Here at Plumbs, we’re proud to offer a 3 year guarantee for fabric and workmanship on all our sofa covers, sofa reupholstery and made-to-measure curtains. The reality is, of course, that good quality reupholstery will last for a great many years longer!
Sofa upholstery must be strong in its own right – a high quality, durable fabric – as well as having seams that will take a lot of stress and strain. Which fabrics are the best for sofa reupholstery, which will stay looking fabulous for longer and working hard for your family?
It’s a subjective answer – and partly based in fact. The materials the fabric is made from have particular characteristics that you might value highly. On the other hand, its ‘rub count’ assesses its durability.
What makes a good quality fabric?
1. Materials
The material that sofa reupholstery fabrics are made from is always a balance between looks and practicality. For example, Plumbs offers a choice of sofa reupholstery fabrics, a choice that allows you to choose the sofa rupholstery fabric that suits your tastes and lifestyle.
As well as 100% cotton and ployester, many of our best selling fabrics are blends that make the most of the strongest characteristics of the fabrics.
- 100% Polyester fabrics, like Cardinal Marine. The Cardinal range (49 colours) has a velvety feel but is surprisingly hard-wearing and can be washed by hand or in a washing machine. Polyester is stain resistant and looks good after it’s been washed.
- 100% Cotton fabrics, like Cornucopia Natural, a themes of seeds, flowers and nuts that can look traditional or modern, depending on your decor. Cotton is easy on human skin – it’s hypoallergenic. On sofa upholstery, it’s dry clean only.
- Linen-Cotton-Nylon blends, like the William Morris Snakeshead in indigo/hemp or claret/gold, which is dry clean only. The Morris sofa reupholstery fabrics are part of The Plumbs Prestige Range, along with fabrics from Jim Dickens, Clarke & Clarke, and others.
- Polyester-Viscose blends, like Kingfisher from Umbra, a collection of luxurious velvets in fashionable colours that bring glamour into your home. Also from our Prestige range, this fabric is dry clean only.
- Cotton-Polyester blends, like Peacock from Bayswater, a range which has 42 colours of sofa reupholstery fabric, which is washable by hand or by washing machine.
- Cotton-Polyester-Acrylic-Polyamide-Other blends like Arcadia Pebble. This is one of 4 stunning colours in the Arcadia range, which has a recycled composition to comply with the Global Recycled Standard. PFC Free and protected against mites and bacteria. And it’s hand or machine washable!
At a glance: materials
- Polyester is versatile, hard-wearing, easy to care for, and stain resistant
- Cotton is naturally hypoallergenic, looks classy and fresh, and needs extra care
- Blends, in varying combinations, bring out different characteristics of a fabric
- Recycled fabrics are suitable for sofa covers and sofa reupholstery
2. Rub count (durability)
The rub count of a fabric is a measure of its durability against wear-and-tear – literally, how many times can it be rubbed against itself or another object, repeatedly, before it starts to fray, tear and so on.
The higher the rub count, the stronger the fabric. As a benchmark, the majority of our fabrics for sofa reupholstery and loose sofa covers have a rub count of at least 20,000. However, most of our best-sellers are double this, and our best-selling Cardinal sofa fabrics are a 60,000 rub!
At a glance: rub counts
- General domestic textiles are 10k rubs
- Most of our best selling fabrics are 40k+
- Plumb’s Cardinal fabric is a 60k rub
- Generally, we launch ones that are 20k+
How to choose what’s right for you
It’s hard to say which is ‘best’ because everyone needs something different from their sofa!
- If you’ve got children or grandchildren, you might want a more stain resistant quality or something you can throw in the washing machine.
- If you’re house proud and don’t mind regular visits from your upholstery dry cleaner, you won’t feel constrained by choice of fabrics.
- Reupholstery is a more eco-friendly choice than a new sofa, and you can take this further by choosing lovely recycled sofa fabrics that you can wash at home too.
Free swatches and a free consultation
Why not browse our sofa fabrics and shortlist a few favourites? We’ll send you a free swatch pack of your chosen samples in the post.
When you’re ready to talk through your options and order your sofa reupholstery, it’s time to book a free visit from your local consultant. They have a lot of experience and can make sure your sofa gets the makeover you deserve.
