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Wool fiber

Wool is an ideal upholstery fibre — soft and comfortable. It takes dyes well, and normally does not fade noticeably. It is flameproof. The International Wool Mark is a guarantee of high quality, and the fabrics‘ which carry it are reliable.

Because of the great variety of yarns wool can be woven into many different fabrics. Tweedy fabrics, for instance, get their interesting textures through the yarns : knops (knots), boucles (or loops), slubs (irregular thick and thin yarn).

Weaves

Wool can be “flat-woven” so that it makes a close-textured, very strong repp (a practically indestructible corded cloth with the rib running across the width), or tweeds. Wool jacquard upholstery fabrics are also “flat” and usually smooth in texture. The designs can be large or small.

Wool can also be woven into “pile” fabrics. Uncut moquette was the great Victorian invention for upholstery, so hard-wearing it was once in every front parlour, but now more often used for contract or public-transport seating. Moquette is patterned; plain wool pile is known as plush.

There are some very attractive loosely-woven, shaggy wool fabrics with tremendous character. While suitable for upholstery, these fabrics don’t wear as well as the close-woven ones as they tend to catch and are harder to keep clean. A good rule of thumb is: the closer the weave the harder the wear.

Care: Wool upholstery covers are best dry-cleaned. Spots and stains can be removed with a dry-cleaner or tepid soapy water or a special shampoo: but test in an unobtrusive place first. Care instructions are usually supplied; if not, ask for them, and make sure that you get them even if the shop has to get on to the manufacturer for them.

Silk

Silk is a luxury fabric for upholstery and very impractical. Some antique chairs and chaise longues traditionally demand silk upholstery (but it is never satisfactory for normal use and seems to lead to such horrors as protective polythene covers). Silk is usually closely woven, but traditionally was also used for the richest velvets and brocades. It is, and has been from time immemorial very expensive indeed.

Care: Dry-clean. Possibly some stains could be removed with tepid soapy water, but test first, again in an unobtrusive place, and watch carefully whether the surface of the fabric remains unchanged after being damp.

Cotton

Cotton is used a great deal for upholstery, particularly for loose covers. But it is important to choose solid, good- quality cotton fabrics. Canvas and denim are tough and hard-wearing, strong enough to be used even on sling chairs, and so are cotton repps and twills of the right weight. Cotton takes dyes and prints well, is easy to wash, and has been comparatively cheap until recently; prices are now on the increase.

When choosing cotton (and linen too) avoid fabrics that have been heavily “dressed” to give an impression of better quality. The test is to rub the material between your thumb and forefinger. If white powder appears, there is excessive dressing.

Cotton is also made into “pile” fabrics: needlecord, corduroy and velveteen. These all have a pleasant, natural, unpretentious look, but for upholstery it is important to get the right quality. (For instance, if you are buying by the yard, do not be tempted to economize by selecting a curtain- quality fabric to cover a button-back chair.) Because there is very little “stretch” or give in these fabrics, “cord” upholstery tends to lose its crisp new look quite quickly, but having acquired its “lived-in” look, it stays that way without deteriorating further for quite a long time.

Care: The beauty of most cotton is that it can be either washed or dry- cleaned. The velvets, etc., are more safely dry-cleaned.

Linen

Linen fibres are much firmer and litre lustrous and stronger than cotton ones, but they also tend to crease more easily. Linen can be woven in the same ways as cotton and is very often found mixed with it — Linen Union is the traditional blend for loose covers and is still being printed with some of the best fabric designs there are.

Care: Washable or dry-cleanable. Keep and follow any instructions.

Rayon

Synthetic fibres, with their own qualities and properties, are often used in conjunction with natural fibers.

Rayon was the first synthetic fiber and is still probably the most widely used. One of its great advantages is its cheapness, compared with the ever-rising prices of natural fibers. It is about half the cost of other synthetics. Within the last ten years rayon has been greatly improved and Evlan now has more “body” and better abrasion-resistance than its predecessors. Rayon is used by itself, but probably more often in blends with wool, cotton and other synthetics. It can be treated in all ways: flat-woven to resemble close repps, tweeds, or brocades, or used for pile fabrics — rayon- velvets and figured rayon-brocades — giving you rather grand effects in a reasonable price range. In fact, this is the way to think of rayon: its use in (or in addition to) a fabric makes the price come down as well as the wear. This is often acceptable when you want a cheaper or shorter-lived piece of upholstery rather than one to last your lifetime.

Care: Rayon is not always washable. Unless so described, it is better to dry- clean it and use dry-cleaning preparations to get out stains, spills, etc. Test first. Keep and follow instructions given by manufacturer.

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