No matter how upholstery fabric is used in your home, it must stand up well to the amount of use the furniture gets. For example, sofas, chairs, and ottomans used less frequently, such as those in bedrooms or more formal spaces, will do fine with a more delicate fabric. However, pieces subjected to heavy daily wear, like the family room sofa, should be covered in tough, durable, tightly woven fabrics to protect against stains and damage.
BHG / Nez Riaz
When purchasing upholstery fabric or upholstered furniture, keep in mind that the higher the thread count, the more tightly woven the fabric and the better it will wear. Thread count refers to the number of threads per square inch of fabric. Use this guide to natural and synthetic materials to help you find the best upholstery fabric for your next furniture project.
Edmund Barr
Natural Upholstery Fabric Types
Natural upholstery fabrics refer to those woven from materials found in nature. This includes plant fibers and materials derived from animal products. Here are some of the most common natural fabrics used on upholstered furniture.
Cotton: This natural fiber resists wear, fading, and pilling. It is less resistant to soiling, wrinkling, and fire. Surface treatments and blending with other fibers often make up for these weaknesses. Durability and use depend on the weave and finish. Damask weaves are formal; canvas (duck and sailcloth) is more casual and durable.
Cotton Blend: Depending on the weave, cotton blends can be sturdy, family-friendly fabrics. A stain-resistant finish, such as Scotchgard Fabric and Upholstery Protector, should be applied to furnishings used daily.
Leather: Leather is a rugged material that can be gently vacuumed, damp-wiped, and cleaned with leather conditioner or saddle soap.
Linen: Linen is best suited for formal living rooms or adult areas because it soils and wrinkles easily. It also won't withstand heavy wear. However, linen does resist pilling and fading. Soiled linen upholstery should be professionally cleaned to avoid shrinkage.
Silk: This delicate fabric is only suitable for adult areas, such as formal living rooms. It must be professionally cleaned if soiled.
Wool: Sturdy and durable, wool and wool blends offer good resistance to pilling, fading, wrinkling, and soil. Generally, wool is blended with a synthetic fiber to make it easier to clean and to reduce the possibility of felting the fibers, where the fibers are bonded together until they resemble felt. Blends can be spot-cleaned when necessary.
Adam Albright
Synthetic Upholstery Fabric Types
Synthetic fabrics are manufactured materials designed using chemical processes. They are typically more durable and less expensive than natural upholstery fabrics.
Acetate: Developed as imitation silk, acetate can withstand mildew, pilling, and shrinking. 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 everyday use.
Acrylic: This synthetic fiber was developed as imitation wool. It resists wear, wrinkling, soiling, and fading. Low-quality acrylic may pill excessively in areas that receive high degrees of abrasion. High-quality acrylics are manufactured to pill significantly less.
Microfiber: Made from polyester, this popular upholstery fabric has a velvet-like texture but is much more durable. It resists water, stains, and fading, so it's great for high-use furnishings.
Nylon: Rarely used alone, nylon is usually blended with other fibers to make it one of the strongest upholstery fabrics. Nylon is very resilient; in a blend, it helps eliminate the crushing of napped fabrics such as velvet. It doesn't readily soil or wrinkle, but it does tend to fade and pill.
Olefin: This is a good choice for furniture that will receive heavy wear. It's highly resistant to stains, mildew, abrasion, and sunlight, so it can be used indoors and outdoors.
Polyester: Rarely used alone in upholstery, polyester is mixed with other fibers to add wrinkle resistance, eliminate crushing of napped fabrics, and reduce fading. When blended with wool, polyester aggravates pilling problems.
Rayon: Developed as an alternative to silk, linen, and cotton, rayon is durable, but it does wrinkle. However, recent developments have made high-quality rayon a practical, family-friendly upholstery fabric.
Vinyl: Easy-care and less expensive than leather, vinyl fabrics are ideal for busy living and dining rooms. Durability depends on quality.
