Common Types of Fabric Construction for Curtains and Upholstery - Part 1

Robert Anderson from Curtain Clean (Hawkes Bay Chem-Dry)

When it comes to home interiors and soft furnishings there really is a vast range of curtain and upholstery fabrics to choose from, all with varying attributes for certain applications. To ensure you start your project off with the right foundations, you need to be selecting a fabric that is most suited to its purpose.

There are various textile constructions/qualities that fall within five fabric “types” we describe in an earlier article. In this two-part article we will discuss the most commonly manufactured constructions that you see in the market today.

DAMASK: Damasks are traditional jacquard fabrics, which were originally woven in a single colour, where the design and ground are in contrasting weaves, (generally using warp-faced and weft-faced satin weaves).

CHINTZ: Chintz is a closely woven plain fabric, traditionally cotton, with a shiny and lustrous appearance. The fabric is processed with a glazed or calendared finish to give it a polished look.

FELT: Felt is matted fabric with a predominantly woollen composition. There are two types of felt, woven and un-woven. Felting of woven wool fabric is achieved by interlocking the natural scales on the surface of wool fibres through heat, moisture, steam, pressure and friction.

FIL COUPÉ: A small jacquard pattern on a lightweight fabric, in which the fil/weft threads connecting each pattern/motif are cut and removed from the reverse of the fabric leaving the remaining pattern/motif with frayed edges.

FAUX-LEATHER (VINYL): Polyvinyl chloride (commonly abbreviated as PVC or referred to as vinyl) is the third-most widely produced polymer after polyethylene and polypropylene. It should not be washed with cleaning solvents, but more specifically only a mixture of gentle soap and warm water.

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