High performance fabric choices: we love them. Providing beautiful fabrics that also meet the challenge of everyday use is challenging. A very few fabrics on our wall are only suitable for pillows. Otherwise all of our fabrics are good selections for wear and cleaning. However… there are fabric collections that take stain resistance, fade resistance and cleanability to another lever.
At the moment there are four of these collections on our fabric wall. Each collection offers you a somewhat different combination of characteristics. Discuss any specific concerns with your designer so that she can research and help you understand the best choice for your home.
1) Crypton High Performance Fabric
Crypton® Home seals its technology into every fiber through patented technology and woven to pass heavy-duty requirements. This chemistry imparts permanent resistance to spills, odors, and stains to the fabric. The chemicals are screened for environmental and human health concerns. Plus, breathability isn’t sacrificed in the process! High performance fabric, indeed.
Website link for cleaning: Cleaning Crypton fabrics
2) Revolution Performance Fabrics
Revolution® high performance fabric is woven with 100% Olefin yarn, stain resistant, anti-microbial, exceptionally durable and lightfast, yet soft to the touch. They are also bleach cleanable. Revolution fabrics are certified to be PFAS chemical free.
Website link for cleaning: How to clean Revolution fabrics
3) InsideOut High Performance Fabric
InsideOut® high performance fabric pairs superior design with unmatched performance. Fluorine-free technology makes them an environmentally conscious choice. In addition to the core performance qualities of being cleanable and durable, InsideOut is also bleach cleanable, disinfectant spray safe, fade resistant and liquid resistant.
Website link for cleaning: How to clean InsideOut fabric
4) Sunbrella High Performance Fabric
The brand Sunbrella® has come to by synonymous with “high performance fabric”. Sunbrella weaves their fabrics with 100% solution‐dyed acrylic yarn. This means that the yarn receives its color while still in liquid form, before being extruded into filament, and spun into yarn. And more explicitly that the color goes all the way to core of each thread. More importantly, it means that color is a permanent part of such fabrics, withstanding direct sunlight, and even undiluted bleach! Fabrics woven of such yarns are, by definition, extremely color‐fast and cleanable.
Because acrylic yarn is not characterized by a high degree of tensile [breaking] strength, durability of fabrics woven of 100% acrylic would be considered medium. Summarizing, Sunbrella® fabrics have two claims to fabric fame: cleanability and color fastness.
Sunbrella® cleaning details: Cleaning upholstery fabrics:
5) Microfiber Fabrics
“Microfibers” is a generic term referring to fabrics woven of extremely fine filament yarns. Fabric vendors weave these super-fine yarns into fabrics of extremely dense composition. This denseness of yarn
makes it possible for such fabrics to be extremely resistant to wear and seam failure, very stain‐resistant, and easily cleanable. The very definition of high performance fabric.
Cleaning microfibers: You’ll clean almost any stain on a microfiber with a solution of mild soap and water. First, remove any excess substance with a spoon or plastic knife. Then, using a clean white cloth, simply rub the stained area using gentle circular strokes. The stain will be removed. This even includes mustard stains! Blot with a damp clean sponge or white cloth, and gently brush the fabric nap to aid drying.
The good news is that BY DESIGN has many sources and many, many different beautiful choices that offer you the high performance fabric that you need for your home. Ask lots of questions. Share our designers knowledge. We can make this work for you.
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