Outdoor fabric used to be canvas like and stiff. Most fabric brands/manufacturers now carry a line of indoor/outdoor fabrics that are now soft and many also have texture too.

For wider options, you could go to a furniture shop with larger furniture selections than PB and they will also have a larger selection of fabrics and possibly also offer COM (customer own material) so you can order any outdoor fabric you want.

I had sunbrella upholstery on my outdoor cushions for 12 years. They lasted well and the dark colors barely faded ... these were cushions that sat outside in Los Angeles, on a porch facing west, so lots of strong sunshine. We moved and I just had the cushions recovered in a much lighter outdoor fabric to go with a lighter look in the new house. The old Sunbrella fabric was definitely a bit stiff. The new outdoor fabric has more of a soft chenille feel.

I had my rosewood dining chairs reupholstered in sunbrella two years ago. They are still pristine

Fabric makes a huge difference with the overall feel of furniture. I recently ordered a couch in an indoor/outdoor performance fabric (not Sunbrella, but something like it). It was thinner and stiffer compared to the other fabrics. Many indoor upholsteries are not exactly stretchy, but some do have just a little bit of give and plushness, and it really makes a difference with how soft a cushion feels.

My new couch had firm cushions and combined with that outdoor fabric, it was really uncomfortable. Even after four months of breaking it in, it never felt as good as the floor model -- which was a thick boucle. It was so bad I actually asked the sales associate if they changed their source for the foam (they did not).

I returned it and ordered it in a boucle (one that is rated as a durable pet/family friendly fabric). What a difference it made! Even on day one the couch felt good, and after two months it already feels as soft as the floor model.

SeattleMCM that is helpful, I’m looking for real-life experience, good or bad. I did notice that the Sunbrella sample swatch seemed thinner than the other performance fabric swatches. These chairs are in the living room and are for lounging, so comfort should matter. The fabric they replace is grungy and full of pilling but otherwise comfortable. Any insight into stains or general grunginess with the Sunbrella-type versus the boucle? Has the boucle worn well, pulling, etc?

Earlier this year I was researching fabrics to select one for a sofa. Many of the designers helping me suggested that Crypton was a great performance fabric (durability, stain resistance, etc), while Sunbrella is more of a fade resistant fabric. That's not to say that Sunbrella is bad, but that the fabrics were designed to resist sun fading rather than focused on durability and performance like Crypton. I ended up selecting a Crypton fabric and am anxiously waiting (forever it seems) for my sofa to eventually arrive. I hope that helps some.

pricklypearcactus, I hope you love your couch! Is your Crypton dry clean only? The one at Pottery Barn is their “everyday linen,” which is dry clean only.

I haven't had either of the couches long enough to really damage. I originally bought the "sunbrella like" fabric because it was smooth and looked easy to vacuum dog hair off of. but we don't even have a dog yet so that was never tested!

I did get one oily salad dressing spot on it, and it came out super easy blotting with baby powder.

Our new boucle is woven well and has some kind of glued backing that will prevent it from pulling. (I just noticed on the website that it's listed under the outdoor fabric. Interesting.) I tested a sample by clawing at it with a sharp metal prong and it did well. One particularly aggressive clawing pulled half of a string out, not even the whole string. (You can pull minor snags back in with a curved needle.) I chose a very heathery looking pattern, which -- my theory is -- will hopefully hide a little dog hair and minor stains.

Their display couch had boucle that was even plusher.They said they had their display model out there for several years. It was ivory, and it was not stained, pilled or snagged. They did show me some sample swatches where they tried to stain it on purpose, and I saw that while the red wine cleaned out perfectly, tomato sauce left a peachy mark. (which is why I could never have an ivory couch, LOL.)

These fabrics were all from Room & Board, but they might be ones that other vendors can buy. I linked to them above.

Oh, and one final thing: they had huge samples, like 60x60". Big enough that I could drape on furniture, sit on it, pet it, and really take it all in. I don't think I could choose something that important based off a tiny square.

I always test any fabric I consider with water, because the first instinct when you spill something is to wipe it up and then blot/clean with a towel or paper towel dipped in water. I always want to make sure that the fabric will handle being wet with water and then looks normal when it dries.

I wouldn't want a fabric that can't be wiped with water and needs to be dry cleaned.

I have tested a lot of fabrics over the years and I've only had 2 fabrics not pass that test, both velvet.

@Heidi E the one I selected shows a cleaning code W which googling seems to indicate allows water based cleaners. It's also polyester which I believe is a highly durable option. I believe I was warned against fabrics with high linen content due to concerns of color changes in sunlight. I purchased from a different manufacturer than Pottery Barn, but I think a lot of companies use Crypton fabrics.

