We’ve looked at the frame, suspension system and cushioning on a sofa; next up: fabric. We consider fabric to be a very important, yet certainly misunderstood, component of furniture. It can make up 40 – 45% of the price of a sofa. So we’ll be breaking this topic up into several smaller bite size portions: after a general discussion of what kind of fabric to choose for your lifestyle, we’ll look at the embodied energy in your fabric choice (next post), and then finally we’ll take a look at why an organic fabric is better for you (as well as the rest of us).
One thing to remember is that there is much more fabric used in constructing an upholstered piece of furniture than just the decorative fabric that you see covering the piece – a typical “quality” sofa also uses about 20 yards of decorative fabric, plus 20 yards of lining fabric, 15 yards of burlap and 10 yards of muslin, for a total of 65 yards of fabric!
So what do people look for in an upholstery fabric?
After color, fabric durability is probably top of everybody’s list. Durability translates into most people’s minds as “heft” – in other words, lightweight cotton doesn’t usually come to mind. A fabric with densely woven yarns tends to be more durable than a loosely woven fabric. Often people assume leather is the best choice for a busy family. We did a post about leather – if you’re at all considering leather, please read this first (https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/leather-furniture-what-are-you-buying/ ). Another choice widely touted is to use Ultrasuede. Please see our post about this fabric if you’re considering Ultrasuede: https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/is-ultrasuede%c2%ae-a-green-fabric/.
Equally important in evaluating durability is the length of the fibers. Cotton as a fiber is much softer and of shorter lengths than either hemp or linen, averaging 0.79 -1.30 inches in length. Hemp’s average length is 8 inches, but can range up to 180 inches in length. In a study done by Tallant et. al. of the Southern Regional Research Laboratory, “results indicate that increases in shortfibers are detrimental to virtually all yarn and fabric properties and require increased roving twist for efficient drafting during spinning. A 1% increase in fibers shorter than 3/8 in. causes a strength loss in yarns of somewhat more than 1%.”[1] In fact, the US textile industry has advocated obtaining the Short Fiber Content (SFC) for cotton classification. SFC is defined as the percentage of fibers shorter than ½ inch. So a lower cost sofa upholstered in cotton fabric could have been woven of short fiber cotton, a cheaper alternative to longer fiber cotton and one which is inherently less durable – no matter how durable it appears on the showroom floor.
Patagonia, the California manufacturer of outdoor apparel, has conducted tests on both hemp and other natural fibers, with the results showing that hemp has eight times the tensile strength and four times the durability of other natural fibers. Ecolution had a hemp twill fabric tested for tensile and tear strength, and compared the results with a 12-oz cotton denim. Hemp beat cotton every time: Overall, the 100% hemp fabric had 62% greater tear strength and 102% greater tensile strength. [2] And polyester trumps them both – but that’s a whole different ballgame, and we’ll get to that eventually.
There is a high correlation between fiber strength and yarn strength. People have used silk as an upholstery fabric for hundreds of years, and often the silk fabric is quite lightweight; but silk is a very strong fiber.
In addition to the fiber used, yarns are given a twist to add strength. This is called Twist Per Inch or Meter (TPI or TPM) – a tighter twist (or more turns per inch) generally gives more strength. These yarns are generally smooth and dense.
So that brings us to weave structure. Weave structures get very complicated, and we can refer you to lots of references for those so inclined to do more research (see references listed at the end of the post).
But knowing the fibers, yarn and weave construction still doesn’t answer people’s questions – they want some kind of objective measurement. So in order to objectively compare fabrics, tests to determine wear were developed (called abrasion tests), and many people today refer to these test results as a way to measure fabric durability.
Abrasion test results are supposed to forecast how well a fabric will stand up to wear and tear in upholstery applications. There are two tests generally used: Martindale and Wyzenbeek (WZ). Martindale is the preferred test in Europe; Wyzenbeek is preferred in the United States. There is no correlation between the two tests, so it’s not possible to estimate the number of cycles that would be achieved on one test if the other were known:
- Wyzenbeek (ASTM D4157-02): a piece of cotton duck fabric or wire mesh is rubbed in a straight back and forth motion on a piece of fabric until “noticeable wear” or thread break is evident. One back and forth motion is called a “double rub” (sometimes written as “dbl rub”).
- Martindale (ASTM D4966-98): the abradant in this test is worsted wool or wire screen, the fabric specimen is a circle or round shape, and the rubbing is done in a figure 8, and not in a straight line as in Wyzenbeek. One circle 8 is a cycle.
The Association for Contract Textiles performance guidelines lists the following test results as being suitable for commercial fabrics:
| Wyzenbeek | Martindale | |
| Low traffic / private spaces | 15,000 | 20,000 |
| High traffic / public spaces | 30,000 | 40,000 |
According to the Association for Contract Textiles, end use examples of “low traffic” areas where 30,000 WZ results should be appropriate include executive offices, corporate boardrooms, luxury hotel lobbies, suites and guest rooms. Areas of “high traffic” include: single shit corporate offices, waiting rooms, and high traffic hotel lobbies and guest rooms.
