With our modern, busy lives its nice to find peace of mind wherever possible especially in the home. Enter performance fabric. These fabrics can withstand the messy side of life and with the new year, many of our customers are starting reupholstery projects which is why we’re highlighting performance fabrics. There are lots of fabrics to choose from, it can be overwhelming. If you have a family, pets or just like to eat and drink on the couch performance fabrics are a great choice.
There are many benefits to performance fabrics but above all, they offer peace of mind. They are usually made of a synthetic material such as nylon, polyester and polypropylene. This makes them durable for years to come resisting stains, wear and tear and fading, great for busy people – which is most of us!
The fabric is treated with a special coating that gives extra protection from bacteria and spills. And don’t worry, you aren’t compromising aesthetic when you go the performance route! You can still choose from a wide variety of fabrics in different colors, patterns and textures in performance materials. They are also versatile and you can use in any room and relatively inexpensive.
Another beneficial aspect is that these fabrics are easy designed to be quick and easy to clean. For on-the-go clean-ups you just need a damp cloth. For deeper cleaning, each fabric has its own specific cleaning code. Its very important to check this code on the tag and be sure your cleaning professional is aware of it so that they know how the manufacturer intended the fabric to be cleaned. One example is cleaning code WS. This stands for “wet solvent” cleaning.
If you opt for a non-performance fabric, keep in mind it may be more high maintenance and keep food, drinks and dogs off the furniture. The worst fabrics are anything with a loose weave. Unprotected leather is also difficult because it scratches.
We clearly love performance fabrics and there are some down sides to keep in mind: Some are not as breathable, not as soft, may feel like plastic, and there could be static build up causing hair to stick to it.
While no fabric is completely bullet-proof performance fabrics are very close. The main performance brands we have are Lee Industries, Universal, Vanguard, Maxwell, Pindler, Kravet. These easy-to-clean, pet friendly, fabrics keep furniture looking new longer while still being comfortable and stylish.