On Wednesday, September 21^st our class took a field trip to an upscale interior fabric retail store called All About Looks. The owner and her two daughters gave us a tour of the store and educated us on everything from fabrics to draperies, to upholstery and pillows. Their store carries an abundance of different fabrics from different companies and designers as well as drapery hardware, trim, buttons, tassels, and bedding.

            It all started when owner’s daughters started making burp cloths and other baby related items when they became pregnant. That “hobby” soon exploded into the business they have today. While none of them have a background in interior design, their business seems to be booming and successful. They have learned through trial and error over time, and now have ample knowledge on each service they offer and are always willing to try something new.

            The store can make just about anything that concerns fabric: pillows, custom bedding, window treatments, and much more. They even offer upholstery of furniture. The owner talked us through each aspect of the process they go through with each customer. Each job requires thought and creativity to solve problems and meet the high standards of the client. These are some of the skills that we as interior designers will need to have when working in the real world.

I took photographs of some of my favorite parts of the store….

This is a very unique product that they had on the upper windows in the main area of the store. These blinds block out the blistering sun throughout the day. Each blind is on a roller that is controlled by a remote control. With the touch of a button the blinds can be put up or down, even halfway. It wasn’t obvious how much sun they really blocked out until the owner demonstrated what the blinds did and the sun proceeded to blind us. This was the most practical choice for the store, for many different reasons. First, the old walls wouldn’t support heavy rods and draperies. Second, it provides flexibility and convenience when adjusting the amount of sun streaming in. Last, the blinds lower cooling costs by blocking the extreme heat of the sun.

This pillow that was on display in the store is made of cork. It was really surprising to find out that pillows could be made out of a material that is not stereotypically used in an application such as pillows.

This is a photograph of some of the drapery hardware the store offered.

This is the store’s specialty: fabric. There is an abundance of all sorts of fabrics for many different applications.

This is wallpaper. According to the store owner it is slowly coming back into style. I found this particular paper interesting because you can paint right over it so it can be any color you want.

I thoroughly enjoyed this field trip. All About Looks was an interior designer’s “dream.” It is encouraging to know that there are so many new and different options for interiors, and they are constantly evolving.  I look forward to this part of our job as interior designers, and am grateful for the helpful knowledge the store owner and workers shared with all of us.

On the second trip to the Texas Tech Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute we toured a lab where they perform different tasks to test the durability and strength of fabrics. We saw a total of six machines that each had their own method and intention for testing fabrics. Two were particularly fascinating: the Random Tumble Pilling Tester and the Martindale Abrasion Tester.

The machine pictured above is the Random Tumble Pilling Tester. It tests a fabric’s resistance to the formation of pills. Pills are an accumulation of fibers on the surface of a fabric. This machine is commonly used to test both woven and knitted apparel fabrics (FBRI).

Each of the four chambers on the machine are lined with cork. Then, the fabric that is being tested is cut into a 4.13 inch square (FBRI). To get accurate results from this test, samples should be taken from different areas throughout the fabric. The corners of each square must then be sealed with an adhesive and left to dry for 2 hours minimum (FBRI). After this drying process, each sample of fabric is placed inside a chamber with a few short, grey, cotton fibers. After each chamber is properly covered, a timer is set for thirty minutes. 2-3 psi of air pressure is then injected into each chamber (FBRI). Once the thirty minutes is complete, each sample is removed and cleaned of excess cotton fibers (FBRI). Each sample is then evaluated on a scale of one to five with one being “very severe pilling” and five being “no pills” (FBRI). The entire scale used at the Texas Tech Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute is shown below.   

1	Very Severe Pilling
2	Severe Pilling
3	Moderate Pilling
4	Slight Pilling
5	No Pills

Another interesting machine that was presented to us was the Martindale Abrasion Tester, shown below.

