Stretchy Chair Covers

Stretchy chair covers are distinct from standard bi-stretch type polyester as they are made from fabric that incorporates elastine into it's structure. Elastine is marketed under a number of names including Lycra (R) and Spandex. Lyrca (R) the best known in the UK is a Registered Trademark of Invista.

The elastine makes up only about 2% of the fabric content in the fabric used to make stretchy chair covers. The rest is typically polyester.

Elastines differ in their quality and the stretchy fabric they are used in even more so. A lot of stretchy fabric in the market is of poor quality and innevitably the stretchy chair covers made from them are unlikely to be fit for purpose.

Problems with stretchy chair covers include:

• Size and shape retention. Even a good quality stretchy fabric will fail to regain it's original size and shape when pulled (stretched) hard. Unfortunately this is exactly what happens at many venues late at night when the weeknd staff remove the covers. The chair covers quickly become distorted and they will rapidly begine to look baggy and ill fitting even if the seams don't pull apart in the process. Over quite a short time elastine looses it's stretchiness and becomes weak resulting in an ill fitting and easily torn chair cover.
  
  
• Damage. As stretchy chair covers have a tight skirt around the legs of the chair, high heels and freshly polished (for the wedding) shoes easily cause holes and transfer non-removable and highly visible marks.
  
  
• Piling. Bottoms shuffling around on chair seats durng the endless wedding speeches create a lot of friction abrasion which the fabric used in stretchy chair covers is unsuited to handling and unsightly and fabric weakening piling can quickly set in.
  
  
• Transparency & Fit. The transparency of any stretchy chair covers when stretched (with resultant thinning) means the chair (especially dark ones) can easily show through - something which is exacerbated by the form hugging nature of the fabric which revelas all the harch edges of the metalwork etc.
  
  
• At Textile Town our 15 years of experience in designing & manufacturing chair covers and huge history of feedback amassed from our hundreds of hire company customers and thousands of venues have led us to conclude that stretchy chair covers are best avoided except in exceptional circumstances.

Bi-stretch polyester provides excellent non-iron properties and crease resistance without any of the drawbacks of elastine based products. What's more - standard bi-stretch chair covers should last at least 5X as long as stretchy chair covers and suffer from much lower damage and write off rates.

Moreover - the natural draping of the product looks much more elegant than elastine based stretch covers which often make the chair simply look like it hasn't been upholstered properly.

We manufacture and supply both standard polyester and stretchy type chair covers however for professional use we strongly reccomend the use of standard bi-stretch polyester rather than full stretchy elastine or Lycra based fabrics. Please don't hesitate to contact us for more details or fabric samples.

Lycra (R) is a Registered Trademark of Invista.