whats are good child friendly fabrics?

Question

im doing a childrens clinic and i need fabrics for chairs. what are some child friendly fabrics that have good abrasion resistence, clean up well...... how is chenille??

its a childrens health clinic

Answer 1

probably not chenille. look for smoother, tightly woven fabrics, hopefully scotch guarded. you might want to go with such things as the plushes, but they show everything and are hell to clean. A good heavyweight smooth cotton is probably the best bet for long term use. I would make them slip covers, in various colors, with an extra set for when the others are in the wash. most children's places use simple plastic chairs that are easy to keep clean and germ free. You did not say what kind of clinic, if it is a health clinic, you might want to rethink using cloth at all, as keeping it germ free is a real hassle. I am sure you do not want to be washing the covers on a daily basis.

Answer 2

I don't have any children, but I have been a nanny before. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't want to live in a high maintenance house myself, I am 38 years old. So it isn't just about child friendly. It is genuinely people friendly.

I swear if I am ever making this decision and not dealing with handmedown furniture, the house will be wall to wall denim.

It comes in many many colors, even patterns, but I just love the old faded jeans looking blue stuff, like a well worn pair of 501's.

Denim slipcovers with some sort of waterproofing underneath would be the perfect thing for any soft or hard chair. You can make them really tailored or more slouchy. I haven't ever seen anything waterproof for couches but I would think that with the existing items for a bed, you could probably make it into something. They also have washable incontinence flat pads that you can put underneath, it isn't rattly like plastic, they are about the size of two carpet squares together. I would honestly see if you could somehow find larger pieces of this, or customize any soft washable waterproof item into a slipcover for underneath the denim. Then you just strip the couch of any messed up items and wash it, dry on low heat. I would prewash the fabric to get any shrinkage over with before you sew it into anything sized for the piece.

Denim is cotton so it isn't stain proof but it isn't expected to look perfect either. A patterned denim would hide stains.

You can round out decor with smaller pieces (less expensive, more disposable) with more fragile pieces of remnant luxury fabrics. Anything, including chenille for that leather and lace his/her feel. Eclectic for sure. Or you can use the synthetics that are different colors depending on how they catch the light? They are sometimes pink from one view and green from another, a very psychadelic look.

Denim, even plain old traditional blue jean denim, can slide right into almost any decor and matches damn near everything. It is perfect for any country style, mission, shaker, french country, country modern, as well as cottage, colonial, and as I say can be feminized or masculinized by the accessories used with it, or dressed up or down. It can be the perfect item to keep a really snazzy space from looking too uppity. Or it can be extremely tailored to make even a fishing cabin look a little classier. The versatility expands in all directions when you use dark or light, or colored denim, or black.

Chenille doesn't seem to be all that kid friendly but boy is it soft and cozy for children. If you keep the piece small, such as a nice throw blanket or pillow, even a larger floor pillow, and waterproof and use removable covers, they can be washed...then you can get away with it. You need a very reliable stain remover, or consider them short term use items...because they will stain. All the fuzzy fibers do. Physically speaking, when you have all those fuzzy fibers, the surface area exposed to the stain is increased a lot more, like hundreds more little wicks to soak up a stain. And the fabric is somewhat light duty, you can't just bleach it or use the most force on it and it looks good.

Here is one idea for big cozy items for small children...ready made DOG beds. They don't all look like a dog bed, and your kid doesn't even have to know, lest you think he is being insulted, or you feel like you are insulting him. All most dog beds are, is a giant superdurable pillow...so in addition to my idea of using a ready made one, I would say look at the fabrics for dog beds and use those kinds of durable fibers. All the things kids can do to fabrics, dogs can do too...so it is worth the research.

Another place you can look for inspiration for childproof fabric is in the garden center or classified indoor/outdoor. If it can handle a thunderstorm, it can handle a two year old hurricane.

The most durable fuzzy fabric I can think of for kids to get cozy with in a large scale piece...is corduroy. A corduroy couch slipcover might be a great look and it can look very classy as well, with versatility in colors.

Have fun!

Answer 3

chenille has a nap and will not stand up to kids, go to an upholstry shop and ask about fabrics, nylon lasts well

Answer 4

chenille silk velour are all excellent choice i own a clenaing company and i am speaking from personal experince

Answer 5

the operative word being child, think easy clean more than anything else, something you can wipe clean, use detergent and disinfectant on it, I would suggest some sort of vinyl

good luck

Answer 6

hemp