Velion Shop — Velvet and velour fabrics: how the two | velionshop.com
Pick the gsm band first: 130–250 for apparel, 250–400 for curtains, 350–550 for upholstery — then check the Martindale rating on anything that will be sat on.
Fabric weight in grams per square metre decides what a velvet can do. The full scale runs 130–550 gsm, split into three bands that map directly onto end use, and buying outside the right band is the most common reason a project disappoints.
The 130–250 gsm band is apparel territory. It drapes fluidly, gathers without bulk, and comes at garment widths — velveteen here is often 110–140 cm wide. Expect a soft, moving drape rather than a structured one.
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The 250–400 gsm band is curtain and decor weight. The extra grams give folds enough body to hang in clean lines, and the cloth comes off the loom at furnishing widths of 137–150 cm (54–60 inches), which reduces seaming across windows.
The 350–550 gsm band is upholstery weight, and here the abrasion rating matters as much as the grams. Light domestic use calls for 9,000–11,000 Martindale cycles, general domestic use for 15,000–25,000, and commercial seating for 30,000–40,000.
Pile height modifies every band: at about 1.5–4 mm, longer piles crush and watermark more easily than short ones, so a heavily used sofa wants weight and a short pile together. For cleaning limits by fibre, see /how-to-clean-velvet; for the velvet–velour construction split, see /velvet-vs-velour.
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