Car seat covers are designed to protect your investment in your vehicle’s seats from damage and to enhance comfort by reducing the temperature of your car cabin. Various materials are used for this purpose, including leather and faux leather, polycotton twill, neoprene, and vinyl. Some of these fabrics are machine washable, while others need to be professionally cleaned or hand-washed. Many are stain-resistant and water-repellent. Some offer a nonslip backing for added security. Others are easy to install and feature hooks, buckles, or velcro fasteners that keep the cover securely in place.
Mechanical durability is an important property of seat cover fabrics, and it depends on fabric tear strength, tensile strength, abrasion resistance, pilling propensity, and colorfastness to light and UV radiation. These properties are generally influenced by the following aspects of fabric production: fiber type, yarn structure, weave construction, and finish.
Some fabrics are also subjected to a number of thermal and mechanical loads during their use. This can affect their ability to withstand load changes and stress, which may be caused by temperature differences, the weight of the passenger, or the movement of the seat.
The stability of seat cover fabrics can be improved by stentering, which produces a flat and tension-free surface for lamination and seat fabrication. Stentering is particularly effective in the case of knitted fabrics, as it allows for deep attractive sew lines and improves the stretching characteristics of these fabrics during sewing and when pulled over the seat structure.