How many Martindale rubs does a hotel sofa need?

In short. The rub count on a data sheet comes from part 2 of EN ISO 12947, the part that looks for specimen breakdown, and for upholstery fabrics the test runs at a nominal pressure of 12 kPa: a figure measured at 9 kPa is not comparable. Martindale says nothing about seams, pilling, cleanability, colour fastness or reaction to fire. And choosing fabric on rub count alone is the most common way to void an Italian Class 1 IM fire certificate.

What the Martindale test actually measures

A fabric specimen is clamped to a holder and rubbed against a standard abradant along a figure that constantly changes direction, so that no yarn is always worn in the same line. One cycle is one complete pass of that figure. The number on a technical data sheet is the number of rubs reached before something specific happens — and what that something is, is set by the standard, not by the supplier.

The standard is EN ISO 12947, Textiles — Determination of the abrasion resistance of fabrics by the Martindale method, in four parts: part 1 describes the apparatus, part 2 determines specimen breakdown, part 3 determines mass loss, part 4 assesses appearance change. The large number that ends up in specifications almost always comes from part 2. Parts 3 and 4 measure something else: how much material goes, and how far the fabric changes face before it breaks.

Two exclusions in part 2 are worth knowing, because they move whole families of material outside the test. The method applies to all textile fabrics including nonwovens, but not to coated fabrics, laminated ones included: for the abrasion of a coated surface the standard refers to ISO 5470. It also leaves out fabrics the specifier declares as having a low abrasion wear life. On a faux leather or a laminate, then, a Martindale figure is something to question and have explained.

Why two rub counts are not comparable

This is the point that sets designers and suppliers arguing, and that almost nobody writes down. Part 2 provides for two loads, and therefore two different nominal pressures:

• 795 ± 7 g, nominal pressure 12 kPa: workwear, upholstery fabrics, bed linen and fabrics for technical use;
• 595 ± 7 g, nominal pressure 9 kPa: apparel and household textiles, excluding upholstery and bed linen.

A fabric meant to cover a seat is tested at 12 kPa. Where a data sheet quotes a very high figure and does not state the pressure, the fair suspicion is that it was measured at 9 kPa, where the same fabric naturally travels further. That is why “forty thousand rubs” on its own means nothing: the complete figure is standard, part, pressure and breakdown criterion. Four lines, not one.

When is a specimen said to have broken down?

Part 2 defines breakdown as the point at which criteria based on thread breakage or on the worn off area are met, and those criteria change with the construction of the fabric. For pile and flocked fabrics no threads are counted: the area is assessed. The standard distinguishes pile fully worn off — a worn off area extending to more than three quarters of the exposed surface — from pile partially worn off, that is, some visual loss of pile or flock in discrete locations.

The practical consequence is blunt: a velvet and a flat woven fabric quoting the same rub count did not pass the same test. Putting them in a column and picking the higher number is a category error, not an assessment.

So how many rubs does a hotel need?

There is no legal threshold. The bands in circulation — identical, word for word, across fabric catalogues and interiors blogs — are commercial conventions: useful for orientation, useless in a contract, because nobody stands behind them.

The standard that does set requirements is another one, and it is the one to name: EN 14465, Textiles — Upholstery fabrics — Specification and methods of test, which applies to upholstery fabrics in both domestic and public use and expressly excludes the seats of road and railway vehicles, boats and aeroplanes. Its abrasion requirements are rub count bands in thousands, differentiated by fabric construction — flat woven, chenille, pile, flock, nonwoven — and they sit in an annex. Nor do they travel alone: the same standard calls for tensile and tear strength, seam slippage in millimetres, bursting strength for knits and nonwovens, pilling rated after 2,000 rubs with testing continued to 5,000 for information, and colour fastness to light and to rubbing.

The number that decides, in the end, is the one written into the specification — and a specification does its job when, instead of an isolated figure, it names a standard, an end use and a fabric construction: how to write a clause that holds is in a separate guide.

