Get Crafty: How to Choose the Right Upholstery Fabric
Whether you’re reupholstering your furniture that’s seen better days or you’re buying old chairs at garage sales to flip them, the process of DIY upholstery can be a lot of fun. The team at East Coast Fabrics love a good upholstery project, and we love helping people find the perfect upholstery fabric online in Australia. Here’s our easy-to-follow guide to choosing the best upholstery fabric for your project.
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The Top Upholstery Fabrics Online In Australia
There are so many types of upholstery fabric online in Australia; it can be overwhelming trying to choose just one. At East Coast Fabrics, we’re the go-to store for discount upholstery fabric in Australia. So, we’ll walk you through some of the best materials to consider for your project.Rayon: This synthetic fabric is an alternative to linen or cotton and is renowned for its durability. Unlike linen or cotton, however, it’s a little more resistant to stains and requires less maintenance to keep it looking fresh.
Microfiber: This textile uses polyester blends to create a more durable velvet texture. Not only does it look luxurious, but it’s also water and stain resistant and doesn’t fade quite as quickly as some natural fibres.
Cotton: A versatile fabric, when used for upholstery, cotton is best used when blended with other materials. Alone, it doesn’t fair well against stains or wear and tear. However, it rarely fades or pills.
Leather: This textile is renowned for its durability, as good leather upholstery will often last decades. It is, however, sometimes prohibitively expensive and isn’t the easiest material to work with for DIY upholstery.
Vinyl: Leather’s more wallet-friendly cousin, vinyl, is a very popular choice in homes that contain small children and pets. Vinyl is easy to clean and lasts a good long while.
Acetate: This synthetic blend looks very much like velvet and offers an air of class and luxe to your furniture. Unlike the natural variants of velvet or silk, acetate is resistant to mildew, pilling, and shrinking. Unfortunately, it does fade in the sun and shows stains easier than other fabrics.
Silk: If you choose to use silk for your DIY upholstery project, we bow down to you. This luxury material is notoriously difficult to work with and, if stained, will require professional cleaning. When used successfully, however, silk offers furniture an air of luxury unmatched by any other textile.
Linen: Despite its durability when used as clothing or as a homewares textile, linen should only be used for furniture that sees little traffic. It wrinkles easily, doesn’t stand heavy wear, and is super-absorbent, making it a stain magnet.What to Consider Before Buying Upholstery Fabric Online In Australia
Although you may already have an idea of what you want your finished product to look like, there are a few crucial points to consider before running out to buy upholstery fabric online in Australia.

Will children or pets be using the item? If you think there’s a chance that kids or pets will be in frequent contact with your upholstery, we’d suggest using a fabric that’s more durable and life-proof. Textiles such as rayon, vinyl, leather, or microfiber are ideal.
Where will your newly reupholstered furniture sit? If the furniture is sitting in a high-traffic area of the house, it may pay to use durable fabrics. However, if you’re reupholstering a piece to sit in a lovely parlour area of the home, fabrics like silk, velvet, and linen are perfectly fine.
Is there a lot of natural light in your home? There are a few fabrics that fade quickly with long-term exposure to sunlight. If your furniture sits in a sunny spot of your home, choose textiles like cotton, microfiber, and linen.
How high-maintenance is this textile? Some fabrics, like linen and silk, are incredibly high-maintenance. You’ll need to vacuum, press, and clean them often to keep your furniture looking immaculate. Fabrics like rayon and vinyl, on the other hand, require little to no maintenance. Find the care instructions for your chosen upholstery to make sure it’s right for you.
Do you know how your fabric will look in 5 years? Near the car instructions on each material, you’ll find something called a ‘double rub score’. This score tells you how many rubs the material can handle before it begins to show any wear. Anything less than 10,000 is a decorative fabric, 10,000-15,000 is for light domestic use, 15,000-25,000 is for general household use, and anything 25,000+ is for heavy-duty domestic or industrial use. Get an idea of how your chosen fabric will look long-term to make an informed decision about your upholstery.

4 DIY Projects You Can Do With Upholstery Fabric
If you’re itching to start transforming your furniture but are at a loss for ideas, we’ve got four simple projects to inspire you to get crafty.

1. Revive your old cushions. If you’ve got some couch cushions that have seen better days, grab some cushion fabric in Australia from East Coast Fabrics and give them a new lease on life. If you’ve never reupholstered anything before, cushions are a great place to start.
2. Reupholster your headboard. If your room is looking a little drab and no amount of new sheet sets are refreshing the space, why not look at your bed? Rather than buying a brand new one, you can give your bed’s headboard a bit of a makeover. If your bed already has a fabric covering, simply remove the old and look at replacing it with upholstery patterns you love. If you have a timber or metal frame, on the other hand, you can create a removable headboard to transform the room.
3. Redo your kitchen chairs. Dining room chairs are possibly the most popular re-upholstery job because they’re so simple to do! You can completely transform your dining set with an effortless, durable upholstery fabric. If you purchase old, worn-down dining sets from op-shops, you can take the time to do them up and flip them for a profit.
4. Repurpose a large cushion. Does your furry friend need a new bed? Why go out and buy something new when you can grab a sizeable old cushion and reupholster it with a durable, gorgeous material just for your cat or dog? It’s cheaper, more fun, and you can design a dog bed that fits seamlessly within your home.

Why Choose East Coast Fabrics For Upholstery Fabric Online In Australia?
If you’re looking to get crafty with some DIY projects, get your discount upholstery fabric in Australia through East Coast Fabrics. We’ve been supplying premium discount fabrics for years, and we’re renowned in the area for our low prices, quality textiles, and our excellent customer service. We love sharing craft tips and tricks with like-minded people, so make sure to share your finished projects with us! To shop for upholstery fabric online, head to East Coast Fabrics’ website today.
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