitchen straining and grade 100 suits plant milk and fine purees. Grade 40 and below lets pulp and fine curd pass straight through. Listings sold as ultra fine cheese cloth with no number are often grade 90, but confirm the grade in the description.
Is it the same as muslin or medical gauze?
No on both counts. Muslin is a tighter, heavier plain weave, and butter muslin drains more slowly while filtering more finely. Medical gauze is bleached and usually sterile packaged, and it is sold as a wound dressing rather than a food product.
Can you reuse it, or is it disposable?
Both types exist, and the hem tells you which you have. Hemmed pieces wash and reuse many times. Unhemmed sheets come in multi-yard packs because they are meant to be cut and discarded. Anything that touched raw meat drippings gets thrown out regardless of grade.
Do Walmart and Michaels both carry it?
Yes, but for different jobs. Walmart stocks food-grade cotton packs, usually in kitchen gadgets or kitchen linens, with more grades on its website. Michaels sells white craft cheesecloth in the fabric and crafts area, which is decor stock, not food stock.
What can I use instead if the store is out?
A clean, dye-free flour sack towel is the most versatile substitute. A nut milk bag works best for plant milk and yogurt, and a coffee filter set in a sieve catches fine sediment in small batches.
About This Guide
This guide was updated in October 2026. Grade thread counts follow the published cheesecloth grade table, and care guidance follows University of California Master Food Preservers and cheesemaking supplier instructions. Retailer stock and pricing change, so confirm both before you order.