Next is the anatomy of the fabric, which is the most difficult in the whole sofa anatomy. Because it
involves a huge amount of clothing materials and textiles. If you have bought a sofa, when choosing
fabrics, you must have heard of a name in the past two years, technical fabrics. Before dissecting
all the fabrics, let's take this one out. Although it is called a fabric, its structure is a
microfiber base material and a PU coating. What did you think of ? That's right, it is the structure
of the microfiber leather when we dissect the leather above. They all add PU on top of the
microfiber base material. The difference is that the PU layer of the technical cloth adjusts the raw
materials and processes to make it feel more like cloth. So in a strict sense, there is essentially
no difference between technology cloth and microfiber leather. Moreover, many major manufacturers
have indeed classified technology cloth under the category of microfiber leather. Moreover, the
texture of some technical cloth is already very close to leather. After taking out the special case
of technical fabrics, we will officially enter the anatomy of fabrics. We will use different fibers
to process fabrics through different techniques, and summarize them as fabrics. In terms of textile
fiber raw materials, we are divided into two major parts: natural fibers and chemical fibers.
Natural fibers can be divided into plant fibers, animal fibers and mineral fibers. Chemical fibers
are divided into regenerated fibers, acetate fibers and synthetic fibers, and inorganic fibers.
Light industrial and textile is a huge system, we cannot describe it one by one. There is no
absolute good or bad between various materials. Today we mainly dissect seed fibers, bast fibers,
animal fibers as well as viscose and synthetic fibers related to sofa fabrics.
What is seed fiber ? For example cotton. Cotton fabric is soft, breathable, hygroscopic, and has
excellent coloring power. And hardly anyone is allergic to cotton. Abrasion and crack resistance are
good. The sum of these properties makes cotton the most widely used natural fiber raw material in
the world. But cotton also has a problem, shrinking. So smart humans thought of the method of mixing
other fibers that will not shrink with cotton fibers to express the characteristics of different
fibers on a fabric, the most common being cotton and linen blends. This is also the most common
fabric used in sofa fabrics. Hemp is a plant bast fiber with a very long history, especially it has
been widely used in Chinese history. Hemp has extremely high air permeability and fiber toughness.
Is the most wear-resistant natural fiber material. But linen is non-hygroscopic and wrinkle-prone,
and when it meets cotton, it's a match made in heaven. Cotton and linen blended fabrics not only
have the characteristics of cotton, which is soft and comfortable, but also have the wear resistance
and toughness of linen, and will not shrink. But even with this natural fit, there are certain
features that people want but don't have. For example, flexibility. So cotton began to abandon hemp
and began to mix with many chemical fibers.
What exactly are chemical fibers ? The three most widely used chemical fiber brothers are polyester,
acrylic and viscose. The academic names are polyester, acrylic and viscose. Polyester fiber is a
veritable big brother. Whether it is from history or the scope of current applications, even fabrics
that look like cotton and linen on the market may actually be 100% polyester fiber. Believe it or
not, take a good look the next time you buy clothes. Then why can it be the big brother ? It relies
on super strong mechanical strength, high elasticity, perfect anti-wrinkle ability, excellent air
permeability, and even quick drying. These excellent properties make him the darling of the textile
industry. But this guy also has a problem, it is easy to get static electricity. It is not
recommended for the elderly and children to use too much. So why is it easy to get static
electricity ? Acrylic is also known as Oren or Kaimislon in some places, and there is another name
that is easy to remember, called imitation wool. Since it is imitation wool, we dissect it together
with the animal fiber wool below.
Then let's look at viscose fiber first. Although it is called viscose, it actually has nothing to do
with glue. It is a kind of cellulose fiber extracted from natural wood fiber and processed through a
series of processes. So it is a regenerated fiber in the classification of synthetic fibers. During
the process of processing, one of the states is sticky and gelatinous. Hence the name viscose fiber.
Its second-generation upgraded version, developed in 1965, is called Modal. In 1990, he had three
generations of lyocell, Lyocell's English brand name TENCEL, and its Chinese registered name Tencel.
So if you see tencel, it is made of lyocell fiber. They all come from one father, the Lenzing Group
in Austria. At present, due to its good performance and excellent texture performance, and its
natural birth, viscose fiber is more and more commonly used in the field of clothing and home
textiles. Adding to blends is also very common. For example, it is mixed with the cotton mentioned
above, or the wool mentioned below.
