Selecting pet-friendly fabrics
If you’re like most pet owners you let them sit with you on your sofa. So to help keep your sanity when it comes to fabrics, here are five things to consider for easy to keep, good looking and longer-lasting fabrics.
1. Leather – Leather can stand up to most pets. It’s easy to clean and the hair doesn’t cling. But on the downside, their nails can scratch and leave holes. So if leather is your thing, I’d use distressed bomber style leather.
2. Microfiber – My personal favorite, also known as ultra suede. It’s easy to maintain as you can clean it with soap and water, the hair comes off with a lint brush and their nails don’t catch in the fabric. It’s also a great long-lasting wear fabric.
3. Crypton – Crypton is a super stain, water and bacteria-resistant fabric. It’s a solution that is engineered right into the fabric, encapsulating every fiber. This fabric is highly used in commercial seating, so you won’t find it in any furniture stores just yet. But if you’re reupholstery I’ll call a designer and search it out. It can be stiffer than normal fabrics, but more and more are being made that are softer to the touch, especially in ultra suede. Water actually runs right off the fabric, so cleaning is a breeze.
4. Double rub – What the heck is double rub? A double rub test is a durability test meant to simulate a person getting into and out of a chair and assessing how the upholstered fabric holds up to wearing against another fabric. The higher the number, the better it wears. This is extremely important in commercial fabric, but every fabric on the market has gone through this testing. Now understand most furniture store salespeople will not know about this. For those pieces that come in one fabric, they’ll have no way of knowing since it’s shipped that way from the manufacturer. But some of the upper-end furniture stores can find out. If you’re re-upholstering make sure to ask your designer what this number is. Here are some guidelines: 15,000 – 20,000 is light to general residential use. 25,000 is heavy-duty residential use. 30,000 + is commercial use.
Don’t be afraid to use a commercial fabric in your home, I do it all the time. It may cost a little more but I find it lasts longer.
5. Open Weaves – These fabrics can be nightmares for pet owners. Hair weaves its way into the fabric and sometimes is impossible to get out without tweezers. Lint rollers and vacuuming get most, but not all. Your pet’s nails can easily get caught, causing possible injury to them and
snags for you.
Take your time when selecting fabric for your upholstery to make sure you are making the right choice for your pet-friendly home.