What is a high performance upholstery fabric?

Let us explain. In our world, there are upholstery fabrics and then there are serious upholstery fabrics.

At Agua, we only make pretty serious fabrics – designed to last and perform over the long-term in hard-working commercial interiors. Of course, there’s no end of beautiful upholstery fabrics in the world, but we specialise in premium materials that will also meet the most demanding of commercial contract interiors standards. If you’ve worked with us before, or follow us on social, you’ll probably be familiar with the five key high-performing properties of Agua Fabrics that we’ve worked for more than 20 years to perfect.

1. Impressive durability, without sacrificing on style

All of our fabrics are designed for Severe Contract use – rating at least 50,000 on the Martindale abrasion scale, with some fabrics rating as high as 200,000 rubs. In layman’s terms, this means all our fabrics will endure several years of hard wear, without degrading or losing their colour, texture and lustre. Moreover, we don’t believe in sacrificing looks for practicality. Yes, all our fabrics are high performing, but they’re good looking too – combining premium finishes with super-soft hand-feels and lustrous piles. Our velvets and cords, for example, need to be felt in the flesh to be believed.

2. Regulation-ready fire retardancy 

Any fabric that’s going to upholster seating in a commercial environment needs to meet the requirements of stringent government-set fire safety regulations. To this end, all our materials are fire-retardant to Crib 5, meaning they’re regulatory-approved and rated more than safe enough for contract usage in all commercial environments – whether theatres, offices, hotels, cruise ships or residential homes. If it’s Agua, you can trust it’s safe and you can trust it’ll meet any regulations thrown at you, to boot. Our Taurus collection, pictured, is a faux leather replicates the surface texture of a natural calf, but, unlike real leather, this vegan-friendly material is extremely flame resistant – as are all our faux leathers and soft fabrics alike. 

3. Complete waterproofing and stain resistance 

Complete water protection is important, of course – and our entire collection is 100% waterproof, so no water whatsoever can permeate our materials – whether soft woven fabrics or faux leather vinyls. This, then, goes hand-in-hand with another perk of choosing Agua – our collection is also thoroughly stain resistant. Ketchup, grease, ink, coffee, chewing gum, chocolate, fruit juice, wine – you name it, our fabrics will kick it. Perfect for high-traffic hospitality, restaurant and hotel environments. Pearl, pictured, is proof that Agua’s waterproof and stain-resistant properties don’t come at the expenses of a luxury design and finish.

4. Anti-microbial protection

Of course, fabrics that do absorb stains are often less than sanitary, with bacteria and all manner of nasties making their home in the fabric’s yarn structure. Soft fabrics with deep piles or intricate weaves can be particularly susceptible. Agua’s complete anti-microbial protection eliminates this. Perhaps the most high-performing of all our high-performing features, all our fabrics. Much of the range benefits from AguaGuard 365, the first anti-microbial protection of its kind in the UK, effective against both bacteria and viruses – including COVID-19. For more on how AguaGuard works, click here. And, take note that the protection has passed all the required tests for use within the EU, too.

Any upholstery manufacturer that purports to sell ‘high performance’ materials needs to have these things covered – provably and unequivocally so. If it won’t last for decades, resist fire, flood, stains and germs, then it’s not as high-performing as it should be. But, with Agua’s expertise and pedigree on hand, why would you go anywhere else?

Explore our collection of soft fabrics and faux leathers here