Good Fabric Suppliers

Four Channels, One Research Task

Finding good fabric suppliers is often easier said than done. The fashion industry understands well that the world contains good textile suppliers as well as bad suppliers, and many buyers have experienced purchasing inferior quality fabric, or have heard the nightmares from colleagues. This page will not hand you a list of certified good suppliers, because no honest guide can make that promise for your fabric, your quantity and your delivery date. Instead it points you in the proper direction to find fabric mills, fabric distributors and wholesalers, fabric stores and textile jobbers, so you can conduct your own research in the channel that fits your order.

The channels differ in what they sell and to whom. Mills manufacture fabric and suit larger, planned production. Distributors and wholesalers hold stock and resell it in trade quantities. Stores sell cut yardage at retail. Jobbers trade in surplus and closeout fabric at attractive prices with less continuity. Start by choosing the right channel for your quantity and timeline, then judge individual suppliers inside that channel using the tests in the sections below.

What Actually Goes Wrong With Fabric Orders

When purchasing fabric, pay attention to details, because even with the best intentions many problems can occur. You may receive incorrect shade lots, shrinkage issues, crocking, or the wrong fiber content. Imagine ordering 30,000 yards of 100 percent cotton jersey knit in navy and receiving only 25,000 yards in royal blue, or fabric shipped as 80 percent cotton and 20 percent polyester instead of 100 percent cotton. If you learn of an error in the middle of the production cycle, it is not simple to obtain new fabric and still stay on schedule with your garment order.

Testing reports sometimes deliver the same bad news in formal language, stating that the actual fiber content of a sample is not properly labeled, or that the sample demonstrates poor fabric qualities. None of this means you should fear finding a trustworthy supplier. It means the details on your purchase order, fiber content, shade, width, weight, quantity and delivery, are worth specifying exactly and confirming in writing, because vague orders make every later dispute harder to settle fairly.

Honest Mistakes Versus Deliberate Shortcuts

Do good fabric suppliers make errors? Ask whether fabric companies are owned and operated by humans, and whether humans ever make mistakes. The answer is yes, so good suppliers can certainly err. One primary difference between a good supplier and a bad one is response: a good supplier informs you when it notices a problem and works diligently with you to resolve it. A bad supplier may hide the problem, which leads to worse problems down the road. A key skill for a fabric buyer is determining whether an error was an honest mistake or done intentionally.

Shrinkage is the classic example. A bad mill can stretch knit fabric so the same production run yields more yardage, and since you pay by the yard, the mill makes more money, while the fabric later reverts toward its pre-stretched state and shrinks, leaving you short before cutting or, worse, shrinking in finished garments after washing. A bad supplier may also skip finishing steps to cut costs. A good mill can also have shrinkage, through new workers, an incorrect machine setting, or rushing fabric that needed time to settle. The honest mill belongs in a different category from the mill that causes problems on purpose, provided it takes responsibility, including financial responsibility, makes corrections, and learns so the error does not easily recur.

Should You Submit Fabric to a Testing Lab?

Testing depends on the quantity being purchased. If you are buying directly from a textile factory, independent testing is a sensible safeguard. If you are buying three yards from a clothing store to make a pair of pants, testing would cost more than the project justifies. If you are shipping garments to a retailer in the United States, check that retailer's testing requirements, because most major retailers require testing to their own specific criteria, and testing to a different standard than your buyer uses does not help you.

Use an independent fabric testing lab and learn what quality testing for apparel and fabrics covers before you need it under deadline pressure. Related Apparel Search resources explain piece goods inspection, quality assurance and AQL inspection, all of which help you specify quality before fabric is cut rather than argue about it afterward. Preparation, clear specifications and prompt, honest communication remain the habits that separate a reliable supply chain from a risky one.