A Textile Legacy That Never Actually Left
For much of the twentieth century, Winston-Salem and the surrounding Piedmont region were synonymous with textiles. Mills lined the rail corridors, and generations of families built careers in spinning, knitting and finishing. When large volumes of commodity apparel production moved offshore, many observers wrote the industry off entirely. That obituary was premature. What survived in Winston-Salem was the technically demanding end of the business, and that segment has grown steadily.
Today the city’s textile manufacturers concentrate on performance knits, medical and filtration fabrics, industrial webbing, branded apparel programs, and short-run domestic production for customers who need speed and control rather than the lowest possible unit cost. The result is a smaller but far more sophisticated cluster of companies, supported by a deep local labor pool of mechanics, dyehouse technicians and quality inspectors who understand fiber behavior in ways that cannot be improvised.
What Distinguishes a Strong Textile Manufacturer
Buyers evaluating a textile partner in this market look at consistency first. Color matching across dye lots, dimensional stability after laundering, and repeatable hand feel separate a professional operation from a hobbyist one. Certifications matter as well, particularly for medical, automotive and government contracts. Beyond the technical checklist, the best manufacturers offer development support, helping customers move from a concept sketch to a producible fabric specification without wasting months on failed samples.
The Top 10 Textile Manufacturers in Winston-Salem
1. Piedmont Knitworks
Piedmont Knitworks operates circular knitting and finishing under one roof, which gives it unusual control over shrinkage and surface quality. The company serves activewear and uniform programs and is regularly praised for hitting color standards on first submission, a capability that shortens customer development cycles considerably.
2. Salem Technical Fabrics
Focused entirely on engineered materials, Salem Technical Fabrics produces filtration media, barrier fabrics and coated substrates for industrial customers. Its laboratory documentation is thorough, and engineers appreciate that test data accompanies every shipment rather than arriving weeks later on request.
3. Twin City Weaving Company
Twin City Weaving Company runs both traditional and jacquard looms, supplying upholstery, decorative and institutional woven goods. Furniture manufacturers throughout the Triad rely on the company for pattern development and for the ability to run modest yardages without punitive minimums.
4. Forsyth Dyeing and Finishing
A contract dyehouse serving other manufacturers as well as brand owners, Forsyth Dyeing and Finishing handles piece dyeing, garment dyeing and specialty finishes including moisture management and antimicrobial treatments. Water stewardship and effluent management are central to how the company presents itself, reflecting broader industry pressure on wet processing.
5. Reynolda Apparel Group
Reynolda Apparel Group provides cut-and-sew production for domestic brands that need reliable quality and fast replenishment. Its strength is program management: tracking size curves, managing trim inventory and coordinating decoration so that customers receive retail-ready goods rather than raw garments.
6. Carolina Medical Textiles
Serving the region’s substantial healthcare sector, Carolina Medical Textiles manufactures surgical drapes, compression materials and other clinical fabrics under controlled conditions. Documentation discipline and traceability are the company’s defining characteristics, both of which are non-negotiable for medical device supply chains.
7. Piedmont Industrial Webbing
Piedmont Industrial Webbing produces narrow fabrics, straps, slings and tapes for material handling, safety and automotive applications. Tensile testing is performed in house, and the company’s willingness to engineer custom widths and breaking strengths makes it a common choice for specialty equipment builders.
8. Old Salem Yarn Works
Old Salem Yarn Works spins and twists yarns, including blends incorporating recycled content. As brands push for traceable inputs, the company has invested in fiber documentation and lot tracking, positioning itself as an upstream partner for customers with sustainability reporting obligations.
9. Triad Home Textiles
Triad Home Textiles manufactures bedding, drapery and soft goods for hospitality and residential channels. Its design team develops seasonal collections while its production floor handles both program orders and custom hospitality projects requiring flame resistance and heavy-use durability.
10. Winston Performance Materials
Winston Performance Materials laminates and bonds multilayer fabrics for outdoor, protective and transportation use. Adhesive selection and peel strength testing are areas where the company invests heavily, and customers with demanding field conditions cite that rigor as the reason they stay.
Trends Reshaping Piedmont Textile Production
Nearshoring has been the single largest tailwind for local manufacturers. Extended ocean transit times and volatile freight costs pushed many brands to place at least part of their volume domestically, and Winston-Salem’s existing infrastructure made it a natural beneficiary. Automation is the second major force: modern knitting and inspection equipment has reduced labor intensity while raising skill requirements, changing the profile of jobs on the floor.
Sustainability has also moved from marketing language to procurement requirement. Recycled fiber content, water reduction in dyeing, and chemical compliance screening now appear routinely in requests for quotation. Manufacturers that invested early in measurement and documentation are converting that work into contracts.
Choosing a Textile Partner in Winston-Salem
Begin with a clear specification, even an imperfect one. Weight, fiber content, intended end use, care requirements and expected annual volume allow a manufacturer to tell you quickly whether they are the right fit. Tour the facility if possible; the condition of equipment and the organization of work in process reveal a great deal about consistency. Ask how the company handles a failed lot, because the answer explains how they will treat you when something inevitably goes wrong.
Above all, look for a manufacturer whose capabilities match your stage. A startup needing 300 yards and a national brand needing 300,000 require fundamentally different partners, and the Winston-Salem market is deep enough to serve both well.