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Furniture Essentials
Construction: Upholstery Fabric
Fabric Grades
As a company, we have created multiple ways to categorize fabrics within each brand including
fabric grade and performance. Performance fabrics are selected based on water repellency and
withstanding shrinkage due to machine washing. Fabric grades are determined by fabric content,
fabric type and perceived value. In short, we base things on the cost of the fabric which is derived
from the mill. The costs from the mill are derived from the fabric content and type of fabric.
Fabric Types:
Woven
Most fabrics are woven together on a loom. Some looms can create very intricate
designs using multiple colors of yarn, like a jacquard loom. There are also looms, like the
Dobby, that make simpler designs.
Knit
Not many upholstery fabrics are knit (like a sweater), but sometimes fabrics are adhered
to a knit backing for stability.
Velvet
Velvets are actually created on a loom by weaving two pieces of fabrics face-to-face and
then cutting them apart. This creates that luxuriously soft hand.
Non-woven
Some fabrics (like micro-suede) are not actually woven. The micor-denier (really thin)
fibers are bonded together in an irregular “tangle” of fibers. (like felt) Sometimes they
are adhered to a knit backing for stability.
A printed fabric is anything printed on top of a woven fabric. These design can be
extremely complex because they are not limited to a loom, but they can also be more
susceptible to fading as the design is not worked into the fabric itself but is only on the
surface.