Summer Is Comming!!

Want to prolong the life of your outdoor furniture cushions?

After removing the worn fabric covers from your outdoor furniture cushions and pillows, use some inexpensive plastic shower curtains liners to make some waterproof covers. Cover the cushion foam or polyfill with the plastic covers before covering with new fabric. This will prolong the life of your foam and\or polyfill cushions and reduce mildew. Make sure to use thread that is intended for outdoor projects. Add a zipper or velcro to the new fabric covers so that they can be removed for easy cleaning and storage.

A helpful tip from one of my customers: To keep squirrels and possums from destroying your outdoor upholstery, spray the cushions with a mixture of ammonia and water. I don't have an exact measurement on this but I would image it would have to be a pretty small amount of ammonia. I've also heard that putting a rubber snake on or in close proximity to your outdoor furniture will help deter varmits.

Fabric Fun Facts

I have been on a search for good information about different types of fabric so that I can give informative descriptions on my store listings. I will update this thread as I find things. I hope you find this information useful.

Corduroy - The width of the cord is commonly referred to as the size of the "wale". The lower the "wale" number, the thicker the width of the wale (i.e., 4-wale is much thicker than 11-wale). Wide wale is more commonly found on trousers; medium, narrow, and fine wale fabrics are usually found in garments used above the waist. Pincord is the finest cord around with a count that’s right at the upper end of the spectrum (above 16) and has a feel that’s as soft as velvet and superlight.

First Quality Fabric Definition - NON PILE FABRICS: First-quality merchandise is merchandise in which the occurrence of flaws or defects is no more than an average of one flaw in every 9 linear yards, for a total of no more than 5 flaws in any 50 yard piece.  PILE FABRICS: First-quality merchandise is merchandise in which the occurrence of flaws or defect is not more than an average of one flaw in every 7 linear yards, for a total of no more than 7 flaws in any 50 yard piece. Second quality merchandise doesn't adhere to these guidelines.

Lawn is a lightweight, sheer cloth, crispier than voile but not as crisp as organdy. Lawn is known for its semi transparency. Lawn cloth is commonly used to produce dresses, blouses, nightwear, underwear, lingerie, curtains, collar cuffs, shirting, infant wear and handkerchiefs.

Railroaded Fabric - Refers to the way the pattern on a fabric is printed or woven onto the roll. Normally, fabric has the pattern running up and down the roll (vertically). A railroaded fabric will have the pattern running side to side (horizontally). A railroaded fabric is commonly used on furniture pieces like sofa cushions that are very long and exceed the width of a normal 54" to 60" fabric. This type of fabric would also work on sofa backs.

ROT - When a fabric is cut and shipped "ROT" that means it is rolled on a long cardboard tube rather than folded.

Ticking (stripe) - Historically, ticking fabric was a sturdy and tightly woven fabric used for feather bed pillows to keep feather or straw shafts from working their way through and poking the skin. Most modern uses of the term "ticking" refer to a cotton or cotton\linen blend fabric that has printed narrow, vertical stripes — darker colors on a white or beige background. The ticking pattern is popular because it is a clean, neat design, and easily matched with solid color accessories.