Among the commonly used natural animal fibers, wool is the most elastic, not to mention warm. Among
high-end sofa fabrics, the texture of wool is irreplaceable. But the same shortcomings are also
evident. In addition to being expensive, it occasionally loses some hair, and it is a bit irritating
in summer. then what should we do ? The acrylic fiber we mentioned earlier appeared. On the basis of
preserving the characteristics and texture of wool, it also solves the small defects of wool fabric.
So what if I want to use wool instead of acrylic ? Blending, blending polyester, and viscose can
reduce these problems. But there is another problem with wool fabrics that is difficult to solve and
difficult to clean. Therefore, in terms of value and difficulty in washing, wool fabrics can also be
counted as noble items. The same aristocratic supplies also have another animal fiber, silk.
Speaking from the history of the sofa, the sofa itself is an aristocratic article. And the oriental
silk, which was born in ancient China, was naturally bound together with this aristocratic article.
Although it is rare to see a sofa made of silk on the market, it does not exist. For example, the
silk sofa in Windsor Castle has no disadvantages other than being expensive and not wear-resistant.
Expensive and wear-resistant, the two characteristics that nobles fear and need most.
Do you think the anatomy of the sofa fabric is over ? Far from it. Didn't you find that the flannel
fabrics that you often encounter have never appeared until now ? Because the difference between
flannelette and other fabrics is not the difference in raw materials, but the processing technology.
The yarn body formed by any kind of textile fiber mentioned above is pulled out of the yarn body by
a napping machine, and the fiber of the yarn body is pulled out of the yarn body, and evenly covered
on the surface, so that the fabric presents a rich and fluffy fabric, which is another fabric in the
fabric. Category, flannelette. Silk velvet plus velvet technology, you have unlocked velvet, silk
plus viscose fiber plus velvet technology, you have unlocked gold velvet, polyester plus different
velvet technology, you can unlock crystal velvet, cashmere, polar fleece and Flannel or coral
fleece. With acrylic fiber and different fleece techniques, you will unlock de velvet or snowflake
velvet. Animal fiber plus chemical fiber plus fleece technology, you have unlocked mink fleece. In
addition, various blending techniques plus fleece techniques, plus various naming arts, there are
countless kinds of flannel fabrics on the market. And you may also hear all kinds of flannelettes
named after places or nationals. The essence is that a certain factory in this place has produced a
relatively unique flannelette through blending and fleece technology. Then name it and start
delivery.
Here I want to mention a special existence in flannelette, and it is also a material that has been
gradually used in sofa fabrics in recent years. Its name is suede. What is suede ? First of all,
muntjac is a kind of deer family animal. Because of the special matte texture and comfort of suede,
it was popular in the French court in the 19th century. For the elegance of the nobility, muntjac is
now a national protected animal in our country. So if you see suede on the market, it is basically
imitation suede, and its production process is really complicated. First, it is polyester
microfiber, sea-island silk gets the base material after complicated process, and then In addition
to the fleece process, it is finally made of polyurethane with a special construction method. But
these costs are worth it. The imitation suede basically restores the performance and texture of real
suede. The texture and visual effect of suede are difficult to match with other materials. Are there
any novelty fabrics like suede that can cost you more money ? must have.
After people are tired of playing with the raw materials and textile technology of fabrics, they
turn their vision to three-dimensional, such as this 3D knitted fabric. There is not much innovation
in raw materials, but in the weaving structure process, it can be said to be full of technology.
This kind of fabric structure makes it very elastic, and at the same time, the air permeability and
softness have directly increased to a higher level. Of course, there is also an excellent sense of
visual technology.
So what kind of fabric should you choose for the sofa ? You only know what you like if you see and
touch it yourself. Just like when you buy clothes, if you decide to buy a fabric sofa, you don’t
need to pay too much attention to its material composition. Due to the highly developed clothing
industry, there will basically not be much difference in performance in the weaving process of sofa
fabrics. You only need to consider the two factors of good looks and comfort. If you are the one who
will cover the sofa with sofa cushions, you don't even have to consider the factor of good looks.
Finally, in terms of price, I still want to give you a basic reference for sorting. Silk is larger
than animal fiber blends, larger than complex crafts such as suede, 3D knitting, etc., larger than
plant fibers and chemical fiber blends. But this is also relatively speaking. Most of the time it is
because of the scarcity of its raw materials that the price rises, and it does not have much direct
relationship with its performance.
The above is the difference in fabric between the 599USD sofa and the 1199USD sofa.