Outlast Fabrics: The Questions We Actually Get

I work in quality for a fabric company. That means every order a customer receives has been through my hands—or, more accurately, through my testing process. I review roughly 200+ fabric orders a year: fleece, denim, linen, upholstery fabrics, and custom webbing. Over time, the same questions keep coming up.

Some come from first-time buyers trying to figure out what they actually need. Some come from buyers who've been in the game for years but never got a straight answer. Here's my honest take on the Outlast fabric questions I hear most.

What makes Outlast fabric different from regular fabric?

Here's the thing: “Outlast” covers more than one product line. There's the original temperature-regulating Outlast technology, and then there's our functional fabrics—fleece, denim, linen, upholstery. From a quality perspective, the common thread is durability. The name doesn't exist by accident.

I've watched cheap fleece pill after ten washes. Cheap denim fade unevenly within a season. Cheap upholstery fabric crush flat under normal use. Outlast fabric is speced to hold up to what it's actually used for. That's the difference.

When I first started reviewing fabric, I assumed thread count was the number that mattered most. Three years and a few expensive rejects later, I learned it's not that simple. Yarn quality, weave structure, dye penetration, finishing. They all matter. A mid-range fabric made with good long-staple fiber will outperform a “high thread count” fabric made with cheap yarn. It's the whole system, not one number.

What are the Outlast trials?

Good question, and one I get more often than you'd expect. In the fabric industry, trials are the testing phase. Before a fabric goes to market—or gets approved for your bulk order—it goes through a set of trials:

• Shrinkage tests: wash it, measure it, repeat
• Abrasion tests: ASTM D4966 is the standard for upholstery, measured in Martindale rubs
• Colorfastness tests: checking for dye bleed and fading
• Seam slippage checks: does the seam hold or pull apart under stress

So far this year, I've rejected about 12% of first-delivery production runs because they didn't pass trials. Not because the fabric looked bad. Because it didn't hold up under testing.

Sample trials are required for every custom fleece and custom webbing order, regardless of order size. No exceptions. If a supplier is pushing you to skip testing, that's a warning sign.

Is gold tweed upholstery fabric a good choice?

Gold tweed upholstery fabric is one of those materials that looks far more expensive than it is—when you choose the right one. Real tweed is a woven fabric, typically wool or a wool blend. Tightly woven tweed holds up well under daily use, and it has a texture that printed imitations simply don't have.

But here's the catch: a lot of budget upholstery fabric is printed to look like tweed. It's not. The texture is cosmetic, and the durability isn't there.

If you're comparing gold tweed upholstery fabric options, ask for the Martindale rub count. For residential upholstery, you want at least 15,000–20,000 rubs. For commercial or high-traffic spaces, aim for 30,000+. If the supplier can't tell you the rub count? That's a red flag.

I remember choosing between real tweed and a look-alike once. The cost analysis said the look-alike was the smart play. My gut said it wasn't. The look-alike failed at half the anticipated Martindale cycles, and we re-did the entire run. The numbers were wrong because the data was incomplete. That run taught me more than any manual.

What is chenille upholstery fabric?

Chenille means “caterpillar” in French, and that's the best way to describe how it feels—soft, fuzzy, and plush. Chenille upholstery fabric is made from yarns where short fibers are twisted between two core yarns, creating a brushed, tufted surface.

It's incredibly comfortable. It's also less forgiving than tweed or plain weaves.

What I check when vetting chenille upholstery fabric:

• Twist: is the chenille yarn tightly twisted? Loose twist means pilling, sooner.
• Finish: a protective finish helps resist crushing and matting.
• Rub count: good chenille can hit 30,000+ rubs. Cheap chenille fails fast.

I've held chenille samples side by side that felt identical to the touch. Two weeks of abrasion testing told a completely different story. Testing beats guessing. Period.

Is a Threshold duvet cover worth buying?

Threshold is a retail home brand, and to be clear, I'm not claiming we manufacture their fabric. But I inspect fabric every day, and the same quality principles apply whether you're buying a duvet cover from a retail brand or ordering custom fabric by the yard.

Here's what I tell anyone asking about duvet covers:

• Fiber: long-staple cotton outperforms short-staple, period.
• Weave: percale is crisp and breathable; sateen is smoother and drapes more.
• Construction: check the closure mechanism and seam allowances. A cover with weak seams fails long before the fabric does.

I once specified “standard bedding weight” for a custom woven run. The mill heard “cheapest weight.” We were using the same words but meaning different things, and we discovered this when the production run arrived visibly thinner than the sample. Now every spec includes a weight range and finished measurements, in writing, before production starts.

Can I order Outlast fabric or custom webbing in small quantities?

Yes. This one matters to me personally.

Early in my career, I assumed the only orders worth taking seriously were the big ones. That assumption cost us a client. A small startup asked for 150 meters of custom webbing. We were dismissive. Two years later, that startup was placing five-figure orders—with a competitor.

Small doesn't mean unimportant. It means potential.

We run small batches all the time. Sample yardage, custom fleece trials, limited upholstery runs. The specs and testing are the same whether you order 50 meters or 5,000. The only real difference is pricing, because setup costs are what they are.

To be fair, some suppliers won't work with small orders, and that's their call. But if you need a short run to test a product before committing, there are suppliers who get it. In my opinion, any supplier that dismisses you because your first order is small is showing you how they'll treat you later.

How do I know a fabric will actually last?

You can't tell by looking. That's the honest answer.

What you can do is ask for data. When a supplier says “durable,” ask: how many Martindale rubs? When they say “colorfast,” ask: what standard and what rating? When they say “eco-friendly,” the FTC requires substantiation under the Green Guides—so ask to see it. Per FTC guidelines (ftc.gov), environmental claims need to be backed up with evidence, not just intentions.

We didn't have a formal fabric verification protocol when I first joined. The third time a “premium” fabric arrived looking nothing like its approved sample, I built one. Now every order includes documented specs, pre-production samples, and test results before production begins. It's extra work. It's also way cheaper than redoing a failed run.

If you take one thing from this article, make it this: real fabric suppliers don't dodge specific questions. They welcome them.