Velvet fabrics

Velvet fabrics sold by the meter

On this page you will find various velvet fabrics sold by the meter made from natural fibers and recycled fiber materials. Our range includes elegant curtain velvets and velvet for upholstery from sustainable production in the most modern colors and elegant pile surfaces.

What is velvet fabric?

Velvet is a pile fabric with a vertical fiber cover, the so-called pile height. The pile height is a maximum of 3mm, whereby the pile threads are cut open. The base fabric is often made with cotton threads in a plain or twill weave and the pile with cotton, wool or chemical fiber yarns. The pile is inserted into the fabric with additional warp or weft threads. Modern velvet fabrics are often made with admixtures of highly elastic thread materials such as elastane or Lycra in the basic warp and/or basic weft. Velvet fabrics can also be differentiated between warp velvet and weft velvet.

How is velvet fabric made?

Warp velvet as cut rod material, consists of ground warp, ground weft and pile warp. The pile warp is an additional warp that is formed using rods; the pile binding is referred to as pile binding or pile unbinding and takes place on the weft thread. The main examples of warp velvet are velor, genoa velvet, Venetian velvet and Linden velvet.

Weft velvet, on the other hand, consists of a basic warp, basic weft and pile weft (pile is created by subsequently cutting the pile wefts in the direction of the weft; compared to velor, there is a higher weft density). The weft velvet is mainly produced as smooth velvet (velvet, velvetine), ribbed velvet (corduroy) and patterned velvet.

Double velvet as a further variant of velvet fabric is a warp velvet, which is created using the double velvet weaving process (also called double plush weaving process) by simultaneously producing two velvet fabrics (top and bottom fabric), which are connected by a common pile chain. Before each pile fabric is wound up separately, the pile chain is cut in the middle.

The most commonly used fiber materials are cotton, silk, wool, viscose and various synthetic fibers. A good velvet must have good pile strength and a closed pile cover. High-quality velvet fabrics are wrinkle-resistant, water-repellent on the top, moisture-absorbing on the bottom and insensitive to pressure points. Good cotton velvets are hand washable. All others should be chemically cleaned in order to maintain the performance properties achieved with the finishing. The durability and low crease resistance of chemical fiber velvets are low.

Refining requires a complex series of many work steps. Finishing for warp or double velvet:

  • Raising (straightening the pile threads)
  • Shearing (roughly adjusting the pile length)
  • Dyeing (all processes possible)
  • Equipment (to influence the usage properties)
  • fixing (the equipment)
  • Raising (brushes for straightening and splicing the pile threads)
  • Shearing (evening out the dense pile ceiling).

Difference from other merchandise

Plush has the same fabric construction as warp velvet. However, plush (pile height from approx. 3 mm) has a longer, sometimes not as dense fiber pile as velvet.

Mokett is a pile fabric similar to plush, but a heavier version (woven with several pile chains) for furniture covers and decorative goods.