This machine tests the abrasion resistance of textile fabrics. Unlike the previous machine, all types of fabrics can be tested on the Martindale Abrasion Tester. Each abrading table must first have a piece of felt followed by an abrasion cloth placed on top of it (FBRI). The abrading fabric can be made of a “plain weave, crossbred, or worsted wool fabric” (FBRI). A weight is then placed on top of the abrading fabric followed by a clamp ring to lock it into place. The fabric being tested is then cut to a 38mm diameter and must be accompanied by a polyether urethane foam of the same size (FBRI). These two pieces are then placed in the sample holder. The fabric is tested by a recurring rubbing motion preformed by each “arm.” The machine can be set to perform any number of rubs. The Texas Tech Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute uses one of three options to evaluate the fabric after testing.  Each option is shown below.

Option 1	The end point is reached on a woven fabric when two or more yarns have broken or on a knitted fabric when a hole appears.
Option 2	The end point is reached when there is a change in shade or appearance that is sufficient to cause a customer to complain.
Option 3	Determine the mass loss as the difference between the masses before and after abrasion. This loss may be expressed as a percentage of the before abrasion mass.

The Martindale Abrasion Test and the Random Tumble Pilling test are particularly useful to those in the field of interior design. Knowing the durability of different fabrics is not only the “most important characteristic to an end-user”, but is key in choosing the right fabric for the right purpose (Yates, 2002, p.249). For example, the fabric on a chair in the waiting room of a medical clinic would need to be very durable, soil resistance, and abrasion resistant. However the curtains in a master bedroom would not need to be made of a durable, abrasion-resistant fabric. Knowledge of different fabrics and how they behave is of the highest importance in designing a functional, suitable space-an interior designer’s ultimate goal.

References

Yates, Marypaul. (2002). Fabrics: A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

*Additional References were made to the material handed out during the tour at the Texas Tech Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute and are noted with the “FBRI” citation.

Fibers

Fibers are all around us: in our clothing, bedding, furniture, toothbrushes, towels, pillows and many other items we use on a daily basis. Fibers are “the basic building blocks of all fabrics” (Yates, 2002, p. 34). Each fiber has its own unique properties that make it suitable for a variety of purposes, and knowledge of these properties are important to designing a space successfully. There are two types of fibers, natural fibers and man-made or synthetic fibers. Let’s begin our journey in explaining the complexities and purposes that each of these fibers serve…

Natural Fibers

Natural fibers come from “materials that exist in plants, animal products, and minerals” (Yates, 2002, p. 34). They can be classified into two categories: cellulosic fibers that come from plants and protein fibers that come from animals. However, a third category of natural fibers called mineral fibers includes grass and asbestos.

Cellulosic/Plant Fibers

        The most well known and often used natural, cellulosic fiber is cotton. Cotton comes from a cotton plant, and is “a dominant crop and trade item around the world” (Yates, 2002, p. 36). Cotton is very soft and comfortable, making it ideal for clothing such as t-shirts and blue jeans. It is also very absorbent, takes color well when dyed, and is resistant to sunlight and abrasion (Yates, 2002).

        Linen is another well-known natural fiber. Linen comes from the stem or leafy part of a plant (Yates, 2002). Linen can be described as feeling “smooth, crisp, hard, and cool” but is also quite fragile and wrinkle-prone (Yates, 2002, p. 38). For this reason, linen is not well-suited for upholstery but is more often used for wall covering. Other plant fibers such as grass, bamboo, and cane are used as wall coverings but are most commonly used in flooring (Yates, 2002).

Protein Fibers

        Protein or animal fibers are also considered natural fibers. Wool is the most common protein fiber, coming from the fleece of a sheep. Wool is very springy, regains its shape easily, and does not accept wrinkles (Yates, 2002). Wool is naturally oily, making it “soil-resistant and easily cleanable” (Yates, 2002, p. 39). Wool also has the unique ability to absorb moisture without feeling wet, making it suitable for insulation (Yates, 2002).

