Textile specifications

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, Route, Soft

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 Man-made fibres 

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.

Colour fastness to rubbing is tested according to ISO 105-X12 for fabric where as leathers are tested according to ISO 11640. These are similar and both tests record the amount of colour the textile or leather emits when rubbed. The test is carried out bot by rubbing with a wet and a dry cloth and evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the best. This is also a doubling scale.

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

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.

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.