Wool as furniture fabric can have many expressions: smooth, coarse, melange or clearly structured. The wool percentage therefore does not tell alone how a cover feels or suits a piece of furniture. Choose a specific quality and assess it together with the chair or sofa to be reupholstered.
You can use reupholstery as a starting point for an assessment of both material and construction.
Read the full fibre composition
A wool fabric may be blended with other fibres. Kvadrat's Re-wool 2 is an example of a named quality with a specific composition and its own test results. Such information applies to the product, not automatically to all fabrics with wool.
Therefore, ask for the product sheet for the exact quality and colour you are considering. If documented origin or recycled content is important, this must also be stated specifically. The word 'wool' is not in itself a certification.
Test the feel, where the fabric is used
Hold the sample against your forearm and view it over an edge of the chair. It may feel and look different lying flat on a table and stretched over a curve. On armrests and the top of the back, the material often touches the skin.
Also consider the season and usage. An armchair, where you sit for long periods, must be assessed differently than a rarely used extra chair. It is your experience of the specific sample that should decide the comfort choice.
Distinguish wear from the surface appearance
A high wear count does not answer all questions about how the fabric looks in use. Also obtain information about pilling and care. See what Martindale means, before comparing products solely by abrasion ratings.
A melange or structure can be a deliberate aesthetic choice. It does not automatically make the fabric more easy to clean. Instead, consider whether the visual expression fits the furniture's shape and the rest of the room.
Plan for realistic cleaning
Kvadrat states that its removable wool covers should be dry-cleaned rather than machine-washed. Always follow the instructions for the selected fabric and the finished piece of furniture. Having a zip does not guarantee that a cover is washable.
If you expect to wash the cushion covers frequently, mention this before ordering. Use the guide to durable upholstery fabric to compare appearance, care and daily load. Save a sample and the product's information at the end, so later questions about maintenance can be answered precisely.
