CTA Guidelines

INSTYLE is a founding member of the Commercial Textile Association of Australia and New Zealand. The CTA was formed in 1998 to establish contract fabric guidelines to assist specifiers, furniture manufacturers and end users identify and select fabrics suitable for use in contract interiors. These guidelines will become standards across the contract interior industry.

INSTYLE provides CTA endorsements on all upholstery and screen textiles ranged within our collections. These endorsements are acknowledged industry wide.

The CTA symbols are printed on all INSTYLE sampling presentation material.

THE CTA - WORKING FOR A BETTER TEXTILE INDUSTRY

INSTYLE CONTRACT TEXTILES, is a member of the CTA formed in 1998, the Commercial Textile Association of Australia and New Zealand Limited (CTA).

Whilst INSTYLE is design driven, the importance of textile performance is of equal concern. The development of the CTA guidelines is an important service and an initial step in the ongoing commitment of the CTA to the commercial interior industry.

The CTA provides a forum for the commercial textile industry to provide its customers with updated and relevant industry information which will be of benefit in the understanding and use of commercial textiles.

CTA members are bound by a code of practice, copies of which are available upon request.

NEW GUIDELINES FOR SIMPLER PERFORMANCE IDENTIFICATION

To overcome the difficulties in identifying fabrics which are suitable for use in commercial interiors, the Commercial Textile Association has developed a simple and appropriate system of grading commercial upholstery and screen fabrics.

The system provides specifiers, government departments, furniture manufacturers and end users with concise guidelines to evaluate the performance and suitability of a fabric for use in commercial interiors. The grading system is classified into three categories using these symbols:

Classification: General Commercial Upholstery;
Guidelines: Fabrics that pass 20 000 Martindale or 1500 Stoll cycles and also meet the CTA requirements for pilling, seam slippage and colourfastness.

Classification: Heavy Duty Commercial Upholstery;
Guidelines:Fabrics that pass 40 000 Martindale or 2500 Stoll cycles and also meet the CTA requirements for pilling, seam slippage and colourfastness.

Classification: Commercial Screen Fabrics;
Guidelines: Fabrics that meet CTA requirements for colourfastness to light.

Instyle is a CTA Member

ABRASION RESISTANCE

Abrasion resistance is the ability of a fabric to withstand surface wear due to rubbing.

The test method used for measuring abrasion resistance of non-pile, woven and knitted upholstery fabrics is the Martindale test.

The test method for assessing appearance change of pile fabrics such as velvet velveteen, corduroy, knitted velour, knitted pile and flock fabrics is the Stoll test. This test is not applicable to fabrics which have a short nap, non woven pile or pile surface less than 1mm.

General Commercial Use

FLAT WOVEN/ KNITTED UPHOLSTERY
- Test method: Martindale AS 2001.2.25 (12 KPa pressure)
- Rating: 20 000 cycles (min).

PILE UPHOLSTERY FABRICS:
- Test method: Stoll AS 2687 -1997, Appendix `A'
- Rating: 1500 cycles (min).

Heavy Duty Commercial Use

FLAT WOVEN/ KNITTED UPHOLSTERY
- Test method: Martindale AS 2001.2.25 (12 KPa pressure)
- Rating: 40 000 cycles (min).

PILE UPHOLSTERY FABRICS:
- Test method: Stoll AS 2687 -1997, Appendix `A'
- Rating: 2500 cycles (min).

TEST METHODS

For the MARTINDALE TEST, the fabric to be tested is mounted in a special holder and is rubbed against a flat piece of standard worsted wool cloth. The motion of the Martindale test is properly described as a Lissajous figure (somewhat like a figure eight). The test has been designed so that the specimens are rubbed in all directions, not just the warp or weft.

The abrasion resistance is indicated by the number of cycles required to produce two broken threads on a woven fabric and one thread on a knitted fabric or any unacceptable change in appearance of the fabric during the test.

For the STOLL TEST, the fabric specimen is placed over a frame rubber cushion on a flat rotating turntable with the pile surface uppermost. A strip of abradant, mounted in a weighted abradant head is rubbed over the fabric in a reciprocating motion. Abrasion resistance is rated according to specified appearance change criteria.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Abrasion testing does not consistently predict the wear and /or extended appearance performance of a textile product but results obtained have been shown to be useful indications of performance.
  

• The use of absolute numbers to compare the durability of different fabrics must be undertaken with care and is not necessarily recommended. Double the number of cycles does not indicate doubling the service life.
  

• Abrasion tests by their very nature can produce variable results. The difference of a few thousand cycles can be expected between specimens of the same test fabric sample.
  

• There is no general correlation between the different test methods. It is not possible to estimate the number of cycles which would be achieved on one test (eg. Martindale), if the result for another test (eg. Wyzenbeek) is known.
  

• The performance of any fabric is also determined by a number of factors outside of the fabric's own durability and appearance retention including, but not limited to, the quality and design of the furniture piece, quality of foam and materials used and standard of upholstering. All these factors play an important role in the performance of any fabric.

PLEASE NOTE: THE ABRASION RESISTANCE TEST IS NOT APPLICABLE TO SCREEN/ PARTITIONING FABRICS.

SEAM SLIPPAGE

Seam slippage refers to the condition when fabrics pull apart at the seam.

