The seat cover protects your car’s seats from damage and can enhance the appearance of your vehicle interior. It’s available in a wide range of materials from fabric to leather, and can be either sideless or full coverage.
When choosing a seat cover material, it’s important to consider style, feel and breathability. It’s also a good idea to look for Australian-made textiles as they have been specifically designed to cope with our UV rays and harsh climate.
Woven fabrics, such as polyester, are popular with drivers due to their strength and durability. However, these types of covers do require some conditioning and maintenance to keep them looking their best.
Knitted fabrics, on the other hand, are soft to the touch and offer a desirable level of stretch. This flexibility allows deep attractive sew lines to be formed and facilitates flexible seat cover laminate fabrication. They are usually made from a polyester (polybutyl terephthalate, PBT) fiber that is treated with an elastomeric additive to increase the amount of stretch.
A seat cover’s mechanical durability is a function of several factors, including fabric tear strength, tensile strength and abrasion resistance. A good quality cover should have a high level of all three properties and also show a low level of pilling propensity. This is possible through the use of the right combination of fiber type, yarn structure, fabric construction and finish.