The Little Details: Choosing Fabric

Oftentimes we get clients who are eager to begin projects right away. They burst through the doors with an idea in mind of a sofa that they saw on a TV show or styled in a magazine and 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.

For the most part, these instances happen quickly, but for the most part, things usually shift when we try to find fabric comparable to their 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 gently 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.

NATURAL FABRICS

LINEN

The favorite among myself and a lot of our clients. However, 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 material 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

Often considered, “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.

written by: Drew Albo