What does "contract" mean on a fabric?
A lobby wall, a boardroom curtain and a sofa at home can use fabrics that look alike. The difference is in what stands behind them. A contract fabric is made for commercial and public interiors and documented for that use, because a certifier, a facilities team and the client's brief will each ask what it has been tested for.
"Contract" is the textile trade's word for that work, as distinct from "home". Indorama Ventures, which makes the Trevira CS fibre, describes fabrics for home and contract textiles and lists hotels, restaurants, hospitals, offices and public spaces among the places they are used.
Being a contract fabric is a matter of documents, whatever the look. It means the maker can show what the fabric is, how it was tested and how to look after it, article by article.
Which tests matter?
The tests depend on where the fabric goes. In the United States, the Association for Contract Textiles groups its voluntary guidelines by use (upholstery, glued wallcovering, wrapped panels and upholstered walls, and drapery) and covers flammability, colour fastness to light, crocking (colour rubbing off onto another surface), physical properties and abrasion. Those guidelines are a useful checklist from the United States. In Australia, the National Construction Code (NCC) sets the fire evidence for linings, and the client's brief sets the rest.
Fire, for the location
A wall or ceiling lining needs the Group Number that NCC Table S7C4 allows for the building class and location, determined under AS 5637.1 (clause S7C4(2)). A stretched fabric panel may be treated as a lining or as an attachment, and the building certifier decides which. Curtains, blinds and similar decor are exempt nationally under clause C2D11(3), except proscenium curtains and, in New South Wales, curtains in public areas of entertainment venues. How Group Numbers work and whether curtains need a fire rating cover both in detail.
Abrasion
Abrasion tells you how a fabric stands up to rubbing. Getzner's datasheets rate it in Martindale cycles to ISO 12947-1, and the next section explains how to read the figure.
Light fastness
Light fastness tells you how well a colour holds under light. Every Acunic datasheet gives it as "> 6", to DIN 53952. Where colour must hold in sun through glazing, ask AKA Acoustics what the grade means for your colour.
How do you read a Martindale figure?
A Martindale figure is a count of test cycles. In the Martindale method, a circular specimen of the fabric is rubbed under a set load against a standard abrasive fabric in a looping movement. ISO 12947-1 covers the apparatus, and later parts of the standard set the end point, such as the specimen breaking down or its appearance changing. A higher count means the fabric lasted longer in that test.
Compare figures that come from the same end point. Getzner's datasheets give the cycle count to ISO 12947-1, so when you compare Acunic with a fabric from another maker, ask which end point each figure records.
The physical data table compares the Acunic fabrics on abrasion, width, weight and care.
Physical data
The spread is wide. Accentric Soundwave is rated at 15,000 cycles and Accentric Crinkle at 20,000, while Basic reaches 85,000 and Cubic Mega 90,000. The right figure depends on the surface. A wall panel above head height is rarely rubbed; a seat is rubbed every time someone sits down. Set the figure in the project brief from how the surface will be used.
Upholstery follows the same logic. Getzner says Acunic can be used on furniture; check the Martindale figure for the article.
Why do width, batch and minimum order matter on a commercial job?
Width sets the panel grid. Each Acunic width carries a tolerance of plus or minus 5 per cent, so a wall or ceiling is set out to the narrowest width the tolerance allows.
Batch matters most for colour. Getzner's datasheets state that technical specifications may differ for dyed fabric, so the performance of a custom colour is confirmed for each order. Order the fabric for one space together and keep the order details, so a later replacement can be matched to the same article and colour.
Minimums shape small projects. For Acunic, minimum quantities depend on the colour and on whether the project uses fabric or a finished system, and AKA Acoustics confirms them with each project quote. Plan a custom colour early.
Is Acunic a contract fabric?
Yes, for walls, ceilings, curtains and partitions. Each Acunic fabric has a Getzner datasheet dated 14 March 2024 that gives weight, width, thickness, air permeability, specific flow resistance, Martindale, light fastness and care. Most datasheets also carry a sound absorption test with its mounting. Getzner states that its datasheet values are valid for four months from receipt, so ask for current documents when you specify.
AKA Acoustics' Technical Product Summary (Version A, October 2024) gives a Group Number for each Acunic article: Group 1 for Cubic Pico, Accentric Crash, Accentric Crinkle, Accentric Soundwave and Optic Braid, and Group 2 for the others. The Technical Product Summary sets out each Group Number, and each fabric's page in the collection gives its absorption values with their source.
In use, the fabrics go onto fabric wall panels, ceiling sails, partitions and curtains. Care is set per article: the Cubic fabrics are non-washable, and the others allow a 40 °C delicates cycle, as the guide to cleaning architectural fabric explains.
Commercial kitchens, wet areas, hospital cubicle and privacy curtains, and blockout are uses to raise with AKA Acoustics before you specify. How to specify an architectural fabric turns these documents into clause wording.
