How to Choose Upholstery Fabric: The Complete NZ Buyer’s Guide

Choosing upholstery fabric is where most projects go right or wrong. Pick well and a sofa looks good for fifteen years. Pick badly and it pills, fades or wears through in two. This guide covers the five things that actually matter — and how to read the specs on any fabric page, ours or anyone else’s.

1. Start with how the piece will be used

Before you look at a single swatch, be honest about the job the fabric has to do. A bedroom chair that gets sat on twice a week has completely different needs from the family sofa where the dog sleeps and the kids eat toast. Ask three questions: How many hours a day will it be sat on? Who (and what) will be sitting on it? Will it see direct sun, spills or salt air?

The answers point you to a durability tier, and that’s the first filter for everything that follows.

2. Understand the Martindale rub count

The Martindale test rubs a fabric sample against a standard abrasive in a figure-eight motion until threads break. The number of cycles it survives is its rating. It’s the single most useful durability number on a fabric spec sheet.

Martindale rating	Suitable for	Examples
Under 15,000	Decorative only	Cushions, curtains, headboard panels
15,000–25,000	Light domestic	Occasional chairs, bedroom furniture
25,000–40,000	General domestic	Everyday sofas and armchairs
40,000–60,000	Heavy domestic	Family sofas, dining chairs, pets
60,000–100,000	Light–general commercial	Cafés, offices, reception seating
100,000+	Severe commercial	Hospitality, healthcare, public transport

3. Know your fibres

Composition tells you how a fabric will feel, wear and clean. Most upholstery fabrics are blends, and that’s usually a good thing — the blend balances the strengths of each fibre.

• Polyester — the workhorse. Strong, colour-fast, resists stretching and abrasion, easy to clean. Solution-dyed polyester is nearly fade-proof. Can pill if the weave is loose.
• Cotton — soft and breathable with a matte, natural look. Takes colour beautifully but fades in sun and marks easily unless treated. Best blended.
• Linen — cool, textured and elegant. Creases and shows wear faster than synthetics; think of it as a lifestyle choice for relaxed, loose-cover looks.
• Wool — naturally flame-resistant, resilient and warm. Premium price, and moths love it, but nothing ages quite so gracefully.
• Acrylic — the outdoor champion. Solution-dyed acrylic laughs at UV and mildew, which is why it’s the standard for marine and outdoor work.
• Viscose / rayon — adds sheen and drape (it’s what gives velvet its glow) but is weak when wet. Fine in a blend, risky on its own.

4. Weave, pile and pattern

Flat weaves (linen-look, tweeds, performance weaves) are the most forgiving to work with: no pile direction, easy to pattern-match, and they take corners well. Pile fabrics (velvet, chenille, corduroy) look luxurious but have a nap — the surface reflects light differently depending on direction — so every panel must be cut the same way. Allow an extra 10–15% and mark the nap on the back of every piece. Boucle and looped textures hide seams and wear well but can snag; keep cats in mind.

Patterns need matching across seams and cushions, which means more fabric and more skill. As a rule: plain fabric, quantity ×1; small all-over pattern, ×1.1; large repeat or stripe, ×1.2–1.3.

5. Read the cleaning code

Every upholstery fabric carries a cleaning code, and it tells you what a spill will cost you. W means water-based cleaners are fine (the easiest to live with). S means solvent-only — water leaves rings. W/S means either. X means vacuum only, which is a hard no for anything with children. If a fabric doesn’t state its code, ask before you buy.

How many metres do you need?

These estimates assume 140cm-wide plain fabric. Add the pattern and pile allowances above.

Piece	Metres (approx.)
Dining chair seat only	0.5
Dining chair seat + back	1.0
Occasional / tub chair	3–4
Armchair	5–6
Two-seat sofa	8–10
Three-seat sofa	12–14
Queen headboard	2
Ottoman (60×60cm)	1.5

Unsure? Send us a photo with rough dimensions and we’ll estimate for free — it’s quicker than you’d think and saves buying a metre too many (or, worse, one too few from a different dye lot).

Fire ratings in New Zealand

Domestic furniture in NZ isn’t subject to mandatory fire-performance labelling the way it is in the UK, but commercial and public spaces are governed by the Building Code and the AS/NZS 1530.3 and 3837 standards. If you’re upholstering for a café, office, school or rental, read our guide to NZ fire ratings and ask us for test certificates.

Always order samples

Screens lie. A fabric that reads “sage” on a phone can be minty in a south-facing lounge. Order a sample pack, put the swatches on the actual piece of furniture, and look at them morning and evening before you decide. We refund the sample cost on your first order, so there’s no reason not to.