Textile specifications
Textile & Leather Specifications
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Effect Yarn
On special machines certain effects can be added to the weave process. This can result in different and unique color combinations, expressions in the fabric and shimmering and changing effect. Some of the best-known effects are velvet and chenille.
Velvet and chenille fabrics are known for their softness and special appearance. These effects are created by the vertical pile in the fabric. This pile is going to be affected by how the textile is used. One of the more known characteristics of this is what we call Usage patina. Usage patina or pressure marks are created by the heat, pressure, and moisture the fabric is exposed to in usage resulting in marks and changing effects. These types of mark changes appearance depending of light reflections and viewing angles, resulting in either shiny flat areas or dark areas.
Usage patina is not a sign of inferior quality but a part of the fabric. It is therefore not to be expected that these can be removed or lessened. To reduce these marks, we recommend brushing the fabric with a special velvet brush. If the fabric is made from natural fibers steaming can be applied without pressing or dripping water onto the fabric.
In Eilersen collection the following fabrics will experience usage patina to some degree:
André, Berlin, Billa, Bubble, Herring, Highway, Lane, Louis, Mellow, Munster, Napoleon, Path, Patrick, Pierre, Pond, Roth, Route, Soft
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Fibres
At Eilersen we prioritise the use of natural fibres. These are fibres that originate directly from nature, this can be fibres from plants or from animal hair or fur. These fibres are part of Eilersen’s DNA and underline our core values of creating the best possible furniture without adding harmful chemicals or toxicities.
Sometimes we are not able to create the wanted textile without using other materials, you can in some of our textiles find fibres that are man-made fibres.
These fibres can either be created from natural material such as viscose, or others are made from synthetic fibres such as nylon.
Which fibres are you interested in? Please follow the links below and get help in your choice of the right fibres for you!
Natural fibres
The most used natural fibres in Eilersens textile collection are: Cotton, linen and wool. One or more of these fibres are in almost all our textiles. Each fibre has its own unique properties and will behave accordingly.
IMPORTANT
The below mentioned information is the fibres properties and should be used as a general guideline. Any textile contains one or more fibres can have different properties. It is therefore important to look at the textiles info sheet for further details.
Linen
Linen like cotton originates from a plant. Linen has through the time been used for multiple purposes and has always been perceived as a quality material. Linen is especially good as a furniture textile do to its ability to regulate body temperature and breathability. Unfortunately, linen is not resistant to contentious creasing and will overtime tear. Therefor a linen cover should be expected to be replaced more often.
Pros
+ Strength
+ Absorbency
+ Temperature regulating
+ Grim-resistant
Cons
– Low abrasion resistance
– Creasing
– Vulnerable to wet stains
– Stain sensitive
Cotton
Cotton is perhaps the most used natural fibre in the entire textile industry and has been for ages. Cotton originates from plant material and can be made into a textile without too much altercation. Cotton is an all-round durable fibre which the properties also indicates.
Pros
+ Abrasion resistance
+ Absorbency
+ Light-resistant
+ Wash-resistant
Cons
– Shrinking
– Creasing
– Grim attractive
– Poor insulation characteristics
Wool
Wool is the animal fiber with greatest importance. It originates from sheep and lamb and is basically the “hair” of the animal. Wool has a reputation for being itchy, this is mainly applied to wool of lesser quality, but is still subjective to the individual person. At Eilersen we focus on using ‘Virgin wool’ meaning that is originates from the lambs first shearing. This is regarded as some of the finest and softest wool available.
Pros
+ Strength
+ Abrasion resistance
+ Absorbency
+ Temperature regulating
+ Grim-resistant
+ Low tendency to crease
+ ‘Self cleaning’+
Cons
– Special requirements for washing
– Low light-resistance
– Dividing feel and appearance
Man-made fibres
As the name implies these types of fibres can only exist because of intervention by man.
These types of fibres can be categorized as, regenerated fibres, synthetic fibres or inorganic fibres. At Eilersen we take pride in natural materials and therefore, we only use regenerated or synthetic fibres.
Regenerated fibres
Viscose
Viscose is a fibre that has a lot of properties that harmonize perfectly with the needs of the textile industry, which has led to its wide use. Viscose is a fibre created from wooden chips, which is in compliance with our passion for natural materials.
Pros
+ Strength
+ Abrasion resistance
+ Absorbency
+ Light resistance
Cons
– Lesser regenerative abilities
– Properties affected by liquids
– Creasing
– Grim attractive
Synthetic fibres
Cotton is perhaps the most used natural fibre in the entire textile industry and has been for ages. Cotton originates from plant material and can be made into a textile without too much altercation. Cotton is an all-round durable fibre which the properties also indicates.
Pros
+ Abrasion resistance
+ Absorbency
+ Light-resistant
+ Wash-resistant
Cons
– Shrinking
– Creasing
– Grim attractive
– Poor insulation characteristics
Wool
Wool is the animal fiber with greatest importance. It originates from sheep and lamb and is basically the “hair” of the animal. Wool has a reputation for being itchy, this is mainly applied to wool of lesser quality, but is still subjective to the individual person. At Eilersen we focus on using ‘Virgin wool’ meaning that is originates from the lambs first shearing. This is regarded as some of the finest and softest wool available.
Pros
+ Strength
+ Abrasion resistance
+ Absorbency
+ Temperature regulating
+ Grim-resistant
+ Low tendency to crease
+ ‘Self cleaning’+
Cons
– Special requirements for washing
– Low light-resistance
– Dividing feel and appearance
Man-made fibres
As the name implies these types of fibres can only exist because of intervention by man.