DIY Upholstery
Recovering old furniture with new fabric can completely transform the look and functionality of the piece. While reupholstering an item yourself can save you hundreds of dollars, the process can be a little tricky. You should check that the piece's structure is in good shape before you begin. Be sure to choose a fabric that's easy to work with and appropriate for the piece's level of use. When you're ready to reupholster, remove the old fabric and use it as a guide for the size and shape of the new fabric pieces.
Here are some guides to reupholstering to help you with your projects.
Where can you buy upholstery fabric?
You can buy upholstery fabric at a fabric store, either locally or online. Many upholsterers have fabric swatches or books that you can look through as well.
What is upholstery fabric?
Upholstery fabric is a fabric made for covering furniture. It's generally heavier and more durable than most fabrics used for clothing or bedding.
What is the most durable fabric for upholstery?
That depends on what you're upholstering and what the furniture will be used for. A heavy-duty synthetic microfiber will be the most stain-resistant and easiest to care for, so it's an excellent choice for often-used sofas or chairs. Still, high-thread-count cotton will have enough durability for less-frequently used seating in a formal dining space.
Happy New Year! While I’m in the midst of choosing an appropriate fabric for upholstering our future nursery rocker, I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned from selecting fabrics from past upholstery projects.
Last April, I had a pair of chintz chairs (a $25 FB MP find) reupholstered with this green fabric for our living room and I absolutely adore them.
Before
After
You should factor in your family, pets, and how much you entertain. Performance fabrics are ideal for everyday use, and there are so many great performance fabrics on the market. Most fabrics usually make it clear that they’re a performance fabric, so you don’t have to guess.
Consider how a fabric may age over time. Check the label and ask the manufacturer questions to determine the cleaning needs, then think about how much maintenance you’re prepared to do to protect your fabric.
Ask yourself the following:
If you have pets, children, or a messy spouse, maybe consider a faux suede or the durability of an indoor-outdoor fabric, and stay away from delicate or textured options, like silk, which is not easy to clean.
Double rubs = abrasion resistance.
In other words, how durable is the fabric, and will it hold up to the wear and tear of everyday use?
The Wyzenbeek and Martindale tests are the methods that fabric manufacturers use to predict wear-ability. The methods are performed using a machine to test for abrasion and usually, the number of rubs is measured by one back and forth motion over the fabric. 3,000 double rubs are estimated to be one year’s use.
A fabric is labeled heavy-duty if it can withstand 15,000+ double rubs, so I’d look for a fabric with at least that.
For reference:
Depending on what you’re reupholstering (chair, sofa, headboard), who lives in your household, and where this fabric will be used, you should definitely stain test the fabric swatches, and use the fabric’s accompanying cleaning code to try and get the stain out.
Our headboard had a small, barely noticeable stain on it when I purchase it secondhand, and the previous owner told me she tried everything to get it out. I didn’t bother using my own method because I didn’t want to ruin the fabric. But I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable recovering something like chairs in this fabric when it’s so hard to clean!
Here are some ways you test your fabric swatches (again, make sure you read the swatches cleaning code for recommended cleaning method):
If you’re looking for a heavy-duty performance fabric, consider Crypton or an indoor-outdoor fabric like Sunbrella.
My favorite fabric and carpet cleaner is Folex, and I’ve found it works on most fabrics.
Depending on construction of your furniture, you *may* be able to alter the profile slightly.
For example, I wanted the tufted backs of my chintz chairs to be removed for a more modern look.
Consult with your upholsterer to see what can be altered on your furniture.
If you’re upholstering a more curvy piece, maybe stick to solid colors over patterns, because certain patterns may not work well. A pattern that looks good on a fabric sample may not look good once it’s covering more surface area on your sofa.
Also, consider the size of your furniture. For sofas, a solid neutral may be best so you don’t get tired of it over time, and consider a bolder color or pattern for a chair.
Here’s a helpful chart I’ve used in the past whenever I’m considering reupholstering anything:
Not sure where to buy fabric? Check out this post!
Also, here’s a post that covers everything you need to know about buying secondhand upholstered furniture.
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