What Is Velvet?

How is velvet made?

Velvet is woven from a ground cloth plus an extra set of warp yarns, the pile warp, which is raised above the ground and cut so that its ends stand up as a soft surface. Encyclopaedia Britannica classes it as a pile weave: a ground fabric with additional yarns that project as cut ends or loops. Because the pile comes from the warp, velvet is a warp-pile fabric.

Two ways to weave the pile

• Over rods. The pile warps are lifted and a rod is laid across the full width of the cloth, then removed after several passes. For cut-pile velvet, Britannica describes a knife on the end of the rod that cuts the pile warps it passes. Leave the loops uncut and the result is a loop-pile fabric instead.
• Face to face. Two cloths are woven at the same time, facing each other, joined by long pile warps. After weaving, a knife slices between the layers, producing two velvets from one pass.

The face-to-face method cut the cost of velvet. Design historian Freyja Hartzell writes that by the 1830s “double velvet”, two pieces woven at once on Jacquard looms, had doubled production and cut the price of the fabric in half.

From rare silk to wider use

Velvet began as an expensive cloth. The English word is recorded from the early 14th century for a closely woven silk fabric with a short, thick pile. Hartzell notes that before industrialisation velvet was reserved for the wealthy, and that sumptuary laws governed its use and display for centuries. In the 18th century, she writes, advances in design and technology made velvet and plush increasingly affordable to the middle classes. Lyon silk weavers then used the new double-velvet technique to make large velvet pieces worn over crinolines in the 1850s.

Velvet, velveteen, corduroy and terry

Of these look-alikes, only velvet has a cut pile from the warp.

Velour, a similar pile fabric, has its own entry.

What are the properties of velvet?

Velvet has a soft, downy face of clipped yarns, a smooth back that shows the base weave, and a pile that looks different depending on which way it lies. Britannica records that it is made from silk, cotton or synthetic fibres, and Hartzell, citing textile historian Lynn Felsher, notes that 19th-century velvets, though mostly silk, could also be made of wool.

• Directional nap. Pile fabrics have a nap. A University of Idaho extension guide written for knitted pile fabrics (stretch terry and velour) describes the effect there: with the nap running up, the fabric feels rougher and the colour looks darker and richer; running down, it feels smoother and looks lighter and shinier.
• Weight. Hartzell notes that velvets were rare in 17th- and 18th-century women’s dresses because of their expense, physical weight and unwieldiness. Upholstery velvet, she adds, was distinguished by its heavier weight.
• Durability. The same study describes velvet as durable and well suited to upholstery.
• Finishes. Britannica notes that velvets can be made water-repellent and crush-resistant, and are occasionally patterned or embossed.

How is velvet graded or measured?

None of our sources gives a grading scale for velvet; what you can check is the length of the pile and how the fibre weight splits between pile and backing.

• Pile length. Velvet and plush are both built with a supplementary set of warps. Hartzell, in a note citing textile historian Lynn Felsher, distinguishes them by pile length: velvet’s is shorter, while plush has a pile longer than 1/7 inch (about 3.6 mm).
• Pile-to-backing ratio. US labels may state the pile and the backing separately, with the share of each in the total fibre weight (see the next section). That ratio tells you how much of the cloth is pile.

How does velvet appear on a clothing label?

“Velvet” names the fabric, not the fibre, so the content label lists the fibres it is made from, and in both the US and the EU those fibres may be given separately for the pile and the backing.

United States

• What the label must show. Under US law, the Federal Trade Commission requires most textile products to carry the fibre content, the country of origin, and the identity of the manufacturer or another business that markets or handles the item. A registered identification number (RN) may replace the company name.
• Generic names, in order. Fibres are listed by their generic names, in descending order of weight.
• Pile and backing. Pile fabrics may be labelled as a whole, or with the pile and backing listed separately plus their ratio as percentages of the total fibre weight. The FTC’s own example: 100% nylon pile, 100% cotton back, with the back 60% of the fabric and the pile 40%.
• Small amounts. Fibres under 5% are generally listed as “other fiber” or “other fibers”. A smaller fibre may be named if it has a definite functional significance at that amount; the FTC’s example is 4% spandex added for elasticity. Wool is the exception: it must always be named with its percentage, even below 5%.

European Union

Annex IV of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 has a specific rule for “velvet and plush textiles, or textiles resembling velvet or plush”. The fibre composition is given for the whole product. Where there is a distinct backing and a use-surface made of different fibres, the composition may be stated separately for each, and both must be named.

What the split tells you

A label that lists the pile separately tells you whether the soft face is silk, cotton or a synthetic, whatever the backing is made of.

How do you tell good velvet from poor velvet?

Good velvet shows an even pile running the same way on every panel, an undamaged face with no pressed shine, and a label that tells you what the pile is made of.

1. Read the pile line. Look for a label that lists pile and backing separately. It answers the question the word “velvet” leaves open: which fibre forms the face.
2. Turn it over. Velvet’s wrong side is smooth and shows the weave. If the face is divided into lengthwise ribs, it is corduroy, not velvet.
3. Stroke every panel the same way. The Idaho guide tells makers to cut all pieces of a pile knit with the nap running in one direction. If a sleeve looks a different shade from the body, or feels rough where the front feels smooth, the pieces were probably cut with the nap running in different directions.
4. Look along seams and hems for shiny, flattened strips. The same guide says to press these fabrics on the wrong side, over several layers of towelling, and never to touch the iron to the right side. A flattened band along a seam suggests the face was pressed.
5. Check the swing tag for a finish. For coats or anything that will be sat in, a crush-resistant or water-repellent finish, both of which Britannica notes velvets can be given, is worth having.

Red flags: panels that change shade at the seams; pressing marks on the face; a label that gives “velvet” where a fibre name should be.

How do you care for velvet?

Care for velvet by following the garment’s care label, and by keeping heat and pressure off the pile. None of our sources gives pressing advice for woven velvet. The closest is a University of Idaho guide written for knitted pile fabrics (stretch terry and velour); it advises:

• Press on the wrong side, over several layers of plush towels, so the pile is not flattened.
• Protect the fabric with a press cloth and use light pressure.
• Do not touch the iron to the right side.
• To raise the nap, steam the right side.

Is velvet sustainable?

Velvet has no single environmental profile, because it is a way of weaving rather than a fibre: its impact depends on what the pile and the backing are made of. Read the pile and backing lines on the label, then look at the entry for each fibre.