Park Your Butt, But Choose Wisely. Part 2- Performance Fabrics

Performance Fabrics

So, for my new sofa, I chose a blend of man-made fabrics that look like linen but that are easier to clean than linen ( which is a natural fabric). The fabric I chose has been treated to be stain-resistant. A more organic choice such as cotton or linen probably would have been healthier and more environmentally sound since my man-made fabric is manufactured, not grown, but that natural fabric in my house would also have probably wound up in a landfill a lot sooner, and I’d like to keep this sofa for a while. Given the high likelihood of Fred's dirt and human spills hitting my sofa, this was the right choice for me.

There’s nothing I love the look of more than a Belgian linen sofa. I love cotton. I love organic. I love pretty much any natural fiber that can come into a home. But I also like my furniture to be free of stains, and while those fabrics can last beautifully in some of my client’s homes, they are not the answer to Fred and Ella, neither of whom wash their paws before sitting. So the solution for parents and pet owners must be performance fabric, right? Maybe.

When performance fabrics were first introduced, we thought they meant stain-proof, indestructible answers to our prayers. However, “performance” can mean several different things.

The wear and tear variety of performance fabrics: There are “durability” performance fabrics, meaning they resist abrasion and wear. It does not mean that these fabrics resist staining. In fact, it has nothing to do with stain resistance. The design industry tests for abrasion resistance, and considers a fabric durable if it does not wear or pill after many swipes of a machine. However, this same machine does not pour red wine or cola on the fabrics when it does an abrasion test. For that you need…..

Stain resistant fabrics, a.k.a. Fred’s personal favorite. These were invented just for me. Okay, not. But seriously they cover basically every piece of furniture in my house. Stain resistance comes from chemicals that repel liquid. Chemicals treat the fibers of the fabric, either before it is woven, or on the surface of the fabric after it is woven. Treating the fibers before weave is considered the more effective stain resistant method. Surface treating can be washed off by soaps and warm waters, and is not considered the superior method of creating stain resistance. That said, not all fiber treated fabrics are equal. So, here’s my trick…

The Sharon Test: My two go-to’s are 1. Merlot and 2. guac. Hey, you may as well use what’s most likely to hit your own sofa, right? I order samples of the fabrics I’m considering and smoosh (a technical term) avocado into them. Then, I pour red wine into a different section of each sample. Then I pour a glass of Merlot for myself while I wait about a minute (the time I think it would realistically take me to jump off the sofa screaming and grab a wet paper towel) and clean them with…yes, a wet paper towel, and a mild soap. Then, I let them air dry. I recently tested four “performance” fabrics from the same vendor. Two fared beautifully, one was mediocre, and the fourth was an example of how one could spend a lot of money on an item that Fred could quickly ruin. I wonder if my clients know that I spend evenings testing their possible choices with a nice bottle of red.

Outdoor performance fabrics: Double rubs and abrasion are very different from another type of performance fabric: outdoor fabrics, which are created primarily to avoid fading and mold. Outdoor fabrics are treated fibers that can be left outside for months on end without fading or getting mildewed, even in the rain. Good quality outdoor fabrics, such as the ones I use on all my clients’ outdoor furniture, can be left outside all season and will look great without being covered. The foam interiors are a special type of foam that allows rain water to pass through, and thus they don’t need covering. They should be brought inside in the winter or at least shrink-wrapped.

Stay tuned for our Park Your Butt, but Choose Wisely Part 3 to dive into the world of Viscose, Wool, & Silk!