        Mohair is another animal/protein fiber, coming from the fleece of an Angora goat (Yates, 2002). While it does not have the same versatility as wool and is much more expensive, its silky appearance and durability make it preferable for upholstery (Yates, 2002). Another protein fiber, cashmere, comes from the fleece of a Kashmir goat. It is delicate and soft making it very unusual for furnishings and quite expensive (Yates, 2002). Horsehair, however, is woven into many luxury upholstery fabrics (Yates, 2002). It is smooth and shiny in appearance, very durable, and remains a staple for upholstery fabric despite its high cost.

        Silk is a widely known protein fiber that is harvested from the cocoon of a silkworm. Silk is popular for its “vibrant color, elegant sheen, and rich luster” (Yates, 2002, p. 43). Harvesting silk is a very labor-intensive process which in result makes it more expensive (Yates, 2002). Silk is sensitive to fading and blends well with synthetic fibers. Its high tensile strength makes it an ideal choice for parachutes (Yates, 2002).

Natural Man-made Fibers

        Natural Man-made Fibers are made from natural materials such as glass, latex, and rayon. “Glass fiber is extruded from molten glass in filament form” (Yates, 2002, p. 44). It is known to be used in wall coverings, but is often used as a fireproof barrier. It is described as an “interlining between the cushion and outside cover of upholstered furniture and bedding that needs to pass certain flammability tests” (Yates, 2002, p. 46). “Latex is a dispersion of rubber in water” (Yates, 2002, p. 47). It is elastic and sometimes “used to coat fabrics as a finish” (Yates, 2002, p. 47). It is commonly known for its use in gloves used in various practices in the medical field. Next, rayon was “the first man-made fiber developed” (Yates, 2002, p. 47). Rayon comes from wood pulp or cotton waste and was first developed as a cheaper alternative to cotton (Yates, 2002). Lastly, acetate is produced by extruding cellulosic fiber through an acetate solution (Yates, 2002). It is known for having poor abrasion resistance, but is very light resistance and dimensionally stable making it an excellent choice for drapery fabric (Yates, 2002).

Synthetic Fibers

        Synthetic or man-made fibers are “long chain polymers derived from petrochemicals” (Yates, 2002,  p. 48). They each have been made to serve their own unique purposes, but all synthetic fibers are hydrophobic and thermoplastic (Yates, 2002). Polyester, nylon, acrylic, olefin, and spandex are all examples of synthetic fibers.

        Polyester is the best performing synthetic fiber. It is light, wrinkle, and abrasion resistant making it popular for upholstery, drapery, hospital curtains, wall coverings, and panel fabric (Yates, 2002). While polyester is not popular for brand name products it is flame-resistant and easy to clean (Yates, 2002).

        Nylon is most commonly used in carpet because of its tensile strength. It is unsuitable for wall coverings and drapery, however because of its poor moisture regain, or “ability to regain its original size and shape after it has absorbed atmospheric moisture” (Yates, 2002, p. 51). Acrylic is “soft, bulky, nonallergenic, and warm” making it a good wool substitute (Yates, 2002, p. 51).  Unfortunately it is not flame-resistant, but modified acrylic is a flame resistant version of acrylic. Olefin is low-cost, lightweight, and bulky. It is non-absorbent, and stain and mildew resistant, making it popular in heavy-use upholstery, wall coverings, and carpet (Yates, 2002).

        Fibers are a part of our everyday lives. Each fiber, with its own, individual properties make it useful for the job it is made or grown to serve. While no fiber is considered “perfect” in respect to its properties, each is necessary in producing a variety of fabrics used for an array of purposes. It is important for interior designers to have an understanding of these fibers and what they are well suited for. Knowledge of tensile strength, abrasion resistance, and fireproofing qualities are key in choosing fabrics and other textiles in any interior design project.

References:

Yates, Marypaul. (2002). Fabrics: A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.