Fabric Content information request -

[baileyuph]

Some fabric content in my experiences are:

1.  Cotton
2.  Wool
3.  Rayon
4.  Polyester
5.  Acetate
6.  Acrylics
Too add,
7.  Nylon (don't hear much of this anymore, do you?).

I have listed a few fibers in fabrics I have worked with, according to their labels.

Not all were a good or easy experience, some especially were liked to deal with than others.

Anyway, hopefully this is education time for in what ever manner if there is informative information you can share to help better understand the fiber, where best used, you know those kind of things that offer virtues or bad uses for the fiber would certainly help educate me about fabrics.

Some ravels and is bad about it.  Some are better for furniture upholstery, and some are better or worse when exposed to moisture or sunlight.

One other specific question I have is; I noted a particular furniture fabric vendor for indoor and outdoor is offering a lot of acrylics and acetate fibers in their fabrics (many at 100 percent).

Which fiber is best for dying and is there any correlation between fiber content and price of fabric.

You know there are many questions one can raise about fabrics, their use, contents selected, fire resistant, etc.

Educate me!

Doyle

[byhammerandhand]

I do repair work, not what I would call "full reupholstery."   

The most common fabric repair I do is spot cleaning specific stains.  Added in later are open seams, punctures, rips, and panel replacements (supplied by mfr.)   Manufacturer's DO NOT REMOVE or other tags rarely have fiber content, so I've learned to assess.   

So from my perspective -- aftermarket repair & maintenance

Cotton
Summary -- Stains easily, cleans with difficulty.   My first few years, I saw a lot of 100% cotton via one particular retailer.   Hated it.  It looked terrible after a few years.   The short fibers were subject to fibrillation.  Meaning the fiber ends frayed/broke and gave a frosted (white) look.  Like old blue jeans.   Most of it was not color fast and cleaning the reds, blues, and greens always bled out dye.  And stains often were set and hard to get out.  Also the fabric stretched and soon looked baggy.

Haitian cotton is a less refined cotton and is generally off-white with specs of boll or stems in it.  Very natural looking.  When wet with a normal cleaner, the specks bleed and end up with brown stains.  Need a special cleaner with low pH.   Similar problems with stains setting from foods, etc.

Rayon
Particularly chenille.  Looks nice for a while, but tends to pad down in high use areas like seats and tops of arms.   It does not handle water at all.   Even a spilled glass of water or drips off an iced drink can change the random nature of the fibers and make it directional.   The sure sign of this is that from one viewing angle the spot looks light, from 180 degree viewing angle, it looks too dark, and from a middle viewing angle, it looks fine.   No cure for this type of damage, other than to wet the whole thing and make it look as uniform as can be.

Polyester
Love, love, love microfiber.   Cleans like a dream.   Even tough stains come right out.   Has what the delivery guy to my daughter's recliner says is "pushy fabric."    Push it this way and it looks one way, push it back the other and it looks another way.  Just have to accept this as a property.  Punctures don't self heal -- even seams so get it right the first time.   Also susceptible to heat damage so not the thing for careless smokers or candle burners - will melt and char holes.

Woven polyester is my second favorite.   Holds a lot of dirt without showing it.  Likewise, cleans like a dream.


Acetate
Have not seen this in the field, but we got a sleeper sofa years ago with acetate.  It frayed and disintegrated in just a few years on a relatively unused piece of furniture.   I would not buy it again.

[baileyuph]

Very good information!

Sunbrella makes a lot of fabrics for interior sun rooms, outside patios, and some even pass for semi - formal.  But, the fiber is not my favorite to work with --- frays like mad!

Is acrylic cheaper to process?  I see so much of it.

What is the fiber usually in micro fiber?  It does usually clean well but doesn't hold up well during abrasion. 

Cleaning, do most in home cleaners use steam or is it just a cleaning solution applied by a machine?  Some of these results in near new or as new condition.  Very impressive!

Do I like micro fiber...............?  Not sure, because I see it expanding at the seams and like I said, under friction and stress there are problems.  Some time ago, I read that Microfibre was a process not a fiber....one that took the droppings from other fiber processes and was made into a fabric by the high tech process.

This is a good start, issues like this come up with the customer and it would be beneficial to understand the program.

As far as working with fabrics, the synthetics are not always the most fun, especially if they fray. 

Another off the wall, is Sunbrella a brand or a type of fabric?  Seems it has transitioned in many other types of fabrics lately becoming a brand and a brand that is mostly a synthetic.

For example, ever experience a sunbrella fabric (furniture that has Acrylic and a natural fiber combined? 

Lots going on that has passed me up.

Doyle

[MinUph]

Doyle,
  Sunbrella is a brad name acrylic fabig. It is made by Glen Raven. It is 100% acrylic. There are other acrylics such as Outdura and may be more. They are the best for fading and sun resistance and can be cleaned well. You can even add bleach to clean them and the colors are hard fast.
  Sunbrella will ravel and it is best to cut with a Hot knife but I cut it with sheers all the time and have minimul issues with the cushion weight fabric. The heavy duty canvas weights will ravel more it seems. But that is mainly for boat tops, awnings etc.
  I like microfiber for its cleanability. We had a love seat in Microfiber and had a new years eve party. Wine left the mouth of a guest among other things that the had eaten. The fabric cleaned up with a wet rag like it never happened. We had this love seat for at least 5 years used it all the time in our family room and it showed no signs of wear. I must say it is sometimes hard to work with but for a consumer it is great.

[bobbin]

Puke-proof is always a good thing, eh Paul?  lol

I second the comments on acrylics.  They're solution dyed, which means the color is actually part of the acrylic before it's spun into threads and then woven.  I have experienced fade issues with yellows and reds, but that was in a 24/7 awning situation and that's not the case with most upholstery issues.  I cut it with a hot knife, too.  And when faced with a ravelly, looser weave/textured piece of goods I drive around the pcs. with my overlock machine.

Dealing with slipcovers, I am faced with 100% cotton (denims and twills) all the time.  I don't object to them, but customers usually don't understand that staining can be a real issue, as well as shrinking!  So, I always add the caveat to "torture" with hot water and hot dryer before delivering the goods to me.  Staining, however, is beyond my control and bleaching weakens the fibres over time. 

I have more experience with rayon in a clothing capacity.  In that use I love, love, love it! (marvelous hand and it's easy to care for; I always preshrink before cutting).  But for upholstery? as Hammer. pointed out, it's not terribly abrasion resistant and I'd wonder about stain resistance.  I see it frequently in drapery weight fabrics, usually in concert with cotton or flax. 

Acetate was the bane of a drycleaners existence when I worked for one.  It was cheap and difficult to clean, spotting was always problematic.  Run, run away as fast as you can.  Perhaps inroads have been made in its manufacture, but it seems to show up most often as "filler"; the added fibre that contributes 5 or 6% to the overall content.

Polyester.  The Leisure Suit gave this wonderful fibre its bad reputation.  And that's too bad because it's a great fibre.  It's tough, wears like iron, and it will give up grime and stains easily, and is wonderfully color-fast.  It's a dream to cut and sew, IMO.  I like it best in combination with cotton (50/50 or 40/60%), where it strengthens the cotton, reduces shrinkage, increases stain resistance, and still allows the cotton "feel" to shine through.