DRAFT UGANDA  STANDARD  
  DUS 949-1 
Second  Edition  
2020 -mm-dd 
 
 
 Reference number  
DUS 949-1: 2020 
© UNBS 2020   
  
Textiles — Upholstery fabrics — Part 1: Plain, tufted, or flocked 
woven upholstery fabrics — Specification  
 DUS 949-1: 2020  
ii © UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necess ary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2020   
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, i ncluding photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to  
The Executive Director  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards  
P.O. Box 6329  
Kampala  
Uganda  
Tel: +256 41 4 333 2 50/1/2/3  
Fax: +256 41 4 286 123  
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 DUS 949-1:2020  
© UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade , Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327 , of the Laws of Uganda , as amended .  UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on F ood Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT  Agreement  of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of key stakeholders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
gene ral public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS /TC 7, Textiles, Leather and 
Paper products ,, Subcommittee SC  1, Textiles and related products . 
This second edition cancels and replaces the first e dition ( US 949-1:2011 ), which has been technically 
revised.  DUS 949-1: 2020  
iv © UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  
 Introduction  
The assessment of upholstery fabri cs is a complicated task. There is a multitude of experimental data 
available, but inter -laboratory testing show a large scattering of test results, in particular for abrasion testing, 
thus leading to important differences in quality perception. Furthermor e the correlation between laboratory 
testing and actual wear behaviour in practice is not very well established.  
Other characteristics like flammability specifications and requirements are so detailed, complex and all 
encompassing that separate, dedicated pieces of literature and information are required for each flammability 
specification.  
It is not possible to divide upholstery fabrics into just a few performance classes, because of the enormous 
variety of conditions of use. Also the type of upholstery (f irm or soft) influences the abrasion of the upholstery 
fabric and hence the requirements to the abrasion resistance. There is for example a tremendous difference 
between furniture used in a room without windows and furniture which is directly exposed to su nlight, or 
between furniture used by elder people and furniture used by a family with small children. These differences in 
conditions and severity of use necessitate a flexible approach. Hence no single performance specification can 
possibly apply to all t he various fabrics that could be utilized for this end use. In certain instances, the 
specification provided by the ultimate consumer should be taken into consideration.  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  DUS 949-1: 2020  
 
© UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  1 
 Textiles — Upholstery fabrics — Part 1: Plain, tufted, or flocked 
woven upholstery fabrics — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft Uganda standard specifies the requirements , test methods and sampling  for plain, tufted or flocked 
woven upholstery fabrics as used in the manufacture of indoor furniture. It is not applicable to fabrics used in  
contract, porch, deck and lawn furniture, nor for knitted fabrics, bounded or laminated fabrics, or surface 
coated fabrics (such as vinyls and urethanes).  
2 Normative references   
The following referenced documents are referred to in the text in such a way  that some or all of their content 
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
ISO 105 -B02, Texti les — Tests for colour fastness — Part B02: Colour fastness to artificial light: Xenon arc 
fading lamp test  
ISO 105 -E01, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part E01: Colour fastness to water  
ISO 105 -G02, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part G0 2: Colour fastness to burnt gas fumes  
ISO 105 -X05, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part X05: Colour fastness to organic solvents  
ISO 105 -X12, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part X12: Colour fastness to rubbing  
ISO 5077, Textiles — Determi nation of dimensional change in washing and drying  
ISO 6330, Textiles — Domestic washing and drying procedures for textile testing  
ISO 6941, Textile fabrics -- Burning behaviour -- Measurement of flame spread properties of vertically oriented 
specimens  
ISO 10528, Textiles — Commercial laundering procedures for textile fabrics prior to flammability testing  
ISO 12138, Textiles — Domestic laundering procedures for textile fabrics prior to flammability testing  
ISO 12947 -1, Textiles — Determination of the a brasion resistance of fabrics by the Martindale method — Part 
1: Martindale abrasion testing apparatus  
ISO 12947 -2, Textiles — Determination of the abrasion resistance of fabrics by the Martindale method — Part 
2: Determination of specimen breakdown  
ISO 1 3934 -2, Textiles — Tensile properties of fabrics — Part 2: Determination of maximum force using the 
grab method  
ISO 13936 -1, Textiles — Determination of the slippage resistance of yarns at a seam in woven fabrics — Part 
1: Fixed seam opening method   
2 © UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 13 937-3, Textiles — Tear properties of fabrics — Part 3: Determination of tear force of wing -shaped test 
specimens (Single tear method)  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1  
contract furn iture  
furniture manufactured for use in non -household application or furniture not intended for residential use  
3.2  
furniture covering  
general term for attached upholstery fabric  
3.3  
upholstery fabric  
exterior fabric covering to a furniture unit  
3.4  
tufted fabric  
cloth made by a set of pile yarns drawn through a woven fabric base  
3.5  
flocked fabric  
fabric where the pile (flock) is fixed onto a textile substrate  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  The upholstery fabrics used in the man ufacture of this end product (woven indoor furniture) shall be 
plain, tufted or flocked woven.  
4.1.3  Flammability requirements shall be as agreed upon between the purchaser and supplier, provided 
they meet or exceed that specified under 4.2.3.  
4.1.4  In add ition to the specifications listed in Table 1, upholstery fabrics shall meet the performance profile 
claimed by the manufacturer or required by the ultimate consumer.  
NOTE  It should be recognised that fabrics can be produced utilizing almost an infinite nu mber of combinations of 
construction variables (types of fibre, percentage of fibre, yarn twist, yarn count, chemical and mechanical finishing, etc).  
Hence no single performance specification can possibly apply to all the various fabrics for this end -use. In such cases, the 
specification of the specified consumer should be taken into consideration.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
4.2.1  General  
The properties of the woven upholstery fabrics (plain, tufted or flocked) shall conform to all of the specification 
requirements in Table 1.  
 
 
 DUS 949-1: 2020  
© UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1 — Specification requirements  
Characteristics  Specifications  Test methods  
Dimensional change:  %, max  
Warp or Weft:  
• Shrinkage  
• Elongation     
 
5.0  
2.0    
  
ISO 5077  
Breaking strength  N, min.  222   ISO 13934 -2  
Tongue tear strength , N, min  27   ISO 13937 -3  
Resistance to yarn slippage (seam integrity) 
,N, min.  111   ISO 13936 -1  
Surface abrasion (double rubs), min.  
• Light duty (3000 cycles ) 
• Medium duty (9000 cycles ) 
• Heavy duty (15000 cycles )  
 
No noticeable wear   
    
ISO 12947 -1   
ISO 12947 - 2  
  
Colour fastness to;  
• Water (colour change)  
• Organic solvent (colour change)  
• Burnt gas fumes – 2 cycles  
• Light    
• Rubbing   
Dry   
Wet    
4  
4  
4  
4  
 
4  
3  
ISO 105 -E01  
ISO 105 -X05  
ISO 105 -G02  
ISO 105 -B02   
 
ISO 105 -X12  
ISO 105 -X12  
 
4.2.2  Flammability requirement  
4.2.2 .1 ISO 6941 Test  method shall be used to evaluate flammability properties. In case a manufacturer 
claims an alternative method, the manufacturer shall demonstrate that such a method is technically equival ent 
or better to the one specified.  
4.2.2 .2 When tested in accordance with ISO 6941, the average time to sever the upper trip thread for all 
specimens shall not be less than 20 s.  
NOTE  Except where specified that testing after an approved cleansing or wett ing procedure is unnecessary, all 
samples for flammability test should be subjected to the appropriate procedure specified in ISO 10528 or ISO 12138 as 
appropriate. It is unnecessary to test such samples before the cleansing procedure.  
5 Labelling  
Each rol l of fabric shall have a label securely attached in such a way that it can be retained with the roll 
indicating the following information. For fabrics supplied against a certain pattern, the information shall be 
available with the pattern:  
a) name and address  of the manufacturer or distributor or other means of identification;   
4 © UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  
 b) fibre content of the fabric;  
c) dimensions or size (length and width);  
d) lot number or batch number  
e) care instructions country of origin; and  
f) any other marking as the contract or order may di rect. 
6 Assessment of compliance  
6.1 Lot 
6.1.1  The quantity of upholstery fabrics of the same type and quality delivered to one buyer against one 
dispatch note shall constitute a lot.  
6.1.2  The conformity of the lot to the requirements of the standards sha ll be determined on the basis of 
tests carried out on the samples selected from the lot.  
6.1.3 Unless otherwise agreed upon between the buyer and the manufacturer, the number of pieces to be 
selected at random from a lot shall be in accordance with Table 2 .  
Table 2 — Sample size  
Number of pieces in a lot  Sample size (number of pieces to 
be selected)  Sub-sample (test samples)  
Up to 100  10  5  
101 to 300  15  6  
301 to 500  25  7  
501 to 800  35  8  
801 to 1300  50  9  
1301 and above   75  10  
6.2 Test specimens  
Where not prescribed in the relevant test method indicated against each characteristic in Table 1, the test 
specimens shall be taken at points as widely dispersed as possible throughout the available test samples.  
6.3 Criteria of complianc e  
The lot shall be declared as conforming to specification for various characteristics referred in Table 1 and 
4.2.2, if for each of the characteristics, the mean values of the test results on all the individual specimens are 
found to be within limits of the specification. Failing of a sample on account of any of the characteristics shall 
mean rejection of the full lot.  
 DUS 949-1: 2020  
© UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  5 
 Bibliography  
ASTM  D3597 − 02 (Reapproved 2018), Standard Performance Specification for Woven Upholstery Fabrics —
Plain, Tufted, or Flocked 1 
 DUS 949-1: 2020  
© UNBS 2020  – All rights reserved  7 
 Certification marking  
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be marked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and th e Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those licensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and in conjunction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product  or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods comply with the 
requirements of that standard under a system of supervision, control and testing in accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. UNBS m arked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 949-1: 2020    
 
ICS 97.140 
Price based on nn pages  
© UNBS 2020 – All rights reserved