CHOOSING FABRIC UPHOLSTERY
When choosing fabric upholstery, oftentimes we get clients who are eager to begin projects right away. They burst through the doors with an idea in mind. Maybe a sofa that they saw on a TV show or styled in a magazine. More times than not, it’s often something white, or neutral-toned and in a moment, everything comes to a halt. Usually, when we find out that they have kids, pets, or love drinking wine, and suddenly, that dream magazine-styled-sofa suddenly heads out the door.
Things usually shift when we try to find fabric comparable to
your lifestyle. One of the main questions we ask is, “How is your furniture
used in your home?” Depending on the answer, and oftentimes the style of the
furniture, we can narrow down some fabric options that will be suitable.
If you have pieces in your home that are used often, more than
likely they will need to be covered in tough, durable, and tightly woven
fabrics. For those of you who are more gentle on your furniture, or use it
less, these will often wear fine with a less durable fabric. Below is a guide
to sourcing fabrics, discovering differences between natural and synthetic
fibers, durability, and more. One may even want more neutral upholstery, which allows a person to
change colors with the seasons
NATURAL FABRICS
LINEN
Linen is possibly one of the least durable fabrics because it
soils and wrinkles easily. Along with that it also needs professional cleaning
to avoid shrinkage. However, it does tend to resist pilling and fading and
more recently can be offered in durable options.
LEATHER
Leather is the type of fabric that can work in almost any
environment. It’s tough yet soft, and can be gently vacuumed, damp-wiped, and
cleaned with leather conditioner or olive oil.
VINYL
It used to be viewed as the less cool brother to leather,
however, nowadays it comes in soft, silky, and smooth finishes that oftentimes
beat leather. It is also easy to clean and less expensive than leather.
COTTON
The fabric of our lives can sometimes be durable and at other
times be a nightmare. This natural fiber tends to provide decent resistance to
wear, fading, and piling. Although it is less resistant to soil and wrinkling,
it can often be given treatments to enhance durability.
COTTON BLEND
Depending on the weave, cotton blends can be sturdy,
family-friendly fabrics. A stain-resistant finish should be applied for
everyday use.
WOOL
This sturdy, durable, and consistent fabric offers good
resistance to pilling, fading, wrinkling, and soil. Oftentimes in upholstery,
it is difficult to find one hundred percent wool, more commonly it is blended
with synthetic fibers allowing it to be easily cleaned.
SILK
The fabric that should only be seen, rarely touched. This
delicate fabric is only suitable for adult areas that are formal in nature. It
must always be professionally cleaned and maintained.
SYNTHETIC FABRICS
NYLON
Nylon is usually blended with other fibers to make it one of the
strongest upholstery fabrics. It can come in a lot of different forms and is
one of the most resilient and helps eliminate the crushing of velvet, and
doesn’t easily soil or wrinkle.
OLEFIN
One of the top contenders for best upholstery fabric, it has no
pronounced weaknesses. It can often have a synthetic feel if it is a low
quality olefin.
POLYESTER
This is one of those rarely used alone fabrics, in upholstery,
polyester is blended with other fibers to add wrinkle resistance, eliminate
crushing of napped fabrics, and reduce fading.
RAYON
Developed as an imitation silk, linen, and cotton, rayon is
durable. However, it wrinkles. Recent developments have made high-quality rayon
very practical.
ACRYLIC
The imitation wool offers great resistance to wear and tear,
wrinkling, soiling and fading. If it is low quality fabric it will begin to
pill excessively in areas of high abrasion.
ACETATE
The imitation silk, can often withstand mildew, piling and
shrinkage. However, it offers only fair resistance to soil and tends to wear,
wrinkle, and fade in the sun. It’s not a good choice for furniture that will
get tough everyday use.
FABRIC UPHOLSTERY – NEXT
STEP;
HUMMINGFOX UPHOLSTERY WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, WHETHER IT IS QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR FABRIC UPHOLSTERY OR READY TO START ON YOUR PROJECT. GIVE US A CALL, INSTANT MESSAGE OR EMAIL US.
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