INTERIOR DECORATION COURSE

TEXTILES 1

FURNISHING FABRICS:

Decorating and transforming space with fabrics is a reversible process; fabrics are
usually easily interchangeable (e.g. the old tradition of summer and winter curtains),
and therefore the use of them can be responsive to moods, weather, and occasion.
Before selecting fabrics, the functional, aesthetic and psychological aspects of the
interior you are hoping to achieve need to be taken into consideration.

Why fabrics?
to transform the spatial impression, and possibly dimensions, of an interior
to reflect the taste and interests of the occupant/s (gender, profession, cultural
background, attitude, etc)
to add colour and pattern in interior decoration
to give warmth and comfort, both thermal (insulation) and aesthetic and emotional
(texture and colour)
to control the play of light filtering, absorbing, reflecting, depending on fabric type
and use
to change the acoustics of the interior architecture, e.g. by reducing the echo
to add a sensation of comfort and luxury
to give period authenticity through colour, pattern, motifs and scale
to allow privacy

How to achieve these effects

You need to take into account the properties of fabric, from the fibre/s (often a
combination of natural and synthetic is used), to the fabric structure, to the finish/es
(dyeing, printing, embossing, flame retardant treatments, etc) and, of course the
aesthetics of pattern, colour, scale and texture.
The following section concentrates on the practical considerations; but of course,
these have an aesthetic dimension. The physical and chemical properties are
measurable; however, the "look" and "feel" of what is appropriate is more difficult to
judge, being more subjective and individual.

Properties of fabric
Where to find out
Some of the fabric properties listed below will be evident in the fabric swatch itself,
or on the specifications label attached to it. Others (e.g. colour fastness, rub count)
can only be got from the company, through the Customer Services, Quality Control
department, or the Production Manager (depending on the nature and the structure
of the company).

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The label on your fabric swatch will normally indicate:

1.

Fibres

NATURAL FIBRES
ANIMAL
Short staple

(PROTEIN)
Wool (sheep/lambs), cashmere (goats), angora (angora
rabbits), mohair (angora goats) alpaca, vicuna, camel, yak etc.,
(Must be spun to create a yarn for weaving).
Horse hair (tail hair can only be used in the weft with cotton,
linen or silk in the warp creates narrow width fabrics.)
Silk (unravelled, the cocoon produces over a kilometre of
yarn)

Medium staple
Long staple:
VEGETABLE
Seed head:
Bast or stem:
Leaf:

(CELLULOSIC)
Cotton, coir (coconut), kapok
Flax/linen, hemp, jute, ramie
Sisal, manila
(MAN MADE from regenerated/modified cellulosic
plant or paper waste)
Viscose, Modal, Acetate, Triacetate, rubber etc.,

MINERAL

2.

(SYNTHETICS from petrochemicals or coal-tar)

Polyamide (nylon), Polyester, Acrylic, Modacrylic,
Elastomeric (includes Lycra)
(ROCK)
Asbestos
(METAL)
Gold/silver thread

Yarns

2 categories of yarns: filament and staple

Filament is continuous (e.g. synthetics when first extruded, and silk)
Staple is a shorter length (either cut or broken filament, or the natural length of a
single animal hair or plant fibre) which is then spun (twisted) into yarn
Density of yarn is measured in TEX: i.e. the weight in grams of 1000 metres of yarn
e.g.
6= fine yarn (higher density)
20= coarser yarn
Generally, higher density yarns are used for the warp. The higher the density in both
warp sand weft yarns, the higher quality the cloth (more durable).

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3.

Cloths: Structure

Woven fabrics of warp (lengthwise) and weft (crosswise) threads intersected at right
angles; the density, functional behaviour, drape, and texture, are all conditioned by
the cloth structure see Appendix for fabric types and uses.
Non-woven fabrics of bonded fibres, such as felt; note that baize is a woven cloth,
felted in the finishing process.
Knitted fabrics generally warp-knitted, for stretch upholstery, and also some sheer
fabrics

4.

