Understanding Upholstery Fabric Types
Upholstery refers to the practice of providing furniture, most commonly seating, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather coverings. Upholstered pieces often anchor a room and get a lot of use, which makes picking the right ones especially important. We’ve compiled this comprehensive glossary to help you find your way through all the ins and outs. We’ll start with upholstery fabrics and cover materials then explore decorative details and seldom-seen upholstery elements such as steel and even coconut husk fiber.
Types of Upholstery Fabric
Natural Fabrics
Natural fabrics are made from natural fibers that come from plants or animals.
Chenille
Chenille’s soft surface pile inspired its name — it’s the French word for “caterpillar.” Its extra weft threading gives it a distinctive nap. This casual fabric is best for comfortable pieces such as oversized recliners, sofas, papasans, and children’s furniture, but it can also do great things with printed side chairs and traditional accent seats. Chenille is often made of natural fibers, but it can also be made from synthetics like rayon.
Cotton
Cotton furniture upholstery is typically a blend, combining this stylish, breathable natural fiber with polyester, linen, nylon, etc. for added texture, strength, or resistance to soiling and wrinkling. The best-quality cotton blends will generally contain about 45% to 60% cotton.
Jute
A natural fiber produced mostly in India and Bangladesh, jute was traditionally used for rope and matting. Though prone to wrinkling, it’s a great material for modern rustic accent pieces such as an ottoman, adding a somewhat rougher texture that pairs well with wood and/or leather.
Leather
Leather upholstery can vary greatly in price and quality, depending on its grade and treatment.
- Full-grain leather: Full-grain leather uses the whole animal hide rather than layers, and natural marks or imperfections are left intact. This is the thickest, highest-quality leather.
- Top-grain leather: Top-grain leather uses the strong top layers of the animal hide and is second in quality only to full grain.
- Corrected-grain leather: Corrected-grain leather has been treated to remove imperfections and then given an imitation grain for a uniform appearance.
- Split leather: Split leather consists of the underside or drop split of the hide. With bycast/bicast leather, an artificial surface layer is laminated to the surface.
Linen
Made from flax, linen is an extremely strong natural textile fiber. It’s a smooth, soft, and naturally lustrous fabric that offers excellent durability and natural resistance to moths, pilling, and abrasion. It’s often used in conjunction with cotton for greater elasticity. Neatly tailored pieces such as parsons chairs, traditional dining chairs, and tufted arm chairs offer a great look for linen.
Silk
Soft and luxurious, silk feels right at home in formal settings and is best kept to kid-free/spill-free zones. Silk is sometimes backed with cotton to add weight and durability and comes in both natural and synthetic varieties. Sunlight can cause this fabric to fade so think strategically about where you place a silk upholstered piece.
Velvet
Velvet is a luxurious woven fabric distinguished by its thick and short pile. This soft and lustrous material can be made from natural or synthetic fibers and varies in quality and type. Though comparatively difficult to clean, velvet stands out for its comfort, texture, and rich color, which make it a preferred choice for dramatic pieces such as traditional button-tufted headboards and swanky accent chairs and why you need velvet table linens special event.
Wool
A natural fiber that comes from animal hair, wool is a durable choice for upholstery fabric. Most wool you find on sofas and accent chairs today is actually a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. The addition of synthetic materials helps the fabric stand up better to wear and also makes it easier to clean.
Synthetic Fabrics
Synthetic fabrics, also known as engineered fabrics, are textiles produced from man-made fibers as opposed to natural fibers. Synthetic fabrics tend to be more durable than natural fabrics and are generally more resistant to fading and staining.
Faux Leather
Faux leather is typically made from polyurethane, a more eco-friendly alternative to vinyl or PVC. PU is more breathable than PVC, and it’s also degradable.
Microfiber
Microfiber is a knit blend polyester fabric that’s softer than suede and a whole lot easier to clean (just remember to dab rather than rub). This dense material is made of tightly woven synthetic fibers, providing durability and moisture resistance with the aesthetic qualities of real suede. This low-cost fabric is ideally suited to chaise lounges, sectional or convertible sofas, and other comfy casual seats in a contemporary style.
Nylon
A synthetic fiber, nylon is usually blended with other materials to create a strong and durable material. It’s typically easy to maintain and isn’t prone to wrinkling.
Olefin
Olefin is a manmade material that’s produced from melting down plastic pellets. Any desired color is added and the resulting threads are then woven together. Because the colors are baked in rather than added to the surface, olefin tends to hold its color and can be cleaned with bleaches. This durable material is great for upholstery.
Polyester
First introduced in the 1950s, polyester is a high-performance synthetic fabric that does its best work in tandem with natural materials such as cotton and wool. Polyester blends provide excellent strength, easy cleaning, and resistance to fading, wrinkling, and abrasion — and less pilling, in the case of polywool blends.
Rayon
This cellulose-based material was developed to mimic fabrics like cotton and linen. It’s commonly blended with other types of threads to create a mixed material that’s appropriate for upholstery.
Watch the video to learn about the difference between natural fabrics and synthetic fabrics.