Performance Fabrics

Performance Fabric by the Yard

Performance fabric combines the visual quality of luxury designer textiles with technical engineering for durability, stain resistance, and ease of cleaning — making it the most practical choice for family rooms, pet-friendly households, high-traffic commercial spaces, and any application where everyday life must coexist with elevated design. At The WorkRoom, our performance fabric collection spans thousands of designs from leading brands including Kravet, Schumacher, Stout, Sunbrella, and more, covering upholstery, multipurpose, and drapery applications in a wide range of patterns and colourways.

What Makes a Fabric "Performance"

Performance fabrics achieve their practical advantages through one of several technical approaches. Solution-dyed acrylic (Sunbrella and similar) introduces colour at the fibre level rather than the surface, making the fabric inherently fade-resistant and bleach-cleanable. Crypton and Crypton Home treatments apply a moisture barrier and antimicrobial treatment to the fabric that repels liquids and resists staining at the surface level. Teflon and similar fluoropolymer treatments create a hydrophobic surface coating that causes liquids to bead and roll off before penetrating the fabric. High-rub-count wovens achieve performance through construction rather than chemistry — tightly woven, high-denier fabrics that resist abrasion and pilling under heavy use.

Performance Fabric Cleaning

Most performance fabrics can be spot-cleaned with mild soap and water. Sunbrella and solution-dyed acrylics can typically be cleaned with diluted bleach — the strongest and most useful cleaning capability for heavily soiled outdoor and indoor/outdoor applications. Crypton fabrics can be machine washed in many applications. Always verify specific cleaning instructions on the individual product page before applying any cleaning agent to a performance fabric.

Also Explore

Indoor/outdoor fabric is the most extreme performance category — fabrics rated for genuine exterior exposure. Upholstery fabric covers the broader heavyweight upholstery category including both performance and non-performance constructions. Multipurpose fabric covers the dual-use upholstery/drapery category, many of which carry performance specifications.