I had my sectional recovered in Crypton a few years ago and have posted about it many times. You would NEVER guess it's a performance fabric. It is soft to the touch and not at all stiff. Crypton is offered by many manufacturers, i think. Apparently it's some process or treatment, not toxic; I never quite figured it out. This is the one I selected - https://www.greenhousefabrics.com/fabric/b5605-parchment The scale of the herringbone is quite small so the pattern is very subdued. The overall appearance is a cream color. This particular fabric is mostly rayon, so it feels wonderful. This webpage says both 33,000 and 102,000 double rubs for durability not sure which is correct. Made in the USA (which was important to me). Water clean.

Within the first couple of weeks of getting it back from the upholsterer, I caught my toe on my coffee table and spilled a full glass of red wine all over it!! (my first glass of the evening, lol.) I was sick about it and quickly got online to see how to clean it. Said to use a wet rag with a tiny bit of dish soap, then rinse with more wet cloths, which I did. Every drop of wine came out and left no marks at all. About a week later, I noticed a splash on the lower front of the couch that I'd missed. I used the same method and it came right out.

I selected Crypton because I care for my young grandson, who likes to snack in the living room and I didn't want to be worried about the sofa. He's very careful, but a couple of times I've found chocolate remnants from an M&M. It doesn't stain and easily comes right out every time. The fabric does not pill, even when rubbed for cleaning. I am a HUGE fan of this fabric. This is a pic of the sectional from the upholster's webpage, so you can see how light it is.

This is the Crypton fabric, sold by Thibaut, that I used earlier this year to reupholster two chairs.

I went to a Design Center so I had the best selection of fabrics to choose from.

It reads as off white, unless you are up close.

That looks really nice. I like the texture and the multi-tone color. The Pottery Barn Crypton offering is a linen, so I’m a little leery. Lots of folks love it but some don’t, and with it being dry clean only and not bleach-able I fear I’d regret it.

I had a tight-back swivel chair upholstered in a light gray Sunbrella about 10 years ago. I thought it would be great because I wanted a light color but had young kids. I was so disappointed in that fabric because I couldn't get it clean. I used soap and water to scrub and I had it professionally cleaned but it never looked good. On the other hand, I had some large living room pillow covers made of Crypton and they still look amazing. I like the feel of the Crypton fabrics better too. The pillows are a dark color so that may make a difference. I've run them through the washing machine and let them air dry. I think it's important for you to see and feel the fabrics in real life because some performance fabrics still feel like polyester. Will your chairs be upholstered or slipcovered?

You really should expand your sofa search to other furniture stores that carry several brands and will have a bigger fabric selection.

I’d never previously considered slipcovered because I prefer the clean look of upholstered but have decided that’s the route I need to go in order to have light colored chairs that I can keep clean with options to machine wash and possibly bleach.

For tough, go with Crypton.

@chispa haha, I JUST had clients' chairs reupolstered in that exact Thibaut fabric! It's fabulous!

@Diana Bier Interiors, LLC, it is! The upholsterer did a really nice job with my 2 Duralee swivel chairs ... that used to be a bright orange! They were in a media room, in our previous house, with some other bold choices, but I'm now using them in my family room and they needed to be toned down. The Thibaut fabric was a perfect complement to my sofas and rug.

Two things to note thst i don’t see mentioned here. First, the upholstery durability test only measures thread breakage, not piling. Once two threads break, it failes. Anything above 40,000 rubs is contract grade and will last well in a residential setting. Secondly, any material that has a fiber content of more than 25% acrylic will pill. So I would never use Sunbrella on an indoor sofa. Acrylic is also not great for the environment in and of itself. But added to that, Sunbrella is coated with PFAS, which is what gives it its stain resistance (ditto Crypton). (I do understand that the EPA considers these types of chemicals safe, but most consumers do not realize these ”performance“ materials are even coated. People should know and make up their own minds as to its safety). The only thing Sunbrella is truly good at is color fastness because acrylic is solution dyed, mean meaning the color is in the liquid that is turned into the yarn that is woven into the fabic—the color goes all the way through the fiber, rather than garment or yarn-dyed where the color sits on top of the fiber. if you’re going with a light color, there’s literally no good reason to choose Sunbrella. There are far better options asthetically and environmentally.

I should also add that while the newer chemistries of PFAS are considered safer and offer lower exposure to potentially harmful chemicals, they no longer resist oil like the old C8 chemistry. So it makes sense that wine will come out (it’s still hydrophobic), but tomato sauce, will likely contains oil, will leave a stain.