How to Check Fabric Quality Online Before You Buy
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How to Judge Fabric Quality Online Without Touching It
Most people order fabric online. Unfortunately, you cannot feel fabric over the Internet. Below are helpful tips to assist you in figuring out fabric quality without feeling it.
The Number One Clue Is the Fabric Content Label
Through experience, buyers know that the best place to find fabrics quality is in the fabric content. This is the area of the description that states "100% cotton" or "65% polyester, 35% cotton."
Here's what you need to know:
Most natural fibers (cotton, wool, silk, linen) tend to age better and feel more refined. That's not to say synthetics are bad. A poly-spandex activewear fabric is usually higher quality than 100% cotton; the poly-spandex fabric is more stretches and quicker to dry.
Once you get an idea of what the quality of fabrics online typically is, you will get much better at online buying.
- Not all blends are bad: A cotton-linen blend carries better wrinkle resistance and drape compared to a full cotton fabric. Lower cost fabrics are often cotton blends (i.e. cotton-polyester) but don't make assumptions like that.
- Vague terms mean caveat emptor: No breakdown means no sale. If they tag their fabric as just 'premium' or 'high-quality' then skip or investigate reviews further.
Check The GSM (The Number Most Buyers Ignore)
GSM or Grams per square meter is the best way to roughly assess a fabric's quality and weight. In most situations, more GSM means more fabric weight, density, and increased opacity. More serious fabric and apparel sellers have caught on to this and now disclose this number. Whereas fabric sellers don't disclose it, it is often disclosed in the chat or query box.
Rough approximate numbers:
- Casual & T-shirts: 140-180 GSM- Lightweight. 180-220 GSM is in the realm of everyday garments. 220+ GSM becomes more premium.
- Bedsheets: Even more than thread count, GSM and the weave affect the longevity of the fabric.
- Suiting/ Structured Fabric: 250 GSM and under feels flimsy. But 300 GSM and up is much better.
Even the absence of GSM disclosure on a listing should prompt you to take a more critical look at the other pictures disclosed on the listing as well as the reviews.
Zoom Into the Product Photos Like a Detective
Most shoppers are unaware that product photographs hide a lot of information. A few seconds of zooming in can save you from returning a product.
- Consistency of weaving andknitting: Zoom into any photograph and look at the consistency of the weaving. Tight and even weaves are a good sign of quality. On the other hand, a lot of gaps, loose threads, or an uneven texture suggests a lower grade.
- The fabric's draping ability: The way fabric falls in the 'worn' or 'hanging' photographs is instrumental in judging the quality. Fabric that drapes well to the shape of your body in an elegant, fluid manner is a positive sign. Fabric that appears stiff and shiny or unnaturally says a lot of poor quality, heavy synthetic fiber fillers.
- Consistent color between photographs: If the flat-lay and worn photograph show different tones, that's probably how the product looked in the studio. However, if it's completely different, then it could mean that the fabric is different and of varied quality.
Let Other Buyers Do the Quality Testing for You
In order to skip this, you lose the most valuable step. Most people don't realize that reviews are essentially free quality control reports of the people that made the best purchases or the worst mistakes for you.
- Browse the reviews in the most recent order and skip the most helpful order. The quality of cloth can vary from batch to batch, especially for fast fashion. A good review from eight months ago doesn't mean that the current batch is the same as the rest.
- Use specific keywords to look for reviews that contain 'pilling,' 'threading,' 'scratchy,' 'smell like chemicals,' etc. These words show up a lot in real reviews and complaints and are more helpful than star ratings.
- Photos are evidence. Photos that the seller has taken are often professionally lit, whereas buyer photos may show real colors and textures of fabrics and may even show how the fabric looks after being laundered.
- Patterns are important. One person says the fabric is thin. More than likely it is a weird anomaly to the fabric. If a couple people say the same thing in different ways than more than likely it is a legit complaint.
Instructions for Care are Really Care Instructions
The care instructions aren't just for how you wash something, they can also be for what type of fabric it is.
- Fabrics with more care instructions (dry clean only, cold hand wash, lay it flat to dry) are usually more delicate and potentially more of a higher quality fabric, but they also will take a greater commitment of yours, so consider that with your lifestyle.
- A care instruction label that says "tumble dry low" doesn't necessarily mean a higher quality fabric (or lower). It could be something that's really good and something that is bad.
A Quick Checklist Before You Buy
- A good return policy along with a long return window is usually a sign that the seller is confident in their fabric choice. A no return policy on clothing should be a red flag for you.
- If a price seems too good to be true, it probably is. True silk or wool should never be as cheap as cheaper blended fabrics.
- Request a swatch for larger purchases. Some reputable fabric and home textile sellers provide swatches upon request, particularly for curtains, upholstery, and even large bulk orders. This is a low effort way to avoid purchasing something at a high cost that you could regret later.
The Bottom Line
While you can't feel fabric through a screen, you can read it, which saves most consumers from making a large purchase of an item that is subpar. You can gather information about fabric by examining the composition, GSM numbers, and zoomed-in photos, and by trusting the reviews written by those who purchased the fabric before you.
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