Upholstery Buying Guide

Think about the function of the upholstery when deciding on the material. Will you eat while sat on your new upholstered chair? Do you have children? If this is the case then maybe you should consider a leather covered product or a fabric that is dark in colour. A patterned or tweed fabric can also disguise any little accidents.

Choosing fabric as opposed to leather gives you the opportunity to experiment with a variety of different colours and textures. When deciding on the colour think about the colour of the room, the carpet, any rugs in the room or other furniture you have. Consider whether is is going to be put in bright sunlight as continued exposure to the direct sun may cause fading to occur.

Leather combines luxury with durability and comfort. It is resistant to staining, cracking and withstands a lot of wear and tear. Over time, with the correct care, the look and feel of leather improves making it a good investment.

Contrary to popular belief, leather actually adjusts to your body temperature and does not feel cold and clammy. Ideal for any time of the year; warm in winter,cool in summer and breathable. If you suffer from allergies, Leather upholstery is often a very good option.

Leather Types: We mainly use 3 different types of leather in our range:

Full-aniline: The most attractive and natural leathers, heralded for its soft natural feel with unique hide surface characteristics visible. Aniline hides are dyed using aniline dyestuffs. The aniline dye is transparent and the surface grain and any natural marks on the leather remain visible. Aniline leather is incredibly soft and only a small proportion of hides are suitable to be used on large single panels of upholstery, as is customary on most Heal's sofas. Because of this, differences in colour and texture must be expected.

Semi-aniline: Semi-aniline leather is more durable than aniline whilst still retaining a natural appearance. Semi-aniline hides have a light surface coating applied to the leather after dyeing. Hides in this category show fewer natural characteristics and are harder wearing than full aniline hides.

Pigmented: Pigmented hides are usually corrected by buffing the outer surface of the leather grain before the application of pigments and lacquers onto the leather surface. Corrected grain hides are normally uniform in appearance and are very hard wearing.

Natural Characteristics

As leather is a natural product, each hide will have it's own individual characteristics. Just as fingerprints differ form one person to another, so there will be differences in grain, texture and colour from one hide to another, and even within the same hide.

Growth marks, bites, warble fly marks, scars and creases are common on leather furniture and it is precisely these marks, which distinguish "real" leather from man-made substitutes. None of these characteristics have a weakening effect on the hide. The marks are proof of the natural product and it would be impossible to obscure them all from view, without coating the surface with a thick layer of paint, which would destroy the beauty and softness of the material.

Heal's choose the very best fillings to compliment our upholstery ranges, and the most appropriate to achieve comfort, function and design.

Foam: Foam interiors provide a firmer, more resilient seat that benefits from being extremely low maintenance. The resilience of foam may appear very firm initially but the material will become 20% softer with normal use over a 2-month period to reach a more comfortable sit, which should not further soften.

Foam/Fibre wrap: This is a layer of foam sandwiched between two layers of hollow fibre, offering the high resilience and low maintenance of foam, but with the additional softer layer of fibre.

Hollow fibre: The rapid growth in the "relaxed" style of upholstery in recent years has meant an upsurge in the use of hollow fibre as an upholstery fibre. This is because unlike the traditional feather interiors, hollow fibre is much lighter and more resilient material, resulting in less plumping maintenance. Although we highly recommended you do still plump and turn your cushions regularly to prolong the life of your furniture. Hollow fibre also benefits from being hypoallergenic.

Feather: Feather has traditionally been used in furniture upholstery for many years, and can offer a deep and luxurious seating position. But this filling does require frequent plumping to maintain a tidy appearance. As feather cushions are quite heavy the easiest way to do this is to pick up a cushion and drop it on the ground on each corner to disperse an even spread of feathers.

View our full our range of Armchairs

View our full our range of Sofas

Do you have a question? Why not email our Product Advisor at productadvisor@heals.co.uk