What Martindale does not tell you

• The seam. A fabric that resists abrasion and slips at the seam opens along the cushion edge, not in the middle of the seat. Seam slippage is a different test, and in hotel seating it gives way first.
• Pilling. Pills form long before the breakdown point: EN 14465 rates them after 2,000 rubs, not after fifty thousand.
• Cleanability and light. In a lobby the daily enemy is the stain, and an armchair in front of a glazed wall loses colour long before it wears through: either way the fabric is replaced while still new, not while worn.
• Fire. And here the question changes in kind, because it is no longer about how long something lasts.

Can a higher rub count void the fire certificate?

It can, and it regularly does. An Italian reaction-to-fire certificate for an upholstered item covers the finished item, not its materials taken one by one: the test is run on the combination of cover and filling, and the cover is one of the elements that combination was tested with. Replacing it with another one — tougher, better looking, more expensive — voids the certificate, unless it is the same fabric in another colour or pattern. The detail is in the guide on reupholstery, and what has to arrive with the pieces is in the one on documents.

The wrong sequence is always the same. The designer picks the fabric on rub count, procurement confirms it, and three weeks later somebody asks for the model's Class 1 IM certificate: the one that exists is issued for a different combination. From there you start again from the test, with the time and the cost of a test, and an opening date sitting in the middle.

The right sequence is the same one reversed: first confirm that the fabric and filling combination is certified or can be certified, then, among those that are, use Martindale to choose. The order of the two steps does not change the work: it changes who notices, and when.

And on boats?

EN 14465 excludes boat seats from its scope, and not by oversight: on a vessel the certification chain is a different one and the cover is assessed inside it — for marine upholstery there is a dedicated guide. Leather sits outside this discussion too: it is not measured in Martindale rubs, and it is the subject of the guide on leathers.

How we work

In the factory we do not ask a fabric supplier for a number: we ask for the test report, with the standard and part applied, the nominal pressure, the fabric construction and the breakdown criterion. Then, before looking at abrasion at all, we check the combination with the filling that will go into that model. It is an order of operations, not a paperwork courtesy: in a hotel project the value that weighs most is not the price of one seat, it is time. Products that meet the standards, are certified and arrive on schedule mean an opening that does not slip and a client who starts invoicing; a fabric chosen well the first time is one test fewer to redo.

We choose covers together with the designer: the materials are on the Collections page, how we follow a project is in the Contract section, and contacts lead straight to the people who run it.

Frequently asked questions

The specification asks for a rub count: is the fabric data sheet enough?

It is not. You need the test report: the standard and the part applied, the nominal pressure — 12 kPa for upholstery fabrics — the fabric construction and the breakdown criterion used. A sheet that states only “Martindale 50,000” cannot be verified, and in a dispute it is worth nothing.

Can I compare a velvet and a flat woven fabric on rub count?

No, because they did not pass the same test. For pile and flocked fabrics breakdown is assessed on the worn off area, and fully worn off is defined as a worn off area extending to more than three quarters of the exposed surface; for flat woven fabrics the criteria are based on thread breakage.

Is there a minimum rub count for hotel use?

Not in law. EN 14465 sets abrasion requirements as rub count bands differentiated by fabric construction, alongside tensile and tear strength, seam slippage, pilling and colour fastness. The bands quoted in catalogues and blogs are commercial conventions, not obligations.

Does Martindale apply to faux leather and laminated materials?

EN ISO 12947-2 excludes coated fabrics, including laminated ones, from its scope, and refers the abrasion of a coated surface to ISO 5470. A Martindale figure quoted on a coated material should be questioned and explained.

If I swap the fabric for a tougher one, do I keep the fire certificate?

If the fabric is different, no. The Italian fire certificate covers the finished upholstered item and is issued on the combination that was tested, of which the cover is one element. The same fabric in another colour or pattern, yes.

Talk to us The contract division

This page cites EN ISO 12947 in its four parts — apparatus, specimen breakdown, mass loss, appearance change — and in particular part 2 in its 2016 edition, EN 14465:2003+A1:2006, and ISO 5470 for the abrasion of coated surfaces. The rub count bands quoted commercially to separate domestic from public use are not legal requirements. The valid figure for a fabric is the one in its own test report, and the requirement that binds a supply is the one written into the specification: this page is not a substitute for checking the project documents.