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Superzoo 2023

Aug 16-18, 2023
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV

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When creating a product, the client’s ideas come to life on the drawing board, showing off their natural talent and hopes for the product. But translating this imagination into reality often takes a lot of effort.

How Do We Choose the Right Fabric for Dog Bed?

A Luxury Pet Bedding Design

Last year we had the pleasure of working with Jane Doe from the US on her revolutionary pet bed design. This all-in-one and washable round bed is multi-functional. Unfortunately, it features a lovely pattern that cannot be fully shown to protect the client’s product information.

As for this dog bed, The client demanded to make it waterproof, scratch-resistant, one-piece, and washable. These sound like basic requirements for a bed, but they are more complex when designed in a foam-filled round-shaped bed. And consideration was also given to maximizing the ease of assembly for the end customer.

After several discussion meetings, the design team and I voted on three ideal materials.
I. Oxford fabric
II. Windbreaker fabric
Ⅲ. spandex fabric

Three Different Fabric

Solution1: Oxford Fabric

PRO CO
Durable Non-elastic
Waterproof Inconvenience Using
the pros and cons of oxford fabric

Oxford fabrics are often used in products with high bed requirements due to their durability and wear resistance.

And early on, we had confirmed that Jane’s development would be made from Oxford fabric, but given that the choice of cloth dramatically affects the outcome, if the fabric choice were wrong, it would cost the client time and money again.
So we built a mini-sample by hand to test the possibility of an Oxford fabric. As it turned out, we were right to be concerned, as the dog bed coat made from Oxford fabric was not flexible when installed with the inner stuffing foam, making it more difficult to remove and wash this feature. So it took us 17 minutes to install the mini sample; if this had been the completed product, it would have taken even longer.

If the interior is filled with soft polyester fabric, then Oxford cloth would have been the most appropriate.

Solution2: Hiking Jacket Fabric

PRO CON
Durable Less-elastic
Waterproof Inconvenience Using
the pros and cons of hiking jacket fabric

Hiking jacket fabrics are often durable, water-resistant, and breathable in outdoor products and slightly more elastic than Oxford fabric.

However, this option was rejected as it needed to be more flexible to allow the customer to dismantle and wash the bed cover quickly.

Solution3: Spandex Fabric

PRO CON
Durable Enough for this design It no as durable as the oxford
Waterproof
Elastic
The printed pattern works well.
Skin-friendly
the pros and cons of spandex fabric

Lycra is a type of spandex fabric, a friendly material with excellent elasticity without any bunching, which Bayer developed in 1937. Lycra fabric is commonly used in yoga pants. The widely used in sportswear has made Lycra a synonym for stretch fabrics.

It is very soft, durable, and elastic, like all the requirements we need, but you may think that yoga fabric is thin. It is not suitable for dogs, can sometimes be very violent, and they may destroy this dog bed with their claws, but if you ever scratch your yoga pants, you will know lycra is durable to some extent.

TPU Laminated Fabric

It is a Bi-Layered Laminated Fabric, regularly used for applying bed protectors/covers.

what is TPU

What’s more, the later waterproofing procedure (TPU Laminated Procedure) increases its flexibility and makes up for its weaknesses to a certain extent. This fabric is the best choice considering the product’s aesthetics and the consumer experience.

Q&A

Question1_What products are these three fabrics suitable for?

Oxford Fabric Hiking Jacket Fabric Lycra Fabric
Dog Bed/Pad/Tent Pet Clothes Pet Clothes
Pet Outdoor Product Pet Outdoor Product
fabric and recommendation

Question2_Do you offer a customized service?

Yes. There are a lot of fabric and color swatches for customers to choose and most of the customers will offer us their design and their intended material. Our team will provide our quotation and suggestion based on our experience. We never define a product; Any style you want, share your idea.

Question3_Customers only offer the idea, and you offer a solution, right?

Yes, some of our clients are experienced in retailing pet products, and some are start-ups; they give us their ideas for bedding, and we provide them with tailored solutions based on previous experience and the client’s brand concept, audience, budget, etc. We provide targeted solutions.

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