Tips for Picking Upholstery Fabric

I’ve had a few pieces of vintage furniture recovered (both professionally reupholstered and also DIY), so I thought that I’d share some tips for picking upholstery fabric – along with some upholstery before and afters!  Choosing upholstery fabric can be overwhelming.  There are a lot of patterns and colors and fabric types to choose from – plus there’s the added pressure of knowing that custom upholstery can be expensive!  Even if you choose to DIY a furniture upholstery job, the upholstery fabric itself can be fairly expensive.  So let me help you choose the best upholstery fabric for your project with some tips for picking upholstery fabric.

Pay Attention to the Double Rub Count:

The first thing you want to do is make sure you’re looking at upholstery fabric that will be durable enough for your project.  What is the double rub count?  It’s a way to measure the durability of an upholstery fabric.  The double rub is determined by using something called the Wyzenbeek Abrasion Test, which simulates the kind of wear furniture gets from fabric (on your person) rubbing against the fabric of the furniture.  The furniture is tested until noticeable wear develops.  A fabric with fewer than 3000 double rubs is too delicate for upholstery, while fabric with 15,000+ double rubs is considered “heavy duty” and is great for high traffic areas.  You’ll usually find the Double Rub rating on the back of a fabric sample (see above).

Wyzenbeek vs Martindale Test for Upholstery Fabric:

You might also see reference to the Martindale test, which measures how many rubs before the fibers of the fabric are broken.  The Martindale test is a test of failure, but before a fabric breaks down, it might look and feel terrible with pilling, fading, stretching, etc.

What is the Best Double Rub Count for Upholstery:

Choosing a double rub for your upholstery project will depend on your lifestyle.  Is this a sofa your family and pets will be using every day?  Or is it an occasional chair in a spare bedroom?  If you’re shopping in store the sales associate will likely help you choose the best fabrics for durability, but if you’re shopping online for upholstery fabric here’s a little guide to help you:

1. Fewer than 3000 = delicate duty: too delicate for upholstery
2. 3000-9000 = light duty: suitable for lighter use pieces, not daily wear
3. 9000-15000 = medium duty: perfect for the average living space
4. 15000+ = heavy duty, great for high traffic areas (can hold up to kids and pets best) 
5. 30000+ = commercial duty, great for airports, restaurants, etc.

What to Look for When Buying Upholstery Fabric:

• What is the double rub rating (See the ratings above)
• Is it stain resistant? (Some fabrics repel stains)
• Can it be cleaned?
• Is it colorfast? (Some fabrics can better resist the sun’s UV rays while others fade easily)
• Will it pill? (Smoother, more tightly woven fabrics will typically pill less)

What is the Best Fabric for Upholstery:

The best fabric for upholstery will depend on your lifestyle, preferences, etc.,  But if you want VERY broad advice, look for upholstery fabric with a 15000+ double rub rating and a tighter woven fabric – nothing loose, because it can pill, and also things can get caught in loose woven fabric (like pet nails).  Also dust and pet hair love a grippy, textured fabric!  Look for a smooth, durable fabric that is advertised as easy to clean.  Try to avoid super light or super dark colors, as both of those can show dust and dirt.  Patterns will hide stains/flaws better, but solids or subtly printed patterns will be more timeless if longevity is a concern.  Above all, pick something you LOVE!!

Have an Aesthetic Idea in Mind Before Upholstery Fabric Shopping:

Before you start shopping for upholstery fabric, start paying attention to furniture and fabric you like (use a Pinterest board to keep your inspiration in one place).  It helps to have a starting point because a good fabric store or upholstery business will probably have an unruly selection of upholstery fabric.  When I first went shopping for upholstery fabric, there were multiple stores with tens of thousands of samples EACH.  Eventually I found a favorite upholsterer in my city and only went there but, still, flipping through all of the samples and books could have take days, maybe weeks.  Having a rough idea in mind helped to narrow down the search.  Sometimes a starting point can be really specific: for the teak dining chairs below, I knew I wanted black and white houndstooth – but that still yielded dozens of samples.  Sometimes a starting point is a bit more broad: for my teal velvet chair makeover, I knew I wanted teal or turquoise – I thought tweed, but was open to other suggestions.

