Deconstructing A Quality Church Chair - Part 3

Can fabric on a chair make a difference? When people think of fabric for a chair the first thought that usually comes to mind is the color, pattern, and overall look it will give a room. While all of these factors are important in making a chair purchase decision, there are other things to consider when buying church chairs for your sanctuary. Church seating endures a lot of traffic. Sunday morning services, Sunday night services, Wednesday night services, and all the various gatherings throughout the week can prove to be a challenge for chairs and fabric. Add to that the potential for spills and messes, punctures and tears, fading and wear.

Many fabrics will not hold up to that amount of stress and a church will find themselves replacing their church chairs or seating far sooner than they had anticipated. What is the solution? Church chairs covered with polyolefin fabric. This fabric is used in high traffic seating for a variety of reasons. Polyolefin fabric is strong, stain and puncture resistant, and tested for durability. So, what exactly is polyolefin fabric?

Polyolefin was developed in 1961 and originally used for outdoor equipment such as backpacks and mountain climbing clothing. “Polyolefin fibers are those fibers produced from polymers formed by chain growth polymerization of olefins (alkenes) and which contain greater than 85% polymerized ethylene, propylene, or other olefin units. The fibers are unaffected by solvents at room temperature and are swollen by aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons only at elevated temperatures,” (See more at: http://www.textileschool.com/articles/90/polyolefin-fibres-manmade-artificial-fibres#sthash.f292dQXd.dpuf). The fabric is resistant to color fading because the color is grafted in during the fiber forming stage rather than dyed afterwards. Its composition is closer in properties to a plastic than the typical fabric which makes it lightweight, stain resistant, fast drying, and resistant to things like mildew and chemicals.

Polyolefin, despite all of these features, is also a comfortable fabric. Stretched over quality foam, this fabric still provides a comfortable seating experience and promises a chair that will hold up against your varied church traffic. We believe that when buying a church chair, it should be built to last. That is why we recommend polyolefin fabric when choosing a quality church chair.