Speaking Leather

About the terms on this page
The terms on this page are simply to give a small bit of information and have come from many sources within the Upholstery and Textile industies, please use this information as a tip, and further research may be needed to fully understand the meanings of certain verbiage on this page.

Acrylic
A Manufactured fiber derived from polyacrylonitrile. Its major properties include
a soft, wool-like hand, machine washable and dryable, and excellent color retention. Solution-Dyed versions have excellent resistance to sunlight and chlorine degradation.

Blend
A term applied to a yarn or a fabric that is made up of more than one fiber. In blended yarns, two or more different types of staple fibers are twisted or spun together to form a yarn. Examples of typical blended yarn or fabric is polyester/cotton.

Boucle
A knit or woven fabric made from a rough, curly, knotted boucle yarn. The fabric has a looped, knotted suface and is often used in sportswear and coats, and upholstery.

Brushed Fringe - Finish Trim
This trim is widely used on American Elegance Back Pillows, Arm Pillows, and can be found on other pillows. This trim comes in many base colors and has a flat skirt, with multi colored threads that are all tied together, when fluffed or brushed it expands to display the colors of all the threads.

Bullion - Finish Trim
This trim is widely used on American Elegance as a Base Trim usually at the bottom of the furniture and comes in many base colors. This trim typically has many round shaped tassles that hang from a flat skirt area that ties all the tassles together, this skirt or curtain of tassles is upholstered onto the frame for a unique rich finish to funiture.

Chenille
Is a yarn constructed from other yarns and fabrics to create and yarn that has a pile all the around the yarn. This yarn is widely used in upholstery fabrics.

Colorfastness
A term used to describe a dyed fabric's ability to resist fading due to washing, exposure to sunlight, and other environmental conditions.

Cotton
A unicellular, natural fiber that grows in the seed pod of the cotton plant. Fibers are typically 1/2 inch to 2 inches long. The longest staple fibers, longer than 1 1/2 inches, including the pima and egyptian varities, produce the highest quality cotton fabrics.

Denim
True denim is a twill weave cotton-like fabric made with different colored yarns in the warp and the weft. Due to the twill construction, one color predominates on the fabrc surface. Colors range typically in the light and dark blues, reds, yellows, and browns.

Down
The soft, fluffy fiber or underfeathers of ducks, geese, or other water fowl. Used primarily for blend in seat cushions and pillows.

Fiberfill
Specially engineered manufactured fibers, which are used as filler in the tops of seat cushions (pillow tops) and in Back and Arm pillows.

Jacquard
Woven Fabrics manufactured by using the Jacquard attachment on the loom. This attachment provides versatility in designs and permits individual control of each of the warp yarns. Thus, fabrics of almost any type or complexity can be made. Brocade and Damask are types of Jacquard woven fabrics.

Linen
A fabric made from linen fibers obtained from inside the woody stem of the flax plant. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous than cotton. Linen fabrics are very cool and absorbent. Linen is one of the oldest textile fibers.

Looped Cording - Finish Trim
This trim is widely used on American Elegance Back Pillows, Arm Pillows, and can be found on other pillows. This trim comes in many base colors and has a flat skirt, with multi colored threads that are all tied together, unlike the Brushed fringe the the multi colored threads are kept in a tight loop that then directs colors in different directions.

Microfibers
The name given to ultra-fine manufactured fibers and the name given to the technology of developing these fibers. Fibers using microfiber technology, produce fibers which weigh less than 1.0 denier. The fabrics madse from these extra-fine fibers provide a superior hand, gentle drape, and incredible softness. Comparatively, microfibers are two times finer than silk, three tiumes finer than cotton, eight times finer than wool, and one hundred times finer than a human hair. Currently there are four types of microfibers being produced. These include acrylic, nylon, polyester, and rayon microfibers.

Nylon
Produced in 1938, the first completely synthetic fiber was developed. Known for its strength and excellent resilience, nylon has superior abrasion resistance and high flexibility.

Olefin
A manufactured fiber characterized by its light weight, high strength, and abrasion resistance. Olefin is often used in short looped carpeting for offices due to its stain resistance and durability under foot. It is also used a great deal in upholstery fabrics for the same strengths and ristance to staining.

Pill
A tangled ball of fibers that appears on the surface of a fabric, as a result of wear, continued friction, or rubbing on the surface of the fabric. This is a normal wear issue and is not a manufacturing defect.

Polyester
A manufactured fiber introduced in the early 1950's, and is second only to cotton in worldwide use. Polyester has high strength (although somewhat lower than nylon), excellent resiliency, and high abrasion resistence. Low absorbency allows the fiber to dry quickly.

Polypropylene
A manufactured fiber characterized by its light weight, high strength, and abrasion resistance. Polypropylene is also good in high use areas. End-uses iunclude activewear apparel, rope, indoor-outdoor carpets, lawn furniture, and upholstery.

Rayon
A manufactured fiber composed of regenerated cellulose, derived from wood pulp, cotton linters, or other vegetable matter. Today, various names for Rayon fibers are taken from different manufacturing processes. The two most commonly used methods for Rayon are the cuprammonium and the viscose process.

Silk
A natural filament fiber produced by the silkworm in the construction of its cocoon. Most silk is collected from cultivated worms; Tussah Silk, or wild silk, is a thicker, shorter fiber produced by worms iun their natural habitat. All silk comes from Asia, primarily China.

Tapestry
A heavy, often hand-woven, ribbed fabric, featuring an elaborate design depicting a historical or current pictorial display. The weft-faced fabric design is made by using colored filling yarns, only i9n areas where needed, that are worked back and forth over spun warp yarns, which are visible on the back. End-uses include wall hangings and upholstery.

Viscose
The most common type of Rayon. It is produced in much greater quantity than cuprammonium Rayon, the other commercial type of Rayon. This form of Rayon is widely used in upholstery fabrics.

Welt or Piping - Finish Trim
Welt or Piping are basically referred to as a trim that uses a flexible fill type cord that then is wrapped by a contrast, non-contrast, or on bias fabric. The welt or piping can also be covered in leather, and or reveresed for the suede look.

Wool
Usually associated with fiber or fabric made from the fleece of Sheep or Lamb. However, the term "wool" can also apply to all animal hair fibers, including the hair of the Cashmere or Angora goat or the specialty hair fibers of the Camel, Alpaca, Llama, Guanaco, or Vicuna.

Cleaning Codes and Meanings

W -Clean this fabric with water based cleaning agents: Possible choices might be Ivory Flakes, Glamorene, Brissell Foam, Upholstery Cleaner, and Tide.

S -Clean this fabric with pure solvent petroleum distilled based products: Possible choices might be Energene, Carbona, Renuzit, or similar water free Solvents.

WS -Clean this fabric with either water-based foam, or pure solvent as described in the W and S codes.

SC -To clean this fabric it is recommended that Spot Cleaning Only be done.

DC -To clean this fabric it is recommended that Dry Cleaning Only be done.

Consumers:
If you want the names of dealers nearest to you, please either visit our
"Find Retailer" link or email us at
info@americanelegancefurniture.com
or call us at (909) 393-4400 between 8am and 4pm PST.

Retailers:
If you are interested in becoming a Kathy Ireland Home by American Elegance Dealer, either email us at
info@americanelegancefurniture.com
or call us at (909) 393-4400 between 8am and 4pm PST.
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