All the Hows, Whys and How Much’s of Upholstering with (Kid- and Pet-Friendly) Crypton Fabric

In an attempt to have pretty furniture while also living a full life with disgusting children equipped with hands and feet and mouths full of a marinara, jam or gold old-fashioned dirt, we’ve opted for finishes that are, well, forgiving. Gone are the days when you have to choose microsuede or a stiff outdoor fabric—THREE CHEERS FOR PROGRESS. So for today’s post, we partnered again with Crypton, and I’m going to walk you through how and why we used Crypton fabric throughout the mountain house while breaking down the details of the vintage sectional that we reupholstered (you asked, I got you).

First, though, my Crypton history:

We used it on my best friend’s sectional in her living room (a brave choice of white when you have small kids…even for a stain-resistant fabric).

It was and still is stunning, for sure (full reveal here). I stole that table back by the way. There are perks to being my friend, but it doesn’t come without some risks.

In her dining room, we opted for a light pink linen on her Verellen chairs (see full reveal here).

In a prior iteration of my dining room, I had my chairs reupholstered in Crypton and chronicled my thoughts on the process in this post.

On to the mountain house.

I went with Crypton again, knowing that I wanted it to be kid-friendly without sacrificing style. You can see it in the kids nook, the dining nook, the vintage sectional in the living room and the darker sofa in the family room.

Let’s start in the dining room. I knew that even though it’s stain-resistant, this house, with as many kids that we have up there, needed leather so I thought that Crypton wasn’t going to happen until they proudly announced to me that indeed they now DO have leather—a ton of options, actually.

We went with a color called Earl Grey from the Cafe line by Cortina Leathers which has a really warm feel, and muted tones. Why Crypton leather? Well, the only bummer about leather is oil. Sure you can wipe off milk, but oil can make huge marks that might look okay after years of patina, but at first can just be a big old dark circle.

We had the House Beautiful shoot only weeks away so we had to choose from what was in stock (I wanted this gorgeous slate blue or a really dark green that wouldn’t have come until after the shoot). We figured that a dark charcoal was actually a very safe choice since the island was black.

There was a decent amount of hemming and hawing, making sure that it looked good with our table and popped enough without being too extreme.

We landed on the Earl Grey, the darker of the two grays we were debating (for some reason, the backs of the leathers are different colors, so it looks like the lighter gray is labeled Early Grey, but really it’s the deep charcoal).

So far so great. We love it and while we still want to figure out what to do with the back cushion (read about how that came in wrong here and I can’t handle the styling responsibility of the pillows) the leather itself is pretty, soft and yes, oil-spill proof.

Want proof of this spill-proofness?

We tried it (and storied it) weeks ago, and wanted to show you photos of that here. No cheating, folks, I promise. I could be at a booth in the mall demonstrating this and you could see it yourself (but I won’t).

Next up is the customized Cisco Home sofa in the family room.

Now, I talked all about the kid-friendliness of it, with its dark Crypton fabric in the family room reveal here, but for anyone who missed that post, it’s a room we use HARD when we’re up there. It basically doubles as the kids’ playroom, so the low-maintenance factor of just wiping off greasy popcorn hands is clutch. (A quick note on the Cisco Brothers Donato sofa: it’s really deep and cozy with a single bench cushion that’s basically a big pillow top and it’s VERY comfortable. We went with Black Slate from the Crypton Home line, which is one of several Crypton fabrics offered by Cisco Brothers though you can also get it from United Fabrics if you want to re-upholster something you already own (FYI, if you DO source this specific fabric through United Fabrics, this color is called Saturn Midnight). It’s great to be able to source a good-looking modernized sofa through a brand we love for its devotion to craftsmanship…made right here in southern California. It’s a bonus that Cisco offers the option to cover it in Crypton that acts like a shield to the filth of disgusting beautiful children).

With Crypton, we don’t REALLY need a dark color to cover up the grossness that materializes with little kids since everything would scrub out easily, but it does let you push off cleaning just a little longer.

Anyway, the sofa turned out GREAT and I never have to worry about popcorn grease.

And lastly, our vintage sectional that we reupholstered with a soft nubby Crypton.

When we first met this circa ’70s sectional (I found it on Chairish through Gallery L7 in LA), it was in a rusty brown terry cloth. Yes, towel material although we secretly kinda liked it.

