Essential Tips For Choosing Fabrics For Furniture

When you're choosing upholstered furniture for your home, it's important to make sure you understand how you plan to use the piece of furniture, how much time and effort you're willing to put toward its upkeep, and the length of time you expect the piece of furniture to last.

Here are some helpful tips that will help you choose the best fabrics for your furniture.

• When selecting furniture, first check the fiber content on the manufacturer's tag. If it's not there, have the salesperson provide you with the information.
• Check to see that the actual fabric is firmly woven. Hold it up to the light to see if it's compact and closely woven.
• Examine the fabric's raw edges to see if they fray or easily ravel. If they do, you'll find that the yarns will pull away at the seams in cushions, sofas, and chair frames.
• Stretch the fabric diagonally to see if it will hold its shape without wrinkling.
• A balanced weave (all yarns are about the same size and strength) will wear better than a weave that has heavy yarns in one direction and thin yarns in the other.
• A twill weave will resist wear and show soil less than a plain weave of similar quality.
• Flat-surfaced fabrics such as damask, brocade and satin will show the effects of abrasion because the long yarns on the surface are subject to wear.
• Pile fabrics, such as plush, frieze, and velvet, will withstand abrasion well if they are made of firm yarns with deep and close pile and are firmly held to the ground cloth.
• A pile fabric with cut loops mats more easily than one with uncut loops.
• Loosely woven fabrics should have applied latex backings to ensure stability and longer wear.
• Rub a fabric sample 20 to 30 times with an emery board to see if the color changes or rubs off. Pigment-printed fabrics may show color loss from abrasion.
• Check to see if the fabric has an easy-care or stain-resistant finish such as Scotchgard® by the 3-M Company, Teflon® and Zepel® by DuPont, that will allow water-based stains to be easily blotted.
• Ask the salesperson if the finish that the manufacturer has applied is durable and covered in the warranty.
• Choose fibers that withstand sunlight.
• Check to see if the fabric is flame retardant.

The most important thing to remember when choosing upholstery fabrics is to read all hang tags, labels, and information imprinted on the fabric samples. And when you're comparing prices, note that a less expensive fabric might serve your purpose as well or better than a more expensive one.