When it comes to choosing the upholstery material for furniture, be either a sofa, an armchair, a chair, a wall panel or potentially any piece of furniture, the offer is extremely generous, both in terms of type of material and especially in terms of colors the producers come up with.
If the color part is strictly a matter of personal option, when we reffer to the type of material for upholstery we would argue there are a few factors one should consider when making the choice. Thus, first to consider would be the nature of the place to be furnished: commercial or domestic? For domestic places which are commonly places with less traffic, one can choose elegant fabrics with complex patterns. For commercial places (such as: restaurants, cafés, bars , showrooms and so on), due to the intense traffic, a durable and easy cleaning material would be a wise choice. In this case, an example would be the eco-leather, available in a wide range of patterns and colors. Eco leather is a high durable, resistent to intense traffic material and it basically doesn’t need any special effort or special maneuvers for cleaning. Additionally, it gives a modern tint to furniture. For heavy traffic places, other options are fabrics specially manufactured for this purpose. Woven patterns hold up longer than printed ones. There are also water repellent fabrics which are definitely a wise choice for restaurant, bar or cafés furniture.
When choosing the upholstery material one has to also take into consideration the so called Martindale test. Through a special procedure, materials are checked for their durability and suitability for various uses. The higher the value after the Martindale test is, the more durable and sustainable the material is. As an example:
- materials with Martindale values between 10.000 and 15.000 are recommended for light domestic use, meaning for furniture that will receive only occasional use;
- materials with Martindale values between 15.000 and 30.000 are recommended also for domestic use, but those with a higher frequency usage;
- materials with Martindale values over 30.000 are considered extremely durable and are recommended in cases of very frequent usage and heavy traffic. Such materials are suitable for restaurant furniture, for bar furniture and for cafés furniture for instance.
