Every serious upholstery fabric comes with one. Tap a line on the example sheet to see what it means and what to look for.
Not a product listing. The numbers show a typical sheet.
The usable width of the fabric between the selvedges. Most upholstery goods are 54 inches wide; some drapery and wide-width goods run 118 inches or more.
Yardage charts assume 54-inch fabric. Narrower goods need more; wider goods may need less, depending on how the pieces are cut.
How far the pattern travels before it starts again: vertically (V) down the length and horizontally (H) across the width. Every cut has to start at the same point of the pattern, so the leftover between repeats is waste.
As a rule of thumb, a repeat around 13 inches adds about 10% to the yardage and one around 27 inches adds 25% or more. Plains and small textures have no repeat to match.
With a straight match, the pattern lines up straight across the seam. With a half-drop, the pattern on one side sits half a repeat lower than the other, so matching a seam uses more fabric. The workroom needs to know which one before cutting.
Railroaded fabric is woven so the pattern runs along the length of the roll, sideways to the usual direction. That lets an upholsterer run one piece along a sofa back or seat without a seam. Patterns with a clear up and down usually can't be railroaded.
The fibres by percentage. Linen and cotton breathe and feel natural but crease and can shrink if wet-cleaned. Polyester, olefin and acrylic add strength and stain resistance. Wool is resilient and naturally slow to catch fire. Content also drives the cleaning code.
How many rubs the fabric survives in a lab test before showing wear. There are two methods, and their numbers can't be converted into each other: Wyzenbeek (ASTM D4157) counts "double rubs", Martindale (ASTM D4966) counts cycles.
The Association for Contract Textiles (ACT) recommends at least 15,000 double rubs or 20,000 Martindale cycles for low-traffic upholstery, and 30,000 double rubs or 40,000 cycles for high-traffic use. ACT also notes that results far above that are not a measure of how many years a fabric will last.
W: water-based cleaners. S: solvent-based cleaners only, no water. WS (or S/W): either. X: vacuum or light brushing only, no liquids. Test any cleaner on a hidden spot or a scrap first, and leave anything beyond a spot to a professional cleaner.
California Technical Bulletin 117-2013 is a smoulder test for upholstered furniture: a lit cigarette on the fabric over a standard filling. It became the basis of the US federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture in 2021, so most furniture fabric sheets state whether the fabric passes.
California's AB 2998 bans the sale of new upholstered furniture and some other products containing more than 1,000 ppm of added flame-retardant chemicals. Sheets often state "no added flame retardants" or confirm compliance.
What the mill tested and intends the fabric for: upholstery, drapery, multipurpose or bedding. A drapery-only fabric usually hasn't passed the abrasion or seam tests that upholstery needs, so it won't last on a seat.
Sources: Association for Contract Textiles performance guidelines; Kravet product specification format; Famcor Fabrics on cleaning codes and yardage. General guidance; always follow the mill's own instructions.
Past the guideline for your use, not necessarily. ACT says high results aren't an indicator of lifespan, and repeat tests on the same fabric can vary a lot. Weave, fibre, pilling and colourfastness matter as much.
No. The tests use different motions and abradants, and there's no reliable conversion. Compare each against its own guideline: 20,000 or 40,000 Martindale cycles, 15,000 or 30,000 double rubs.
Vacuum or brush only. No water and no solvent cleaners, which can leave rings or damage the fibres. It's common on some natural and delicate fabrics.
