Production Batches and Upholstery Color Differences

For larger jobs, order from one batch with calculated reserve. Late reorders may require visual acceptance against existing upholstery in real light.

ΔE is the numerical measure of the distance between two colours in CIE Lab space — the smaller the value, the closer the colours. Below 1 the difference is effectively invisible, values between 1 and 2 are caught by a trained eye in direct comparison, and above 2 to 3 an ordinary user notices it on elements placed side by side.

Tolerances declared by fabric manufacturers usually sit around ΔE of 1 to 1.5 between batches. That means two rolls can be formally within specification and still read as different once you bring them edge to edge on a single piece of furniture.

The textile industry describes two phenomena: side-to-side, the difference between the left and right edges of the width, and end-to-end, the gradual change along the length of the roll. Both arise from how the dye bath and drying act on material in motion — the edges and the start of a batch experience slightly different conditions than the middle.

The practical conclusion for cutting: elements that will touch each other in the finished piece are best cut from adjacent sections of the roll, not from opposite ends. On large sets that often matters more than the batch number itself.

The basic rule is to order all the metreage for a given project from one batch and add a reserve — typically 10 to 15 percent for plain fabrics and more for patterned ones. The reserve is not only for cutting errors: it is also the material for repairing a single element in two years' time, when matching it will no longer be possible.

The batch number should be recorded with the order paperwork and passed to the end client. In a complaint or a top-up order it is the first thing the supplier will ask for.

If the original batch is exhausted there are three realistic routes. You can request a sample from the current batch and approve it visually against the existing furniture — ideally in daylight and under artificial light. Or you can assign the new material to a separate element, a pouffe or cushions, where a difference in shade reads as intentional.

The third route is to recover a larger whole so the new material forms one coherent surface. And there is a factor that is easy to forget: the old piece has faded under light over the years, so even a perfectly matching batch will no longer match the faded original.