Home Decor Fabrics
Perfect for your Sofa

Changing the home decor fabrics on the sofa you just fell in love with will be easier when you familiarize yourself a little with the fibers and fabric construction methods.

Whether you are starting with an empty room or replacing the sofa in a room that is already furnished, when looking for home decor fabrics for your new sofa, or any other piece of upholstery, begin by asking a few questions.

• Is this fabric appropriate for my lifestyle?
• What type of wear will my upholstery be getting?
• Will it be in the family room with small children, pets and a lot of activity?
• Or is it going in the living room that is primarily used on occasion for company.
• Where will the upholstery be placed?
• Would sunlight fade the colors and ultimately destroy the fibers?
• Will it resist stains, soil, and abrasion?
• How will the color look in my room’s lighting?
• How do I care for it?

The two primary things to keep in mind when choosing a fabric for a sofa is the fiber content and how the fabric is woven. The finishing and coloring methods also affect the durability of home decor fabrics.

By knowing a little about the fibers and fabric construction methods you will be able to make an informed choice that will meet the needs of you and your family.

There are three major classifications for the different fibers and each fiber will have unique wear characteristics.

• The cellulosic fibers which are derived from plants include cotton, linen, and rayon.
• Wool and silk are protein fibers of animal origin,
• and many manmade polymers are derived from petrochemicals, resulting in nylon, olefin, and polyester.

Based on their characteristics, some fibers either used alone or blended of two or more will be more appropriate on your upholstery than others.

The tightness of the weave, which is measured by the number of threads per square inch just like your sheets, is one way to measure of the durability of an upholstery fabric.

When you are contemplating a fabric to use on your sofa for example, hold the swatch up to the window and see how much light comes through. The less light that shows through the tighter the weave.

Plain, decorative and pile, are some of the many categories of weaves commonly used to make upholstery fabrics, and these basic techniques of weaving results in a tremendous amount of diversity.

Woven fabrics are made on a loom which mechanically intertwines horizontal weft yarns (filling) with a vertical warp (pick) yarns.

The horizontal filling yarns snake over and under the pick yarns creating friction to hold the cloth in place.

The face side of a cloth is the side meant for viewing.

The plain weave is strong, versatile and appropriate for many different fibers and blends of fibers. Chintz, chambray, and canvas are a few of the commonly known fabrics with a plain weave.

Jacquard or decorative weaves must be manufactured on specialized looms which translate complicated instructions into woven patterns.

The jacquard loom attachment is capable of creating simple patterns, pictorial scenes and complex designs.

Fabrics commonly woven on the jacquard loom are brocade, damask and tapestries.

Pile weaves are constructed by adding extra yarns which are looped to the face of the fabric and then cut. Many different fibers are used to make velvets which have a low dense pile. Corduroy falls in this category, has ridges or cords in the pile and is a durable fabric.

After the weaving process fabrics undergo finishing that may or may not change their appearance, feel and durability.

Many times the cloth must be prepared to accept dyes or printing. For example cotton fabrics are often pre shrunk and mercerized, a process which strengthens the fibers and makes them more lustrous and receptive to dyes.

The surface sheen or pattern of a fabric can be altered by passing it through rollers (calendering). This is the process that is called for when making smooth glazed cottons, surfaces with a nap like suede cloth, or reflective wavy patterns like moire.

Other finishing processes might include flame retardants to inhibit the spread of a fire and soil repellent to help resist stains and soil that could occur on a sofa or other home furnishings.

Color and pattern is added to home decor fabrics by dyeing the yarn before weaving, after weaving or printing the finished cloth.

Various fiber types absorb dyes differently and at different rates. A fabric made up of several yarn types may take different color shades when dyed with a single dye.

There is much more consistency in the color of printed fabrics. Most commercially available prints are printed with a silk screen process in a repeating pattern.

Always consult manufacturers cleaning code instructions before attempting to clean home decor fabrics.

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