Sina Pearson, the textile designer, has been quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer as saying that 6,000 rubs (Wyzenbeek) may be “just fine” for residential use”[3] The web site for Vivavi furniture gives these ratings for residential use:
| Wyzenbeek | ||
| from | to | |
| Light use | 6,000 | 9,000 |
| Medium use | 9,000 | 15,000 |
| Heavy use | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| Maximum use | >30,000 | |
Theoretically, the higher the rating (from either test) the more durable the fabric is purported to be. It’s not unusual for designers today to ask for 100,000 WZ results. Is this because we think more is always better? Does a test of 1,000,000 WZ guarantee that your fabric will survive years longer than one rated only 100,000 WZ? Maripaul Yates, in her guidebook for interior designers, says that “test results are so unreliable and the margin of error is so great that its competency as a predictor of actual wear is questionable.”[4] The Association for Contract Textiles website states that “double rubs exceeding 100,000 are not meaningful in providing additional value in use. Higher abrasion resistance does not necessarily indicate a significant extension of the service life of the fabric.”
The reason these test results might not be predicative is because there are, apparently, many ways to tweak test results. We’ve been told if we don’t like the test results from one lab, we can try Lab X, where the results tend to be better. The reasons that these tests produce inconsistent results are:
1. Variation in test methods: Measuring the resistance to abrasion is very complex. Test results are affected by many factors that include the properties and dimensions of the fibers; the structure of the yarns; the construction of the fabrics; the type, kind and amount of treatments added to the fibers, yarns, or fabric; the time elapsed since the abradant was changed; the type of abradant used; the tension of the specimen being tested,the pressure between the abradant and the specimen…and other variables.
2. Subjectivity: The measurement of the relative amount of abrasion can be affected by the method of evaluation and is often influenced by the judgment of the operator. Cycles to rupture, color change, appearance change and so forth are highly variable parameters and subjective.
3. Games Playing: Then there is, frankly, dishonest collusion between the tester and the testee. There are lots of games that are played. For instance, in Wyzenbeek, the abradant, either cotton duck or a metal screen, must be replaced every million double rubs. If your fabric is tested at the beginning of that abradant’s life versus the end of its life, well… you can see the games. Also, how much tension the subject fabric is under – the “pull” of the stationary anchor of the subject fabric, affects the rating.
In the final analysis, if you have doubts about the durability of a fabric, will any number of test results convince you otherwise? Also, if your heart is set on a silk jacquard, for example, I bet it would take a lot of data to sway you from your heart’s desire. Some variables just trump the raw data.
REFERENCES FOR WEAVE STRUCTURE:
1. Peirce, F.T., The Geometry of Cloth Structure, “The Journal of the Textile Institute”, 1937: pp. 45 – 196
2. Brierley, S. Cloth Settings Reconsidered The Textile Manufacturer 79 1952: pp. 349 – 351.
3. Milašius, V. An Integrated Structure Factor for Woven Fabrics, Part I: Estimation of the Weave The Journal of the Textile Institute 91 Part 1 No. 2 2000: pp. 268 – 276.
4. Kumpikaitė, E., Sviderskytė, A. The Influence of Woven Fabric Structure on the Woven Fabric Strength Materials Science (Medžiagotyra) 12 (2) 2006: pp. 162 – 166.
5. Frydrych, I., Dziworska, G., Matusiak, M. Influence of Yarn Properties on the Strength Properties of Plain Fabric Fibres and Textile in Eastern Europe 4 2000: pp. 42 – 45.
6. ISO 13934-1, Textiles – Tensile properties of fabrics – Part 1: Determination of Maximum Force and Elongation at Maximum Force using the Strip Method, 1999, pp. 16.
[1] Tallant, John, Fiori, Louis and Lagendre, Dorothy, “The Effect of the Short Fibers in a Cotton on its Processing Efficiency and Product Quality”, Textile Research Journal, Vol 29, No. 9, 687-695 (1959)
[2] http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Magazines/historic_fiber_remains.html
[3] ‘How will Performance Fabrics Behave”, Home & Design, The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 11, 2008.
[4] Yates, Maripaul, “Fabrics: A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects”, WW. Norton and Company.
OEcotextiles 
No matter what upholstery material you use and certainly using something sturdy with a tight weave is better than say, a light cotton weave, there are still chemicals gassing off the upholstery cloth. I’ve just had a bedroom chair and footstool upholstered in a good weave from Belgium and the upholsterer as usual, did a great job but the fact is, every time I walk into our bedroom, I can smell the chemicals coming off that cloth and it’s been in the bedroom now for over a month. That is more the issue here. Not necessarily giving information on the weave but on the chemicals used on the cloth.
Sandy Small Proudfoot, Canada
Fabrics generally look bad (appearance retention) long before fibers actually break. So although abrasion is a factor in wear, soiling and cleanability along with appropriateness of color tone generally determine when it is time to replace an upholstery cover.
Thanks for the good info as always!
Thanks Sandy! We will talk about the actual fabrics used in the next post, because we founded this company, in part, to educate people about what’s in the fabrics they’re living with – which can be, unfortunately, chemicals which are often outlawed in other products. And because in the United States, at least, there is no regulation about the kinds of chemicals used in fabrics, we often don’t know what poisons we’re living with. That’s why we sell third party certified fabrics (GOTS and/or Oeko-Tex). But please note, some benign chemicals have a smell too – the smell doesn’t necessarily mean it’s toxic. (Think of rotten eggs.)
Reblogged this on sondasmcschatter and commented:
SHE ALWAYS HAS SUCH GOOD INFORMATION!!!!!!
Hello,
Interesting post, hemp sure is a compelling choice of textile for heavy duty application.
I am interested in discussing the relatively new issue of microfiber plastic pollution and synthetics such as polyester. Is there someone at your organization I can email?
Cheers, Paul
Sure, just email us at info@oecotextiles.com. We’ve touched on the problem in a few posts.