Upholstery Labels: Planning a Label Set for Sofas, Mattresses and Cushions

A sofa may stay in a living room for fifteen years. Its labels have to survive vacuuming, sunlight, children climbing over the armrests and, on removable covers, regular washing. As a manufacturer of upholstery labels, we help furniture makers plan a label set that looks good in the showroom and is still readable when a customer needs it years later.

Three jobs, three kinds of label

Upholstered products usually need labels that do three different jobs. Thinking in these groups keeps the specification clear:

• Identity – the brand label the customer sees at home. Usually a large woven label, or a debossed leather tab on leather pieces.
• Information – content, filling, cleaning codes, model and batch. Usually a printed label on satin or polyester tape that takes long text in small type.
• Sales – the showroom tag with collection, fabric and colour, removed after purchase. Usually a card hang tag on a string.

Sizing for furniture, not fashion

A 20 mm clothing label disappears on a three-seater. Furniture brand labels are bigger, and their proportions follow the product:

Where	What	Typical size (mm)	Fixing
Sofa armrest or back seam	Woven brand label	40 × 40 to 100 × 100	Sewn into seam or on four sides
Chair, pouf, headboard edge	Woven flag label	15–25 visible × 40–60	Caught in seam
Under seat or dust cover	Printed information label	50 × 100 to 100 × 150	Stapled or sewn
Mattress border	Woven brand + printed info	60 × 30 to 100 × 50 / 50 × 120	Sewn into border seam
Removable cushion cover	Care label	30 × 60 to 40 × 80	Side seam
Leather sofa, ottoman, bean bag	Leather or faux leather tab	40 × 25 to 60 × 40	Sewn into seam
Showroom	Card hang tag	60 × 100 to 100 × 150	String on leg or armrest

These are starting points; we make custom sizes for every position. The label size guide helps you compare formats.

A worked example: a modular corner sofa

Take a modular sofa in velvet with zip-off covers. A sensible set would be a 60 × 60 mm satin-weave brand label sewn into the lower back seam of each module, a short woven flag of about 20 mm visible on the outside of one armrest, a printed information label stapled to the dust cover under every module, and a printed care label inside each cushion cover zip. In the showroom, a heavy card tag on the armrest names the collection and fabric. Satin weave suits velvet and chenille because of its softer sheen; damask is better when the logo has fine lettering.

Information labels people can actually find

Information labels are rarely looked at, but when a customer, retailer or service technician needs them, they must be there. Under the seat platform or on the dust cover is the usual place for sofas and chairs; on mattresses, the border seam at the foot end; on loose cushions, inside the zip opening.

Many countries set their own rules for upholstered furniture and bedding, covering filling materials, fire behaviour or cover content. These differ by market and change over time, so check the requirements where you sell and send us the approved wording – we reproduce it exactly. Printed satin or polyester tape handles long, multilingual text well. One practical habit: print the order or batch number on the under-seat label. Years later, it identifies fabric, filling and production date in seconds.

Removable covers need their own care label

A zip-off cover is washed like a garment and separated from the frame, so its care label belongs on the cover itself. Composition and symbols should match the cover fabric, and the label must withstand the same wash. Soft printed satin with ultrasonic-cut edges is a good default; for covers washed often at higher temperatures, a woven care label lasts longer. Short notes such as “close zip before washing” are helpful.

Mattresses and cushions

Mattresses are turned and rotated, so many makers sew a brand label at both ends of the border, 60–100 mm wide so it reads from a metre away, plus a long printed label with model, size and production date. Decorative cushions need only a small woven label of about 20 × 50 mm in the side seam with a care label inside the zip. For garden cushions, choose polyester labels with UV-stable yarns or a faux leather tab; printed polyester resists water better than paper-based materials.

Materials that go the distance

• Polyester yarns and tapes for strength and light fastness.
• Heat-cut or ultrasonic edges on stapled information labels to prevent fraying.
• Back coating or a stiffer finish on large woven labels so they stay flat in a seam.
• OEKO-TEX certified materials where your product line or buyer asks for tested textiles.
• Nickel-free metal plates in zinc alloy, brass, aluminium or stainless steel for wooden frames or legs.

Ordering a furniture label set

Because we produce woven, printed, leather and card labels in our own production in Bulgaria, the whole set can be developed, sampled and delivered together with matching colours. Send your product list and logo; our design team returns a digital proof, typically within 24–48 hours, and physical samples let you test labels on your real upholstery fabric. Production typically takes 10–20 working days after approval, with delivery across the EU. Minimums per design are low – ask us at [email protected] or on WhatsApp/Viber +359 876 766 050.

Frequently asked questions