Abrasion

Abrasion resistance is another indicator of the durability of the interior fabric. The durability of the fabric is measured with different scratching or rubbing test devices. According to the European Standard, the abrasion resistance of textile is defined by the Martindale method. For fabrics with piles, the Stoll test is used and in the United States the Wyzeenbeck method is used.

The abrasion resistance depends both on the material of the fibers and on the bonding. The tests allow customers to compare different materials, but they do not give a prediction how long the product will last. In real life use of the fabric is usually subjected to a different stress than can be simulated in a test environment. Therefore, the use of abrasion resistance test values as a measure of durability of fabrics should be treated with caution. Double values for the Martindale test do not mean that the lifetime of the fabric doubles. The abrasion resistance of the fabric is also affected by the quality of the furniture itself, for example the shape and the filling used.

The Martindale method is designed to measure the abrasion resistance of woven and knitted fabrics without pile. The fabric to be examined in the test is attached to a circular substrate that is rubbed against a standard wool fabric in a rotating motion. The abrasion resistance result is the number of revolutions reached before two threads in the tested fabric are cut off.

Although the Martindale method is not intended to test fabrics with pile (velvet fabrics and non-woven fabrics such as Alcantara), it has become more commonly used to determine the abrasion resistance of these type of fabrics. The fact that two yarns are cut off when you test these fabrics does not necessarily define the wear resistance of the fabric. The result of the Martindale test should be the number of turns completed when critical changes occur in the fabric and the fabric breaks (the Martindale endpoint).

In practice the durability of interior fabrics can be divided into three categories:
basic requirement = at least 15,000 cycles
high requirement = at least 25,000 cycles
very high requirement = at least 50,000 cycles