Durability testing
a) Flame retardance: this is currently a big issue in the UK, due to new
government legislation introduced in March 1990, which applies to
domestic as well as contract use. The following flammability code is used
by many fabric manufacturers and converters:
A
B
C
G
H
L
M
N

resistant to smouldering cigarette tested over standard foam

resistant to smouldering cigarette tested over standard foam plus 2.5
oz polyester wrap
resistant to smouldering cigarette tested over low density CMHR
foam 24/26Kg/M3
Schedule 3 interliner resistant to ignition source tested over standard
foam
match resistant
trimming exempt from regulations
exempt fabric: must be used with a schedule 3 (source 5) interior
not yet tested

N.B. flame proofing causes changes in colour; and therefore possible problems in
colour matching; best to send a batch cutting to the flame-proofing for testing. Some
retail stores will arrange proofing for you but you might be charged around 3.00
per metre. An alternative is to use flame-retardant backing cloth.
b) Colour fastness: many firms will not guarantee fabric against colour
fading. In the United States a 1-5 rating system is used, ranging from Class
5 (no or negligible fading or colour alteration) to class 1 (excessive fading
or alteration of colour). but in Western Europe the standard is the xenon
fadometer, registering a scale of 1-8; ratings of 6 and above are
considered good. Sunlight is the crucial factor, though heat, dust, gas
fumes and abrasion also effect change.
c) Crocking i.e. dye loss through excess dyestuff rubbing off onto another
fabric is measured on a similar scale as colour fastness; denim suffer
crocking, which is more a problem for the second fabric than itself.
d) Colour abrasion can happen with fabrics printed with thick or light
coloured pigments, does cause considerable change in the appearance of
colour. When cleaning, follow manufacturers' recommendations very
often dry cleaning will be recommended.

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e) Abrasion: the Martindale Wear and Abrasion Test is the most accurate
measure of durability, because it best simulates normal wear; normal
wear is caused by friction between clothing (apparel fabric) and
upholstery fabric. The Martindale test involves moving a foam- backed,
wool cloth abradent in a multidirectional pattern, to simultaneously test
both warp and weft. The test is measured by the number of rubs with
stood by the fabric without noticeable wear, approximately as follows:
light upholstery
medium or residential
contract or heavy-duty

10,000
20,000
40,000

The Martindale method is widely used in Europe, and is the standard

adopted by the international Wool Secretariat but there are other testing
systems in operation, too.
f) Tear Strength: measured in Kilograms, by tearing one thread at a
time along a lien between adjacent threads
g) Tensile Strength: measured in kilograms, by pulling fabric in a direction
perpendicular to the yarns
h) Dimensional stability (shrinking) measured as a percentage
i) Crease recovery: plain weave is the worst fabric for creasing;
performance depends o fibre/s and structure, also finishing treatments.
j) Drape quality: generally, the freer the yarns/looser the weave, the
better the fabric drapes
k) Busting strength
l) Pilling: measured on 5-1 scale (photographic comparison) pilling is the
"bubbling" effect of abrasion of the fabric's surface: longer staples and
interlaced yarn construction are better to avoid pilling.
m) Snag test: in furnishing fabrics, especially for upholstery, it is important
to avoid cloths which have long floats on the face, which could easily get
caught in jewellery, etc...

5.

Dyes and Pigments

N.B colour appearance is susceptible to change in different lights daylight is

more blue; store light is more red.
Dyes are colouring substances which become chemically bound with the cloth;
different families of dyestuff are used for different fibres
Pigments are colouring matter bound in emulsion, which physically anchors onto
the cloth; these can be metallic or pearlised also pigment white.
Colour can be applied directly to fibres, yarns, (for warp- printing and colour
wovens), or cloths (piece-dyed). Different aesthetic effects can be achieved with
resists (e.g. wax in batik, binding threads in ikat) which prevent dye from
penetrating the fibres, and with discharge/colour discharge patterns printed onto
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a dyed fabric (the discharge takes away the background colour, and substituting it
with another as in colour discharge printing) used for cloths with dark
backgrounds. The fastest dyestuffs are the vat dyes expensive.

6.

Printing

Block printing; used for furnishing textiles, from the very beginning of printed
textile production in Europe to today (though very little is done now very
expensive and a dying skill)
Copper plate printing also historic method of printing.
Copper roller printing very rarely done today: uneconomical
Screen printing is in general use (derived from stencilling): flat-bed and rotary
hand, semi automatic, and fully automatic: rotary printing is the most economical
(in conjunction with pigments) being the fastest but it does the size of repeat;
flat bed produces better quality and more versatility.

