Mattress fabric quality: weight, width, shrinkage and care
Two fabrics can look the same in a photo and behave very differently on your production line and in your customer's bedroom. These are the points that decide mattress fabric quality, and what to ask your supplier about each.
Weight
Weight in grams per square metre (g/m²) tells you how much yarn is in the fabric. More weight usually means a thicker, fuller fabric, but only compare weights between fabrics of the same construction: a 300 g/m² knit and a 300 g/m² woven damask are very different products.
Yarn and construction
Yarn type (polyester, viscose, lyocell, bamboo, spandex) and how densely it is knitted or woven decide the hand, the stretch and how the fabric wears. Ask for the yarn content in percent and keep it on your approved sample record.
Width
Fabric width affects your cutting yield. Choose a width that fits the panel sizes you cut most, so that a king-size top and its border come out of the roll with little waste. Tell your supplier which sizes you make, and they can advise the width that cuts best.
Shrinkage and heat setting
Unstable fabric can shrink or change width after it leaves the mill. Good mattress fabric is heat set to fix its width, weight and shrinkage. Ask for a shrinkage figure and check it on arrival, especially for zip-off covers that your customers may wash. Washing instructions belong on your care label, based on testing the finished cover.
Colour
Colour should match the sample you approved, from roll to roll and from one order to the next. Agree how colour is checked, for example under a light box against the approved sample, and keep a signed sample on both sides.
Inspection
Every roll should be inspected before it is packed: holes, dropped stitches, print faults and width. Ask how rolls are labelled, so that any problem can be traced back to a production lot.
A short checklist for your next order
- Design number and approved colour sample
- Weight (g/m²) and yarn content
- Width, roll length and packing
- Shrinkage figure
- How colour is checked and how rolls are labelled
At Evonowa every roll runs over a lit inspection frame, is measured against your order and is labelled before it goes to the warehouse. See how we check fabric.