These types of fibres can be categorized as, regenerated fibres, synthetic fibres or inorganic fibres. At Eilersen we take pride in natural materials and therefore, we only use regenerated or synthetic fibres.
Pros
+ Strength
+ Abrasion resistance
+ Absorbency
+ Temperature regulating
+ Grim-resistant
+ Low tendency to crease
+ ‘Self cleaning’+
Cons
– Special requirements for washing
– Low light-resistance
– Dividing feel and appearance
Synthetic fibres
Synthetic fibres are created on the basis of chemical bonds, most of these fibres have origins in petrochemicals. These fibres are also what we know as plastic. This type of material can be altered and adjusted precisely to fit a desired wish such as strength, durability etc. unlike natural fibres that have a natural limit.
Eilersen primarily uses synthetic fabrics from our partner Rohleder in Germany. Rohleder’s fabrics offer very high comfort and quality and are easy to maintain. See more here.
Polyamide / Nylon
Pros
+ Strength
+ Durability
+ Elasticity
+ Low tendency to crease
+ Low shrinking
+ Easy to maintain
+ Allergy-friendly
Cons
– Low light-resistance
– Absorbency tendencies
– Grim attractive
Polyamide / Nylon
Pros
+ Strength
+ Durability
+ Elasticity
+ Low tendency to crease
+ Low shrinking
+ Easy to maintain
+ Allergy-friendly
Cons
– Low light-resistance
– Absorbency tendencies
– Grim attractive
Polyester
Pros
+ Strength
+ Durability
+ Light resistance
+ Elasticity
+ Low tendency to crease
+ Wet grim resistance
+ Easy to maintain
+ Allergy-friendly
Cons
– Absorbency tendencies
– Grim attractive
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Test results
So how do you decide, which textile is suitable for you? We always encourage you to engage in a dialogue with one of our skilled Eilersen dealers, they can guide you based on your expectations and make sure that your needs are fully met.
To help you decide we have put together some information about the properties of the textiles. These are only meant as guidance, we encourage you to contact our dealers for more information. They can help you identify your needs and assess, which fabric meets your needs.
There are numerous ways to test a textile, so to ensure that we are setting the bar high enough we are a part of Danish Furniture Makers Quality Control and follow their guidelines.
Therefore, there is a label on the back of every Eilersen textile sample holder with the following information;
Abrasion (also known as Martindale)
In order to determine the abrasion strength of a textile, a test is performed where the textile is rubbed against a standardized abrasive surface. This standardized abrasion test is called ISO 12947-2. The test is performed until a specified degree of wear can be seen in the textile. The number of rubs is measured in a value called Martindale.The higher the value the more resistant the textile is to abrasion.
This value DOES NOT identify the lifetime of a textile, there is no linear correlation between Martindale and years of use.
We recommend a minimum of 25.000 Martindale for our furniture.
Colour fastness to light and rubbing
Almost all leathers and textiles have had dye added in the manufacturing process for it to gain the desired colour. This colour, like all other, can deteriorate over time depending on exposure to outside forces like sunlight, artificial light etc.
Be aware that the color of the sofa may transfer onto adjacent surfaces. To prevent potential staining, consider leaving some space between the sofa and walls or other surfaces.
In order to determine the durability of the colour we test according to different parameters such as: exposure to light and textile rubbing.
Colour fastness to light is tested according to ISO 105-B02. In this test the material is placed in a chamber with standardized reference material, these samples are then exposed to artificial light and afterwards they are compared with one another and graded according to how much the textile has faded. This grading is on a scale from 1 to 8, where 8 is the best. This scale is a doubling scale meaning that 2 is twice as good as 1 and so on.
There is no linear correlation to identify exactly how much exposure the textile can withstand before fading will occur.
We recommend a minimum value of 5. Be careful if placing furniture in direct sunlight or partly cover the furniture with plaits etc. as this will case uneven fading.
We recommend a minimum of 4 for dry rubbing and 3-4 for wet on textile and 3 on leathers.
For example, textiles and leathers with a low value for rubbing if wet are extra sensitive to rubbing with a wet cloth in case of stains etc.
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Pilling
Pilling is the assessment of how much ‘fuzz’ the textile will develop when you are sitting and moving around on the textile in daily usage. This is tested on the same machine as Martindale and are done according to ISO 12945-2. The result is evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the best. This is a doubling scale.
We recommend a minimum of 3-4 at 2000 rubs.
Composition, and weight of the fabric.
In order for you to identify the feel and characteristics of the textile you are interested in we have disclosed, which fibres the textile consist of and how much they weigh per. meter of fabric. This combined with our information about the individual fibres can help you determine if the textile fits your needs.
Direction of fabric and width
To help you identify if the sofa you are looking on will have a stitching across a seat cushion or perhaps if the chaise longue will be with or without a stitching we have created a small pictogram to quickly help you identify this.
Cleaning instructions
In order to enable you to maintain your sofa for as long as possible, we have made the care instruction easily accessible, so your sofa has the best possible chance of lasting for many years and looking its best.
At the bottom of our fact sheet and label on the fabric samples, we have created a scale indicating if the disclosed test results require you to take extra good care of a fabric or if the above equals our minimum recommendations.
This scale goes from * to *****:
*Poor
**Caution
***Acceptable
****Good
*****Very good
NOTE
Some textiles have special properties that cannot be identified in test materials, this could for example be a special weave method. Those textiles will always carry a special label on the back of the sample and on our factsheet stating the characteristics of this fabric.