Why I hate performance fabrics

And what I recommend instead

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I remember the first time I heard the phrase “performance fabric.” I had recently begun working at Parents magazine and my executive editor gave me a withering look for not knowing about these apparently kid- and pet-proof upholstery textiles. (I’d encountered these fabrics, including Crypton and Sunbrella brands, before, but I didn’t know them by this name.) Performance fabrics, in case you are unfamiliar with the term, refer to stain-resistent, synthetic textiles—and they’re everywhere.

I spent the next decade writing articles that sang the praises of performance fabrics. But I began to get a funny feeling about them after I left Parents, and I realized just how pervasive they had become.

I thought I had been hearing about performance fabrics all the time because I was the lifestyle director at a parenting magazine. However, when I went freelance back in 2020, I started writing for general interest and design outlets and still every single designer I interviewed was using performance fabrics–almost exclusively–even in the homes of the very rich who could afford anything. Today, I would say that it is noteworthy if upholstery is not a performance fabric. These textiles are being used on sofas and chairs, but also headboards and curtains–places you’re not traditionally spilling a lot of things.

I also found myself bothered by the fact that designers all talked about them in exactly the same way: telling me you can spill a glass of red wine and it will roll right off and that the textiles have gotten so much softer in recent years. I eventually realized they were just reiterating the manufacturer’s talking points. Somehow we’d all been talked into rhapsodizing about plastic fabric! I can assure you without this smooth, upmarket sounding phrase “performance fabrics” the designers would not be gushing about plastic-based fabrics.

I’d like to officially apologize for my part in promoting performance fabrics.

It was bad journalism not to question the talking points I’d been fed. I don’t care how great the fabric looks or how much softer it is than previous incarnations: I don’t want fabric made out of petroleum. Synthetic fabrics, including acrylics, polyester, and nylon are all made from petroleum, the extraction of which causes pollution and global warming. Being made of petroleum they will not readily biodegrade at the end of their useful life. And no matter what people say, I don’t think those synthetic fabrics feel as nice against the skin or breath like natural fibers do–it’s subtle, but cotton, linen, or wool just feels better.

Plus, if a fabric is being marketed as “performance” or “stain resistant” it almost certainly has been treated with PFAS (the acronym for “per- and polyfluorinated substances”), which are also known as forever chemicals because they don’t break down–ever. PFAS are known to be harmful to human health (just how harmful, we’re still not sure). Because PFAS and other stain treatments are applied to the textile, they’re also more likely to end up breaking down into our environments and lead to incidental indoor dust ingestion. Sadly, there’s almost no way to know if a performance textile is treated with PFAS, as there is no legal requirement (yet) for companies to disclose the presence of PFAs in their products.

If you’re thinking you’ll just “Scotchguard” your fabrics (something designers also love to tell me they’ve done for family homes), you’re out of luck. Most of those fabric-protecting sprays contain PFAS, especially the ones that are sold for commercial application (they’ve reformulated some consumer ones, but with what it’s unclear).

I feel especially guilty for repeating designers and manufacturers’ claims about the benefits of performance fabrics because it turns out they might not even be better at resisting stains than conventional fabrics. A study published in a scientific journal published by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists tested both performance and untreated fabrics by spilling coffee and salad dressing on to them. The performance fabrics fared marginally better when they were new, but over time, they were no more stain-resistant than the other fabrics.

So, what should we do instead? Choose naturally-durable textiles like leather, linen, hemp, or wool. (Linen and hemp are particularly good from a climate perspective as they require less water, fertilizer, and pesticide usage than cotton). In my experience, darker colors and patterns tend to look good longer. If you were cynical, you might think designer’s preference for pale, fixed upholstery is a way to ensure more work in just a few year’s time.

Even better, would be to buy furniture that is slipcovered instead of made with fixed upholstery. The magic of a slipcover is that it can be taken off and laundered. And really, don’t you want the fabric you’re sitting and lying on to be washed once in a while? Slipcovers cost more upfront, but they also extend the life of your furniture, saving you money over time. My 15-year sofa still looks pretty great thanks to a replacement slipcover, which was not nearly as expensive as buying a whole new couch would have been.

Another option is to pick a piece of furniture that is not upholstered, like a wooden bed instead of a fabric-covered one or wooden dining chairs instead of cushy cloth-covered ones. Yes, the soft dining chairs are more comfortable, but if you’ve owned some, you know they get awfully dirty, awfully fast. When we were shopping for a bed for our rental house I briefly considered an upholstered one until I looked at the secondhand market and saw that every fabric-covered headboard bore faint ghostly stains where people had leaned up against them—no thanks.

Performance fabrics are just another example of us being sold a story. We like the idea of our furniture being ready for any situation. We long for one less thing to worry about. But when you are talking about materials linked to global warming and chemicals linked to cancers that will never biodegrade, perhaps we should be more worried about what is in these stain-proof fabrics? Especially since these plastic fabrics might not even deliver on what they promise.

It will come as no surprise to long time readers of Living Small that I also believe that we should be teaching our children to take care of things (and be mindful of dirty hands), not dousing our homes in petroleum in the hopes that any signs of a child’s mess will slip right off. I believe it’s okay for furniture to need some care and maintenance over time–and that there can even be joy in doing so.

Further reading: If you have somehow not yet heard about “forever chemicals,” here’s a gift link to a New York Times article about ridding them from your life.

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3 More Things

The best small space I saw last week was not a whole home, but a room in an apartment designed by Peti Lau that made great use of a wall bed and desk by Resource Furniture (head to minute 7:56 in this video to see it).

Reading: My colleague Melissa Ozawa wrote about the pollinator garden outside of the town hall in East Hampton, NY, a project I’ve been following closely. There should be gardens like this outside of every town hall in every town with plants for their ecoregion.

Wearing: In my never-ending quest for the perfect one-piece, I am test-driving a new swimsuit. It’s a little higher cut than my longtime go-to suit, but I was pleasantly surprised that it stays in place.

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