Take Some Photos of Your Room (and Bring Them):

If I’m shopping for upholstery fabric in a brick & mortar store, I always bring a photo of the room I think the upholstered piece will be going into, as well as a photo of the furniture piece in question.  When I chose fabric for the teak chair in our townhouse guest room, I kept misremembering the shades of green in the room.  Having a photo of the room handy (on my phone) not only helped me remember, but also helped the salespeople pinpoint my style.  Bringing in paint swatches and samples of other design elements (especially other textiles in the room) is also helpful.  As an example, I wanted to recover a vintage chair for this guestroom:

In the store, I kept pulling much too muted greens (in their lighting, they seemed more vibrant).  The top sample (below) is one recommended to me at the store.  I thought it was way too bright – the bottom ones are the patterns I kept insisting were the right color:

But look how that top fabric was perfect all along!  It’s a good thing I brought photos of my room and the artwork into the store, because it helped the salespeople guide me to the perfect fabric choice.

Keep an Open Mind:

I’m upfront and specific about my style, so salespeople can help understand what I’m looking for.  BUT I also make sure to keep an open mind.  Like I showed you above, when I brought home samples for the mint chair, the prints I was fixated on were horrible once I got them home, but the print the salesperson had pushed on me – she literally FORCED me it take home – was the one that I ended up choosing.  She knew my style better than me, especially after looking at photos of the room and chair.  So if you’re working with professionals, it doesn’t hurt to listen to their suggestions.  You can see more photos of the minty chair and fabric in this post.

Bring Lots of Samples Home:

On that notes, bring LOTS of samples home – even ones you might not love the most in the store, because the lighting will likely be very different there.  I play fast and loose with the samples I bring home.  What I have fallen in love with in the store has been blah at home and what has seemed garish under their bright lighting has looked much more mellow in my space.

Look at Samples Day + Night:

Lighting can change colors so much!  Make sure to look at your fabric samples, at home, in all kinds of lighting (daylight/lamps but also cloudy days, sunny days).  You’d hate to end up with an upholstery fabric on a large sofa that looks awful in the evening, when you’re ready to curl up on it.

Sometimes the difference is DRAMATIC!  And what looks super cute in the sunlight can read really dull at night.  The photos below are of the same velvet, taken with the same camera, but taken in different light and at different angles.

Try to Get as BIG an Upholstery Fabric Sample Size as Possible!

I try to get as big a sample as possible.  Some companies provide stores with large samples, often on a hanger, but others provide smaller ones in a book.  Some companies provide different sizes so, when possible, I snag the bigger samples because they are always more helpful when it comes to envisioning the finished piece:

Check Prices Right Away – Before You Fall in Love:

I check the prices right away.  I don’t want to fall in love with something that’s out of the question.  I also let the store clerks know my upholstery budget, so they won’t show me teasingly expensive swatches either.  (If I do accidentally fall in love with a pricey print, I know I can always order a small piece for a pillow or save it for a special small piece, like a footstool).

How to Choose Timeless Upholstery Fabric:

When in doubt, I choose a textured solid, like tweed or velvet, or a timeless pattern like houndstooth.  Pattern trends come and go (remember chevron???) but if a print/pattern has been popular through multiple decades/design trends, it’s a good sign it won’t look dated or tired in the future.  But if you’re scared of printed furniture, a solid will always be in style.  And a solid piece of furniture can always be freshened up with a patterned throw pillow, but it can be pricey to overhaul a piece completely if you grow weary of the pattern.  A solid is also a good choice if the final room of a piece is undetermined – or you like to mix things up a lot in your home decor.  Since reupholstering this vintage chair in teal velvet, it’s worked in so many spaces and, more than 10 years later, I still love it!

If you really want to play it safe, you also can’t go wrong with a neutral.  To make it more interesting, play with the sheen/texture of a solid fabric, like these tweed inspired fabrics:

Last Tips for Picking Upholstery Fabric:

I’m always tense about shopping for bigger ticket items.  I can’t afford to re-do a large purchase or makeover if I don’t like what I bought or did.  But, the best advice (for me, especially) has to be this:  I just relax and go with what makes me the most excited.  You can feel it in your heart when you’ve found the right fabric, and you want to wear it like a cape all day long.  The second best advice is to accept help from trusted professionals.  I found a great upholstery place in our city (Kessels) and they were fabulous at helping me choose the perfect fabrics.  They also did beautiful custom upholstery work.  Now that I’ve moved to a different city, I don’t know what I’ll do without them!

Furniture Upholstery Before & After Photos:

One of my tips for picking upholstery fabric was to spend a lot of time looking at upholstered fabric – to see what you like, or don’t like!  Let me start your search with some of my own upholstered furniture makeovers.

Mid-Century Chair Velvet Custom Upholstery Before + After:

DIY Dining Chair Upholstery Before + After:

Mid-Century Sofa Professional Upholstery Before + After:

Mid-Century Dining Chair DIY Upholstery Before + After:

We also recovered these chairs a second time, when I gave them to my Mom for her Pink and Grey Kitchen Makeover.

Vintage Teak Custom Upholstery Before + After: