Fabric Alternatives to Gilford

Anyone has a cheaper alternative to Gilford of Maine I couldn't find colored burlap in 60" sizes, Any suggestions? Thanks Javier Garza http://myspace.com/jgmix

LOL

Try burchfabrics.com You have to get it from a local distributor, but to me it's every bit as good as Guilford at a fraction of the price. Best,

I'm looking for the same thing... I haven't talked to these folks yet, but they have an 8oz velour they call Super-Vel that I'm gonna be calling them about... sewwhatinc.com I'll try to get back here with pricing. Max

I talked with Sew What today. Prices seem fair to good. The salesman is sending me swatches and a quote. Being in California, I got a hunch that the shipping's gonna eat me up. At any rate, for my application and how much I'm gonna' need (plus a bit extra), he's recommending a 15oz IFR material they call Encore Velour. It's coming in at about $6.00/yd. He also said that I might want to consider their Volcano Velour blackout material. It's about the same price as the Encore. I dug a bit more and scrounged up Georgia Stage. Nice folks, and they recommended their material called Showtex. I don't find it on their site by that name, but the Showtex is IFR and they seem to be willing to work with you on volume pricing. The Ga Stage pricing is a bit better than Sew What... quite a bit better actually. Almost a dollar a yard cheaper because of my volume. Then too, I think the young lady I spoke to at Ga Stage was ready to deal, where as Sew What sales rep was just kinda' taking the time to call back another looker/window shopper. Hope this helps Javier.

Thank You max, I might call Sewwhatinc, The Fabrics look great on the screen and better yet width sizes are aboce 60", let me know your thoughts when you get the swatches, you know, are they breathable enough? Does it keep good shape after streching? any info will be helpfull. Thank you so much for taking the time to write back, I apreciate it, my acoustic designer will call me back tomorrow with the suggested design and materials that I need to buy, I will get some info for the fabric from him (he is a veteran) so he should give us acouple of names. If I get a name from him in the fabric dept. I'll pass it on. Good Luck Javier Garza

Well, I am not sure that the velour that they are advertising is going to work for you, but of course, I have no idea for sure. They talk about it as used for stage curtains, not for acoustic treatment. Remember, you need to be able to breathe through it in order to use it for acoustic treatment. I have been using some Ronte Roma fabric from JoAnn's fabric. It is a bit pricey at $9.99/yd, but they have coupons in the paper every Sunday for 40% off, and sometimes they are 50% off. It looks great, and works a treat. I am using black, but they do have several other colors (although not a huge pallet of colors like Guilford).

I just talked with Matthew at Burch Fabrics. You can order from them directly. They have an alternative to Guilford that is called Stratford. Sells for $10.80 a yard. http://www.burchfabrics.com/showroom/ot ... tford.html

Is the Stratford FR or IFR? The velours I've ordered samples of should be breathable... I'll let you know when they get here.

Just wanted to chime in on this thread to remind others that if you are building in a commercial space, you will most likely be required by fire codes to use Flame resistant fabric... If you are building at home, you might be able to avoid this extra cost. Just remember that if you are using Non Flame Resistant cloth near ceiling light fixtures or halogen type lights, there is a good possibility of catching fire. Not something I'd want to risk my family over. Namaste...

Blue42 wrote:

I just talked with Matthew at Burch Fabrics. You can order from them directly. They have an alternative to Guilford that is called Stratford. Sells for $10.80 a yard. http://www.burchfabrics.com/showroom/ot ... tford.html

Hey, good to know that one can now order direct, thanks for the update! :)

I received the samples from Sew What; Encore PFR and Avora Lining Both are black fabric samples, but the Avora is black ONLY. The Encore is fairly breathable, while the Avora has a fairly restricted air flow. Something that's bothering me is how all these fabrics are sold. I spoke to Acousticsfirst, out of Richmond, VA. They calculated the Guilford at 3 bolts. While GA Stage calculated at 4 bolts. They are both the same width, yet with the GA Stage product being less than 1/4 of the cost of the Guilford, the price comes in at 2.5x the cost of the Guilford. I'm digging into this to determine how these folks all sell their products, because it seems that things just don't add up. My suspicion is that one is a linear yard (36"x62" width) vs square yard (36"x36"). So when you go to get quotes, you have to be sure that you are speaking the same language. Oh... and as frostgfx mentioned.. IFR is Inherent Flame Resistant and FR is Flame Resistant.