Yes, it's true. Most of the recycled polyester we use originates from plastic water and soda bottles. While it sounds pretty unbelievable that a hard drinking container can turn into soft fabric, it's actually a relatively simple process and is used often in our industry as well as the clothing industry. This is the story of how a plastic bottle is turned into fabric.

When we purchase anything, whether it is a piece of clothing or a piece of furniture, it is easy to overlook where that product is made. It's easy to forget about all of the processes, people, expertise, resources and energy it took to get it into your hands. A lot of fabric is made overseas, but let's examine some of the drawbacks and why we think it's beneficial to purchase textiles made in the USA and Canada.

What makes a fabric something that is made for you to sit on instead of something to wrap a panel with? Or hang in a hospital? Are the fabrics really all that different? The answer is yes and no, as we will explain in this post.

Polyester is the most common and versatile fiber type that we weave fabric with in our mills and most of our upholstery, panel/acoustic and cubicle fabrics are woven out of polyester. In this article we will cover what polyester is, where it comes from, and its advantages and disadvantages.

We all know the saying "a rendering is worth a thousands words" (right?), but if you don't have the images to make the rendering, then it isn't worth any words. That's why we are working hard to create rendering images of all our textiles so the next time you are toiling away on your latest awesome project that uses Guilford of Maine textiles, you won't be left empty handed when it comes time to really wow your client.

You may have heard the terms Jacquard and dobby in reference to fabric, but do you know what it means? In this post, we'll broadly cover the differences between these two types of looms.

The processes of making textiles can be, well, a little bit complicated. There are a lot of different steps that have to come together in order to make your chairs, acoustic panels, lounge seating, cubicle panels or anywhere else you stick fabric look and perform great. Some of us are visual learners, so we put together a handy infographic to give a broad overview of what the process looks like at our mills in Maine and North Carolina.

When it comes to recycled content in fabric, all is not created equal. Pre-Consumer, Post-Consumer, Post-Industrial and Recycled are all terms used in the content listing of textiles but mean different things.

You have probably heard the terms "piece dyed" or "yarn dyed" thrown around, but do you know what those terms mean and how it affects the fabric?

Have you ever wondered what it means when a fabric specification says "pattern shown railroaded"? What does it mean when a fabric is railroaded?

As a designer or specifier, you've probably seen these symbols around while browsing textile websites, but do you know what they stand for and how can they make your job easier? Read on to find out.
 

Most of you probably remember weaving some yarn together on a piece of cardboard in grade school, but what does a state-of-the-art loom look like that can weave hundreds of yards of upholstery, panel, acoustic or cubicle fabric a day? Check out our brief video on weaving showing how it's done.

We all know the best way to keep upholstery clean is to not have anything spill on it. But this is the real world, where dirt and spills are bound to happen. Luckily, there are stain repellents.

What a textile is made of can make a huge difference when it comes to performance, durability, cleanability and where it should be used. Using a textile with the wrong content can result in poor performance in the field. In this post we'll talk about Olefin. What it is and its benefits and disadvantages.