How to check upholstery fabric performance before you buy
Fabric testing is an important part of the fabric development process and can ultimately make or break a design before it goes to market. With this information in hand, you're ready to hit the shopping malls (or your local furniture store) with confidence that you'll be getting the best grade of upholstery fabric possible.
Textiles testing is a critical part of the fabric development process
Textiles testing helps determine how the fabric will perform in use. It's also used to ensure that the product meets customer needs, as well as regulatory requirements.
Textile testing is performed by independent laboratories with specialised equipment and trained technicians who understand both textiles and what you want from them.
For example, if you need your upholstery fabrics to be flame resistant or antimicrobial, then these tests are required before they can be sold commercially or installed into products like sofas or chairs. The tests we’re looking at today are:
- MARTINDALE & WYZENBEEK WEAR RESISTANCE
- PILLING & BRUSH PILLING (ISO 12945-2, ASTM D 3511)
- COLOUR FASTNESS TO LIGHT (ISO 105-B02)
- WASHABILITY (ISO 3759)
Let’s explore what each of these standards is and what they mean for you and your couch.
Abrasion and wear resistance testing
Both Wyzenbeek and Martindale are abrasiontextiles tests, which measure how well a material can withstand wear without breaking down.
Although the two tests have similar outcomes (a good score means that your finished product will last longer), they test different aspects of its performance. Just because your fabric sample performs well in one test doesn’t mean it’ll perform equally well in the other.
Learn more: Abrasion testing for performance fabrics: explaining Martindale and Wyzenbeek
Rub test results aren’t enough to check upholstery fabric quality before specifying fabrics
A single attribute such as abrasion resistance isn't enough to ensure fabric quality. It's important to consider other factors that you need from the performance fabric before choosing one for your project.
Check the results of other physical fabrics characteristics tests for durability. Abrasion testing alone cannot predict how long a product will last.
All about upholstery pilling and upholstery quality
‘Pilling’ is the tendency for yarns to become fuzzy, looking like little balls of fluff coming off the surface of a fabric.
Pilling can occur when fabric of all kinds undergoes frequent friction. It’s not just upholstery, you can see it in clothes as well, for example in the elbows of your sweater. Your laundry machine will also cause friction that leads to pilling, which is why sometimes you might notice little fabric pills on clothes when you take them out of the machine.
Fabric pilling is completely normal and will go away once the excess loose fibres are gone. It doesn’t hurt the durability or functionality of the fabric, but it can be unsightly. All fabrics will pill to some extent at some stage, but there are degrees of susceptibility to that.
For example:
- Pilling is more noticeable on man-made fibres. Because natural fabrics, such as wool and linen, shed loose fibres more easily than man-made fibres like polyester and acrylics do, the pills on those garments are less noticeable.
- The tighter the weave or twist, the less likely a fabric will pill.
- When a fabric is made from two or more different fibres (for example, polyester and cotton) pilling can occur in areas where one fibre is stronger than the other.
How can you ensure that your upholstery choice has good resistance against pilling? Check the test results.
How the pilling test for upholstery works
The fabric sample is placed in the Martindale machine again, but this time it’s tested for pilling. Compared to the Martindale test, the machine now rotates in a more compact motion, applying more pressure to a large surface area. At intervals of 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 rubs the pilling is observed and assessed by means of a pilling scale (1 to 5).
The upshot of all this: 5,000 rubs is considered the result of the pilling and brushing test. Generally, a pilling scale grade of minimum 3-4 at 5,000 rubs is ‘acceptable’.
Learn more about upholstery: Performance fabrics: perfect for home interiors
Quality upholstery fabrics are colourfast against light exposure
How fabric responds to light - its colour tolerance - is another factor people consider when valuing upholstery.
Fabric colour can fade or stain when exposed to intense light over time. As such, consumers should consider a fabric's lightfastness and stain resistance ratings (Colourfastness to Light (ISO 105-B02) to determine how well it will maintain its appearance in their space. Upholstery in high-traffic or sunlit areas may require more durable, colourfast fabrics than furniture in darker environments.
The testing process is simple.
Check out our FibreGuard Outdoor fabrics range. These solution-dyed fabrics last years without losing their unique properties, like colourfastness, durability, water, and stain resistance. They’re specifically designed to withstand prolonged exposure to UV radiation while maintaining their colour integrity.
These materials undergo stringent testing protocols in controlled laboratory settings to ensure the highest standards of lightfastness and durability.
High quality upholstery fabrics are easily washable
FibreGuard fabrics are designed to retain their appearance and performance over time when exposed to normal use and reasonable care practices. For you to maintain the look and feel of your upholstery fabric it is important that you follow our care instructions carefully.
So how do they test how washable an upholstery fabric is?
First the fabric sample is put through the washing machine and dryer to see how it holds up. Textiles engineers measure how much the sample shrinks width wise and lengthwise. Then they iron it, with and without steam, and measure any additional shrinkage. After washing and drying, they check how faded the colours get, ranking fading on a scale of 1 (no fading) to 5 (major fading). That's the basic process for testing how durable and washable a fabric is. The following dimensional changes are acceptable:
- Natural fibres: shrinkage 3%
- Scientific fibres: shrinkage 2%
Learn more about washability and stain-resistant fabrics: Stain resistant fabric: the full story
Performance fabrics with proven results
So there you have it: if you want to know how good your the upholstery fabric you're buying is, check their test results. As always, we hope this blog was helpful to you in some way. If you want to discuss any of these issues or ideas further, please get in touch with us directly via email.