We work with a number of fabric suppliers from across the UK, bringing our customers plenty of choice and options to give their piece of furniture a new lease of life and personality with the right upholstery fabrics.
Choosing the right fabric makes all the difference. It’s important to take your lifestyle into consideration.
We are always happy to discuss the suitability of certain fabric types for specific reupholstery projects and your way of life.
There is a very extensive choice of upholstery fabrics in the UK so it can be a bit overwhelming to choose THE upholstery fabric for your needs. Here are a few pointers to help you choose the right upholstery fabric.
How to choose upholstery fabrics?
Proper upholstery fabrics
There is a vast choice of fabric on the market which retailers mark as suitable for upholstery. Be careful! You should take a few things into consideration to ensure the fabric you select will stand the test of time for the piece being reupholstered.
In the UK, fabrics are given a wear and tear rating called a Martindale rating. Fabric manufacturers subject the fabric to a rub test to see how durable their product is. So depending whether you will use your newly upholstered piece occasionally – headboards, bedroom chairs – or every day with pets and children around – armchairs, chairs, sofas – your upholstery fabric will need to be able to endure more wear and tear.
We recommend you use upholstery fabric with a minimum rating of 30,000 in a domestic setting. After all, you want to invest in reupholstering a piece which will look great for as long as possible.
For our commercial clients, not only do they need to choose a higher Martindale rating, there are additional factors to take into consideration such as stricter Fire Regulations. Contract fabric is usually thicker and heavier. Mind you, there is nothing stopping you from using contract quality fabric for your home.
The colour scheme
The best place to start with is most probably the colour scheme. This will help you to narrow down your options fairly quickly. Consider your current decor and major furniture pieces in the room. You might want to contrast with your decor or compliment it.
Pattern or plain upholstery fabrics?
Should you go for a plain or patterned upholstery fabric? Well obviously that will depend on your personal taste. Do keep in mind that the size of the pattern can totally change the look of your reupholstered piece.
Stretch or no stretch?
Some pieces of furniture will benefit from using certain types of fabrics. A slightly stretchy wool based fabric will certainly be much more suitable to recover an egg chair for example. We can advise you on that front.
Upholstery fabric suppliers
Here is a list of some suppliers we work with. Please feel free to browse through their websites and request samples. We can then discuss the suitability of your chosen fabric, faux leather or real leather for your specific item of furniture.
Happy browsing!
Price enquiries
If you would like more details about our upholstery fabric prices, please send us a request. Inquire about upholstery fabric prices.