UPHOLSTERY:
Test method: AS 2001.2.22
Rating: 8mm at 125N (max).

Test Method
AS 2001.2.22

A standard seam is sewn and then loaded. The loading may be by either a universal tensile testing machine or by a deadweight tester. The fabric is tested with the seam perpendicular to the warp threads and also perpendicular to the weft threads. The load is increased until the specified load is reached and the seam opening is then measured.

IMPORTANT
Appropriate seams should be selected to ensure a successful application. For example, not all fabrics can be seamed with a single row of stitches (lockstitch) with a 12mm seam allowance.

The raw edges of many woven upholstery fabrics will fray when they rub against foam or other filling materials. This can lead to a steady reduction in the width of the seam allowance and the premature failure of the seam. It is recommended that the seam allowance of any woven fabric which is liable to fraying be overlocked or otherwise secured.

PLEASE NOTE:

• It is the responsibility of the furniture manufacturer/ upholsterer to employ a seam construction, needle type and sewing thread which is appropriate for the fabric and furniture design.

• Different fabrics for the same design of furniture may require different seam constructions.

• The rupture of a seam due to seam slippage is generally not a fabric fault.

COLOURFASTNESS TO LIGHT

Colourfastness to light refers to a fabric's ability to resist fading or colour change when exposed to light.

Minimum ratings required by the CTA are: a minimum of 4 for light colours and a minimum of 5 for Medium - Dark colours.

Test Method
AS 2001.4.21
The fabric is exposed under specific conditions to light produced by an MBTF lamp (a mercury vapour, tungsten filament, internally phospor-coated lamp).

A set of reference blue swatches (`blue standards'), is exposed at the same time. The colourfastness to light rating is obtained by comparing the degree of fading of the test sample with the blue standards.

For example, a rating of 5 means the test sample had fading characteristics which were most similar to those of the blue standard No.5.

ISO 105-B02
The fabric is exposed under specified conditions to light produced by a xenon arc lamp. A set of reference blue standards is exposed at the same time.

The colourfastness rating is obtained by comparing the degree of fading of the test sample with the blue standards.

IMPORTANT
All furniture and partitions should be protected from sunlight. If this is not possible, furniture should be rotated regularly, to minimise the effect of fading.

The Woolmark Company recommends that pure New Wool and Wool Rich Blend fabrics be assessed according to ISO 105-B02. This test procedure is universal and has been shown to correlate well with in-service performance.

PLEASE NOTE: THE COLOURFASTNESS TO LIGHT TEST IS APPLICABLE TO BOTH UPHOLSTERY AND SCREEN/ PARTITIONING FABRICS.

UNDERSTANDING COLOUR AND COLOUR VARIATION

• Due to the nature of all textiles, colour differences between rolls and batches of fabric are unavoidable. Therefore it is not always possible to obtain an exact colour match to the samples displayed on sample cards or chips.

• All fabrics and leathers supplied by INSTYLE for customer orders will be within commercial tolerances.

COLOUR BATCHING FOR PRODUCT MANUFACTURE

• Colour batching or sorting of rolls is essential if workstations/ panels/ furniture are to be colour matched.

• The furniture manufacturer must ensure that the fabric used on an individual workstation or cluster of workstations is taken from one batch of fabric and, importantly, fabrics from different batches are not mixed together on an individual workstation, adjoining panels or furniture without appropriate consideration to colour.

COLOUR MATCHING FABRIC IN SERVICE

• In some cases it is necessary to colour match fabric which has been in service for some period of time. This situation presents a number of difficulties.

• In the first case the colour may have changed during the period of service. Colour changes may be induced by light exposure, abrasion, cleaning and soiling. Any attempt to match the colour of the fabric after it has been in service has a high risk of being unsatisfactory. Therefore clients must accept that fabric supplied in these circumstances can vary in colour from the original fabric supplied.

PATTERN MATCHING/ DIRECTION

• Unless directed by the specifier or client, fabric supplied by INSTYLE should be upholstered onto workstations/ panels/ furniture in the same direction as shown in sample presentations.

PILLING RESISTANCE

Piling is the formation of fibre balls on the surface of the fabric. Pilling occurs when loose fibres in the fabric are worked to the fabric surface after it has been subjected to abrasion.

UPHOLSTERY

• Test method: IWS 196

• Rating: 3-4 (min).

Test Method
MARTINDALE PILLING TEST METHOD (IWS 196)
Specimens of fabric are placed in the sample holders of the Martindale apparatus. The same fabric is used in the abradant holder. The specimens are then abraded under a low pressure for 1000 cycles.

The degree of pilling is rated by reference to standard photographs.

PLEASE NOTE: THE PILLING RESISTANCE TEST IS NOT APPLICABLE TO SCREEN/ PARTITIONING FABRICS.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Pilling is a characteristic of any fabric.

• Some pilling must be expected and de-pilling is a normal part of the routine maintenance of an upholstery fabric.

• De-pilling should be by means of a rotary cutter pill remover - removal by means of cutting blades or `snag and drag' tools is not recommended.

FIRE RETARDANCY

As fire standards vary greatly, specifiers and end users must inform themselves via the fire department, building codes or relevant government authorities of the appropriate standards required for a particular project, location or end use situation.