My only regret is not finding this sectional earlier so we had to rush the upholstery decision time, as well as the actual upholstery job. Not ideal, but this happens in our field far more than you would imagine. You think you are happy with the sofa when you find THE ONE that will make your life complete, although temporarily very stressful and complicated.

So here’s what happened:

We had to choose this fabric in ONE day from what was actually available in LA. Luckily, Calico Corners stores carry lots of different Crypton Home fabrics, including this one we chose called Maxwell in Pewter. For this sofa, we needed 30 yards and it retailed for $35/yard (but this was part of our partnership). Typically, a sectional like this would be anywhere between $900-$1,300 to recover NOT including the fabric or foam if any of that needs replacing. The sectional is ALL foam, like there aren’t any springs or a frame, so if we were to replace the foam then well, there was no way it would be done in time, plus it would have added about $800 because high-quality foam is VERY expensive. We took off the cushions and they were indeed in fantastic shape so all of us decided that they were salvageable. I’m sure someone will get upset that my kids are this close to dust mites, but listen, there was less waste. 🙂

We were charged $1,500 by our upholsterer because it was a rush job (I believe 4-5 days) so he had to push another client to squeeze us in.

But it turned out BEAUTIFUL and it’s been the easiest to care for. The texture of it really keeps any stain from penetrating so while our kids definitely knock off the back cushions and jump around like monkeys, it looks pristine.

I did the “smoothie test” on social, but wanted to show you here, too. We went green and healthy, you know, something a child might see and smack away in disgust (accurate). We brought down one of the back cushions of the dining room that we aren’t using—it’s not the sofa fabric because we didn’t have any around left over.

Step 1: Look SHOCKED when you splat green goo all over a perfectly clean cushion. It feels very very weird to purposefully pour smoothie on your fabric.

Step 2-5: CLEAN! They recommend you use water mixed with a couple of drops of a common household  enzyme-based cleaner (like Tide or Dawn). You put this mixture in a spray bottle and just have that handy for all of your Crypton (or pick up one of their own great cleaners). Blot/wipe, spray, brush, repeat as necessary (depending on how set in the stain is).

Here is the cushion after some drying time:

It was undetectable. Pretty amazing, guys. Head to stories to watch it.

So for those of you interested in the details (i.e. how it works and where to buy) this section is for you:

Where to Buy:

Something to note is that Cisco Home is one of more than 150 distributors and retail stores where you can order a piece of furniture with Crypton fabric as a choice from the factory. A few other brands include Arhaus, Century Furniture, Kravet, Crate & Barrel and more. Check out the full list of distributors here: https://www.crypton.com/where-to-find/distributors/

For anyone who’s just like “give me that fabric” for your own project or say, you’re reupholstering an existing piece or something vintage, you can head to Calico Corners or Joanns (here’s the whole list of furniture and fabric retailers: https://www.crypton.com/where-to-find/retailers/). As for pricing if you’re buying yardage, prices will vary by what you’re buying (obviously) but also by retailer, though you can expect to pay anywhere from $25 to $45 for their linen. As for their leathers, these are offered to the design trade, with pricing available by request. We found the pricing to be a great value for something this lasting and resilient.

How Is It So Stain-Resistant?

I’ve been using Crypton in my own home and other projects for the last few years, but I needed a little refresher as to how exactly it works, because if I needed to know, you’d probably want to know, too. The Crypton patented process permanently binds the technology to each fiber for lifelong stain, spill and odor protection. 

Every Crypton Home Fabric is third-party GREENGUARD Gold Certified for sustainability. Their performance technology actually extends the useful life of your furniture, so, less cost and waste. They have a team of textile scientists who work to make the performance technology literally become a part of the fiber itself (as in, it’s contained in the fabric, not applied to the surface), so it can’t ever wash or wear or rub off. It is not bioaccumulative, does not require the CA Proposition 65 warning label, does not contribute to environmental pollution because it’s free of PFOS, PFOA, heavy metals, phenols and odor and skin sensitizers. You can read more about this over on the Crypton site. 

A huge thanks to Crypton for partnering on this project and post. It’s a product we love using and recommend to everyone—including you. 🙂

**This post is in partnership with Crypton but all thoughts are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help to support this business. 

***photography by Sara Ligorria-Tramp and Veronica Crawford