Ultrasuede Fabric Factories

What Ultrasuede Is

Ultrasuede is a registered trademark of Toray for a synthetic fabric that imitates suede leather. It was developed in 1970, when Toray scientist Miyoshi Okamoto invented the underlying ultra-microfiber technology and a nonwoven process turned those fibers into cloth. The material is not woven or knitted in the ordinary way: it is a three-dimensional tangle of extremely fine polyester microfibers, impregnated with a polyurethane polymer that binds the structure, then buffed on the surface so the fiber ends stand in the short, soft nap that the hand reads as suede.

That construction explains the fabric's unusual combination of qualities. Because there is no weave to unravel, cut edges do not fray and the cloth does not pill the way a woven suede-look fabric can. Because the fibers are synthetic and the binder is polyurethane rather than animal skin, the finished material is machine washable in the grades intended for apparel, resistant to the stiffening and water-spotting that trouble real suede, and essentially identical on both faces, which makes it unusually forgiving to cut and sew. Product grades differ in their fiber-to-polyurethane balance, so a buyer should always work from the specification sheet for the exact grade, not from the trademark alone.

How It Differs From Real Suede and From Other Microfiber Suedes

Natural suede is the flesh side of an animal hide, split and buffed; it is beautiful, variable, and famously impractical - it spots in rain, stiffens after wetting, needs specialist cleaning, and varies from skin to skin in thickness and nap. Ultrasuede trades a little of that organic irregularity for uniformity: roll after roll comes at a consistent thickness, color and nap, at usable widths far wider than any hide, and at a price and care profile that let designers use a suede look in garments and rooms where real suede would be a maintenance promise nobody wants to keep.

Ultrasuede is also the name to use carefully. It is one specific Toray product and trademark, not a generic word for every synthetic suede on the market, although the market uses it loosely. Other makers sell their own microfiber suedes, and Toray's Italian sister material Alcantara shares the same underlying technology and is made in Italy, while Ultrasuede is made in Japan. Generic microsuedes vary widely in fiber fineness, binder content and durability, so samples should be compared by hand, weight and wash testing rather than by the suede look alone, which almost all of them achieve when new.

Where Ultrasuede Is Used

Fashion adopted Ultrasuede first and still uses it for jackets, skirts, trousers, dresses, gloves and shoes that want the suede look with machine-care practicality and consistent cutting. Interior designers use upholstery grades for sofas, chairs, headboards and wall panels, where the material's durability, lightfastness and cleanability suit it to family rooms, hotels and contract work, and where vintage pieces upholstered in it decades ago are still in service. Automotive and marine grades serve seat inserts, headliners, dash trim and boat interiors, with flame-retardant versions meeting vehicle flammability specifications, and small goods from bags and jewelry pouches to protective cases for electronics use its soft, non-scratching nap.

For the sewing room, the material's nonwoven structure is its own reward: it needs no edge finishing, does not slip or stretch out of shape the way knits can, takes embroidery, laser cutting, embossing and printing cleanly, and sews on ordinary equipment with care about needle marks, since - like real suede - a needle hole in the nap is permanent, so fitting should be settled before final stitching.

Care and Sourcing Notes

Care is the selling point, but it is grade-specific: apparel qualities are generally machine washable in cool water and tumble dryable at low heat, while upholstery grades are usually cleaned in place with water-based cleaners and a soft brush to lift the nap. Solvents, high heat and hard creasing should be kept away from any grade unless the maker's care sheet allows them, and a sample wash test is cheap insurance before a production run.

This directory lists a single factory source, Toray Ultrasuede (America), Inc., listed below with its Fabric Mills by Name profile. Toray owns the trademark Ultrasuede. That is the shape of this market: genuine Ultrasuede comes through Toray's own company and its authorized channels, so a quote for Ultrasuede at a suspiciously generic price should prompt a trademark and origin check before any deposit is paid.

Fabric Mills and Factories in This Directory

The listing below is the factory listed in this directory for Ultrasuede. The name opens the company's profile in the Fabric Mills by Name directory.