I’m making some “French-fitted” inserts for some tool drawers. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the long-term durability of Suede-Tex in that application. My concern is that because tools tend to be hard-surfaced and relatively heavy, the Suede-Tex would wear fairly rapidly.
I found a couple of old Knots discussion threads regarding Suede-Tex, but mostly in the context of jewelry boxes, where wear obviously isn’t as big an issue. And I’ve seen a few photos of tool drawers made with what appears to be Suede-Tex, and there is some visible wear, but there’s no way to tell whether what I’m seeing represents six months or twenty years of wear.
-Steve
Replies
I don't have any personal experience with Suede-Tex, but can tell you that all pile type fabrics tend to suffer from rub wear. Microfibre cloths such as ultra suede are extremely hardwearing and are used extensively in the softfurnishing trades.
Genuine suede, be it bovine or or other offer the advantage of being able to have the pile revitalized with a brass brush.
The biggest enemy of all these products is dirt and perspiration, a scotch guard type treatment before upholstering the piece should prove advantageous.
Rgds
John
Suede-Tex isn't a fabric, it's a "spray on" kind of thing. The reason for using it in this application instead of some kind of sheet material is that it conforms to all of the nooks and crannies.
-Steve
I used it once on a jewelry box. I think that you would have a wear problem. I wouldn't used it again, it was messy to apply ( the particles are extremly fine and were all over my shop even though I put the drawer inside a big cardboard box lined with a garbge bag). The last two boxes I used silk and applied that to mat board with a fabric adhesive. I would second the idea of using leather inside the drawer, I think that would be a something worth seeing and using.
Steve
Thanks for the feedback. Leather would be nice, obviously, but I'm talking about everyday tools here, not heirlooms. I'm looking for something that's just a step above bare baltic birch plywood.
I made a sample panel yesterday with Suede-Tex on MDF. I'll let the adhesive cure for a few more days and then see how well it holds up to abuse.
-Steve
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