Strike INAPPROPRIATE from your vocabulary!

A beautiful pile of treated silk velvet pillows

When you are working on putting together your fabric schemes it is important to think about practicality.  Sometimes a rugged recycled polyester or outdoor solution dyed acrylic fabric just makes sense.  Especially if you are family that actually LIVES in your house. 

But sometimes a fabric that is entirely inappropriate is just too irresistible to refuse.  What then?  Do you have to tiptoe around that chair, or ottoman or pillow forever?  Should you ban your kids, and dogs and wine drinking friends from that room?  Heck no!  Treat it!

approx 2 minutes in!  

What exactly does that mean and how do you go about it?  Well, there are several ways to get it done.

1.  The best way:  Ask the furniture store, fabric store or designer that is helping you procure the fabric to send the fabric out for a stain protection treatment BEFORE it becomes a piece of furniture or pillow.  There are a number of companies around the country that specialize in this.  They take your fabric and soak it in a solution that helps to protect your fabric from both oil and water borne stains. It also, helps repel dust and dry soil and makes the fabric physically stronger.  A treatment will run around $60, but depends on how much fabric you are treating.  This lasts for the life of the fabric.

2.  The next best thing:  Hire a local fabric/stain protection company to come to your house and spray your new furnishings, carpet or draperies with a stain protecting.  Most places have a per square foot price and a per room or rooms price.  This type of treatment needs to be done annually, but is highly effective if maintained. 

3.  The DIY way:  Buy a can of stain repellent treatment and go to town.  This is initially cost effective, but does not last long and must be maintained religiously.

Additionally, you can add to the life of that delicate silk, or linen that you chose by adding a knit backing treatment.  This is especially important if you are going to be doing upholstery.  Ask your expert to help you identify if this is a good decision for your particular fabric.  A usual trick to figure this out on your own is to pull the fabric on the diagonal (bias); if it stretches a lot then it needs to be backed.

Design without boundaries- it's now possible!