7.

Finishing

Standard finishes: scouring or boiling off "grey" cloth; shrinking to a density

controlled by a tenter frame; fabrics to be printed and dyed will be bleached and
maybe mercerized and pre-shrunk; thermoplastic synthetic fibres are heat- set to
make them permanently conform to their interlacing structure; wools may be
carbonized in acid to remove vegetable matter, then sheared or singed to
remove surface fibres; tweeds are then pressed with a fabric-covered roller;
worsteds and cloths of most other fibres are calendared i.e. pressed under
steel rollers to produce lustre; linens may be beetled to flatten yarns and create
shiny surface.
Special finishes: include cire, high lustre glaze, produced with wax or resins and
hot rollers; embossing, pressing pattern into a surface with a hot engraved roller;
fulling or milling, shrinking woollen cloths to a controlled degree, sometimes to
the point of felting followed by napping, shearing and calendaring; glazing,
polishing smooth cloths with waxes or resins and hot steel rollers including
chintz Everglaze process is relatively durable; moir, producing characteristics
swirling pattern with reflective highlights best produced by passing two ribbed
fabrics face-to-face between two smooth rollers, causing displacement of fibres
and deflected light patterns as a result (moir effect may be imitated by pressing
fabric with engraved cylinders, or by printing with lustrous pigment); napping
involves raising fibre ends to surface by means of rollers covered with emery
cloth, metal teeth, or teasels if sheared, may resemble a pile blanketing and
other cloths are brushed to improve warmth and softness of handle.
Functional finishes: N.B many standard and special finishes have functional
advantages but the following are chemical or wet finishes: mothproofing; wrinkle
resistance unnecessary with certain cloths which have natural resistance, but
synthetics may need to be heat-set into a permanently pressed state; antiseptic
or antibacterial finishes may be used for institutions, or in certain climates to
prevent mildew; soil-repellent finishes such as Scotchguard and Zepel; soilrelease finishes for table linens and furnishings with a high polyester content and
treated with permanent press and/or resin finish, to prevent oily substances from
being permanently locked into the fibres; antistatic finishes increase moisture
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content and reduce static electricity in synthetics, especially nylons; many flame
retardant finishes have been developed recently, and are subject to much more
research due to new UK fire regulations.

8.

Repeat and scale of pattern

Grids (squares/medallions/rectangles/lozenges/ogees/trellises)
Drop repeats (rather like the effect of intersecting lozenges/quatrefoils,
etc)
Horizontal and vertical stripes (the latter may turn into curving stems,
and may climb up a diagonal axis)
With the jacquard, the size of repeat is almost infinite; of course,
requires much more time to set up with painting, block printing and
hand screen printing the repeat is also infinite.
But when using shafts to control the weave pattern, or rollers/rotary
screens for printing, the repeat is limited there are, of course, many
economic advantages in restricting the size of repeat aesthetic ones,
too, in certain cases.

9.

Distribution of colour

It is possible to achieve fantastic all- over effects by mixing colour, e.g. in shot silks,
checks, stripes which can be woven with the simplest of looms i.e. with only two
shafts
In hand weaving, you have much more versatility (as in embroidery or intarsia
knitting) and can therefore place colour in an incidental way (may use up old scraps
of thread; but not economical to use too many colours in commercial production)
But in mechanized weaving, colour must be thrown across from selvedge to
selvedge, and tensioned from one end to the other of the warp; unless stripes are
deliberately intended, the designer must try to avoid annoying "banding" of colour
In printed textiles, the greater the number of colours, the more expensive the fabric.

10.
Wool
Linen
Cotton
Silk
Horsehair

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Natural Properties of the raw material.

Inherently fire resistant. It is a good at insulating from heat loss.
Breathable, making it cool in hot weather. Any perspiration gets
held inside the core or lumen. May be washed at high temperatures.
Is similar to linen, but the lumen is not so large, so less moisture
can be held inside its yarn. May be washed but not at such high
temperatures.
A good insulating material. Can be crushed, and then hung out to
loose creases.
From the tail, which is the cooling mechanism for the horse. The tail
hair is hollow, so curled horse hair is used in mattresses to keep
people cool in summer.