Sofa fabrics compared: which upholstery is right for your home

Every Felindo couch is upholstered in our own workshop, which means the fabric is a choice, not a given. These are the four families we work with most, what each is good at, and the honest trade-offs.

Standard upholstery (our default)

A tightly woven, flat upholstery fabric in neutral colours: beige, cream, grey, charcoal, black, stone, white. It is the most forgiving for everyday life, the easiest to vacuum and spot clean, and the most affordable. If you have young children or pets and you are not sure, start here, in a mid-tone like grey or beige that hides marks between cleans.

Corduroy

Soft, ribbed and warm to the touch. Our Vonia range, Cozy Lounge and Vonia headboards are corduroy. It is wonderful to sit on and photographs beautifully, and it hides minor wear well because of the texture. Vacuum along the ribs rather than across them, and expect the pile to flatten slightly where you sit most, which is normal and brushes up.

Velvet

Dense, smooth and light-catching, velvet is the fabric for a bedroom or formal lounge that wants to feel like a hotel suite. Our Raoila headboard is velvet. It shows finger marks and brush direction (which is part of the look), so it suits adult spaces better than playrooms. Brush gently in the direction of the pile and never rub a spill.

Leather-look

A wipe-clean upholstery with the look and feel of leather at a fraction of the cost. Nasir is our leather-look couch. It is the easiest of all to clean (a damp cloth), it does not absorb smells, and it is the practical choice for a home with pets. Keep it out of direct sun and away from heaters, which dry it out over time.

Choosing a colour

• Light (white, cream, vanilla): the most striking and the least forgiving. Choose it for adult spaces or go leather-look.
• Mid-tones (beige, grey, stone, silver): hide the most, go with everything, and are our best sellers for a reason.
• Dark (charcoal, black, chocolate, navy): hide marks but show lint and pet hair; a lint roller fixes that in a minute.
• Colour (forest green, teal, burnt orange, frozen blue): make the couch the room's statement; keep the walls and rug calm.

Caring for any fabric

Vacuum weekly with a soft brush. Blot spills immediately with a clean, dry cloth, never rub. Rotate and plump loose cushions so they wear evenly. Keep the couch out of direct sunlight, which fades every fabric, dark ones fastest. Every product page has a Materials & care section with the specific advice for that piece.

Want a fabric we have not listed? Ask. We can usually source a specific upholstery and quote the difference before we start.