7 Elements to define the quality of fabrics
When was the last time you touched, held, or even saw a piece of fabric? Was it day morning while dressing to go to your work! Or maybe it’s right now while sitting on your sofa reading this on your screen. Actually, fabrics undergo the production of many things around us like your beddings, toys, the chair cover of public buses, sofas, garments, and many other things you may see and touch during the day.
For better understanding, we can simply divide fabric qualities, upon its uses for individuals, into two main categories: upholstery stuff and garment. The standard quality of each category is partially different because of the production methods difference. For example, Upholstery fabric usually gets backed by using latex or glue to maximize its durability.
Good quality fabric doesn’t guarantee you the same properties in each fabric, because being good, or even premium depends on the niche. Some people go to purchase fabrics, thereafter they thought that it didn't deserve to be purchased because of its bad quality, while it is not.
To exemplify, some expect that a piece of satin garment will stand for as long as a leather garment, or that linen fabric shares the same stretchiness level of lycra fabric, which was first produced by DuPont in 1959, after discovering linen material by many centuries discovering linen. However, you need to understand that these expectations would lead to a misunderstanding.
To avoid this, it is highly important to understand the properties of each item that you need with paying attention to the common features that people normally do look for in both categories, such as durability.
A) How to know the quality of garment fabric
An overview of the difference between upholstery fabric and garment fabric will greatly help you to act like an expert knowing what works best for each case estimating the price range, and some of them can be performed easily using your senses.
1- Weaves
Premium fabric is characterized by being woven tightly without gaps or slits that make the fabric more likely to age enduring abrasion. In addition to the fact that fabrics shall share a perfect balance of having both vertical and horizontal weaves to guarantee good quality.
2- Thread
It is usually considered by the number of threads per inch, the excessive number of threads is a great indicator of fabric’s durability.
3- Finish
You have probably been exposed to this meaning before in different situations; Finish is one of the prominent features that can be tested effortlessly by just checking the attire corners.
4- Breathability
Since wearing comfy clothes depends on the heat degree and the number of sweets that people undergo during the day, for this reason, you need to pick a breathable fabric type especially when it comes to selecting undergarments for sensitive areas. Breathable fabric alleviates the sweetness by allowing for air and moisture to pass through. Note that absorbing moisture from the body doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s wicked away.
5- Moisture-wicking
Wicking moisture means that sweat doesn’t end trapped within the weaves like some fabrics including cotton; it wicks all the moisture away instead. Some of the moisture-wicking materials include polyester, nylon, and some blended materials. These types of fabrics are better recommended for an athlete who breaks ceaselessly.
6- Durability
Durability is one of the most wanted characteristics no matter the use of the fabric is, No one tends to pay for either a piece of garment or piece of furniture that stays for a very short period until it shreds; People are looking for clothes that don’t get ripped not distort our silhouette or restrict our movements
7- Colour
Last, but not least, the technique used in dying clothes affects people’s buying decisions because some garments look good but, unfortunately, the hues can fade immediately due to repetitive cleaning.
B) How to pick a good piece of furniture (based on fabric)
Before digging deep, it is better to understand that the process of producing upholstery fabrics is somehow different from its counterpart. It gets produced peculiarly to be thicker, stiffer, and heavy, to go through and sustain long-term use.
1- Water-resistant
To produce a piece of furniture, you need to use water-resistant upholstery to withstand the Recurrent friction caused by chemical cleaners.
2- Stain-resistant:
The degree of stain resistance refers to how your lovely sofa can hold out and stay clean after being wet by drinks that were mistakenly shed.
3- Durability:
Durability represents a real value for your spending. fabrics can be categorized due to their double rub rate which refers to their wave density and strength. For example, fabric with a rate of +30,000 is used particularly for heavy-duty fabrics, while furniture stuff requires only half of the above-mentioned rate (15,000). Cotton, leather, microfiber is some of the excellent choices for producing furniture.
Generalizing the main features of upholstery fabric is somehow difficult because some fabrics can be used in producing both types. For example, linen, besides its being a component of furniture production, can be used to design jackets and vests and other types of accessories such as bags.
If you are going to buy a piece of furniture or shop for new clothes online, it would be a difficult mission to distinguish the good quality. Even if the brands do mention the fabric type within the photos, it isn’t necessary to be as high-quality as you think. Because manufacturing methods and testing can greatly alter the quality of fabric.
