Backing cloth serves to add body to fabric hangings and to protect the face materials; for upholstered items it protects the inner workings and materials from infestation and dust whilst covering the raw edges and the fixing method, providing a neat and beautifully finished under side or back.
* Backcloth must be tightly woven, inexpensive, easy to work with and neutral, and typically includes cotton canvas, black cotton twill, loom state linen, or hessian.
* Curtain lining can be used for all backcloth purposes if you have stock on the roll or an offcut, otherwise it’s almost too good – sometimes it can be a bit firm and a little more stretch would be useful.
* In upholstery, the back cloth covers the raw edges and the fixing methods – stapling or tacking- to make the back look as neat as it possibly can; at the same time it protects the inner materials from infestations of mice, insects and dust…
* Backcloth serves the same purpose for soft, loose furnishings, e.g. wall hangings, tapestries and head curtains for four poster beds: any place where the back of the face cloth needs protection from dust, infestation or any potential damp drawn from a stone or cob wall. For wall hangings, it can be a thicker, twill woven material with the dual purpose of adding body and support.
* Use back cloth to finish the back of bed heads, pin boards, the top of bed canopies, single-sided screens, the base of non-reversible box cushions, etc. Beneath chairs and sofas it’s called the platform–but the material and the principle is the same.