What fabric is better for a sofa?





Knowing which fabric is best for the sofa, from the whole variety of options offered, you can choose the one that will fit your interior with dignity and will delight you with its quality for many years. This knowledge will be useful to both those who are going to buy a new sofa, and those who want to change the upholstery, to breathe new life into their favorite furniture. When choosing a fabric, mainly pay attention to the quality of the material, its wear resistance, and price range. We will cover everything in order in this article.

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Features of choosing fabric for the sofa

When deciding which fabric is best for upholstery, it is important to understand how it will be used.

To the living room

For a sofa located in the hall, you need a durable, wear-resistant fabric that does not absorb odors, which can withstand frequent cleanings.

Important! Best suited: velor, jacquard, leather.

To the nursery

The fabric for this kind of furniture should be well washed, be natural, hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly.

Important! Fell in love more than others: cotton, chenille, tapestry.

To the kitchen or dining room

It is preferable to choose those fabrics that do not absorb odors and are easily cleaned from contaminants, and ideally - generally repel them.

Important! Stop your choice of upholstery with Teflon impregnation, leatherette.

Pets

To keep the upholstery in contact with the claws and easy to clean from wool, select flock, velor, arpatek.

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Upholstery fabrics rating

Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages. To navigate in a huge number of fabrics, for convenience, all their types are combined into 9 main categories, numbered from zero to 8.

Important! Different manufacturers may vary slightly, but one thing remains the same: the better the fabric, the higher its category number and price.

Based on this rating, we will find out which material is better for the sofa.

Flock (velvet substitute)

Most often found as upholstery:

• It is easy to care for it, it is easy to clean, maintains its attractive appearance for a long time due to its high light fastness.
• It has a dense structure, holds its shape well, is resistant to dust.
• Unlike velor, it adequately withstands claw punctures.

Important! The main disadvantage of flock is that it absorbs all odors like a sponge.

Shenill

A material based on a mixture of natural and synthetic fibers looks aesthetically pleasing, has a fleecy, pleasant to the touch surface. It is characterized by practicality and a long service life, easy to clean - usually a damp cloth or vacuum cleaner is usually enough. According to its characteristics, it is closer to natural fabrics.

It is created on two types of bases:

• Fabric - resistant to wet cleanings. It is not recommended to use on a berth - from constant heavy loads it can lose its shape and crumple.
• Glued - does not like moisture; when wet it dries and deforms for a very long time.

Jacquard

When you are faced with the choice of which fabric is best for wrapping the sofa, pay attention to the jacquard:

• Dense elegant fabric is not prone to abrasion and loss of color, but does not like frequent intense washes.
• It does not collect debris and dust particles due to its special coating.
• It is presented in a large number of beautiful drawings.

Important! The disadvantage is that this fabric is not available to everyone because of the high price.

Velours

The practical fabric looks good and velvety to the touch.Marked by high wear resistance, easy to clean, easy to clean from contamination.

Its composition uses fibers that have antistatic properties and are hypoallergenic.

Important! The disadvantages of this material include a relatively high price and poor resistance to point loads, for example, punctures of animal claws.

Tapestry

The age of this expensive natural material is measured over centuries. It has excellent characteristics - high wear resistance, strength, durability, ductility.

Important! Not intended for frequent intensive cleansing, severe loads and direct sunlight.

Leather

An indisputable quality mark is genuine leather:

• in care, it is simple and durable;
• It looks very solid and rich;
• has a corresponding price.

It is believed that this is the best fabric for sofa upholstery.

Important! Today there is a noteworthy alternative - leatherette or eco leather. In quality, these materials are inferior to genuine leather, but they look almost the same and are more affordable.

Arpatek

Initially, this skin-like material was used to make car covers. Now it is widely used as upholstery for upholstered furniture. It has a very high resistance to abrasion, fading and moisture, high strength.

Cotton

Upholstery from this natural material “breathes”, absorbs moisture well and is completely non-toxic.

Important! The main disadvantage is the rapid wear, which manufacturers are trying to eliminate by applying special impregnations.

Natural or faux fur

Despite the attractiveness, such upholstery is not in great demand, because the fur is quite difficult to care for, expensive. Most often, replaceable covers, decorative pillows, and other interior items are made from it.

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Fabric Buying Tips

Having studied the characteristics of the main fabrics and roughly understanding what material to choose for the sofa, we will learn to choose high-quality fabric, regardless of what kind you choose:

• Think about what color and pattern you are interested in. Discuss this decision with household members so that the new thing is a joy to every member of the family.
• Once again, check the information about the characteristics of the material by contacting the sales consultant or by studying the label.
• Examine the fabric by touch. Make sure that it is really suitable not only for your purposes, but also pleasantly tactile.

Important! There is an Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 Certificate. It indicates that the fabric that received it is safe, environmentally friendly. If this aspect is important to you, pay attention to it.

Calculation of the amount of fabric for upholstery:

• It is very easy to do. Remove the old upholstery and, armed with a tape measure, measure in the longest and widest places. Fold all the vertical lengths, add 20% - so you know how long the fabric will need to be purchased.
• To determine the width, consider the dimensions of the widest part. As a rule, they vary between 130-150 cm.
• To find out how much fabric is needed for decorative pillows, measuring their length and height will help. Add them up and multiply the result by 2, then add another 5 cm.

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Stock footage

Now you know the better to sheathe the sofa, how to choose the fabric, what parameters should be paid attention to. Make deliberate purchases and enjoy the comfort of quality fabrics for many years!