Crypton: stain resistant upholstery fabric with a fluid barrier

Crypton is a technology rather than a mill. It is applied at the weaving stage under licence, which is why it appears inside other people's collections rather than only its own. We carry it through Designtex.

The distinction that matters is where the protection sits. Most stain resistance is a finish applied to the face of a finished cloth, and a finish is a layer that can wear. Crypton encapsulates the fibre itself, so the protection is inside the yarn rather than on top of it. The contract construction adds a moisture barrier behind the face cloth, so a spill that gets through the surface still does not reach the foam.

The chemistry is worth knowing, because it is what a specifier now gets asked about. Crypton works by structure rather than by fluorochemistry: hydrocarbon side chains that behave like the surface of a leaf and shed liquid by shape instead of by coating. Production has been PFAS free since October 2022, fluorine free and verified to AATCC 189, and formulated without intentionally added fluorinated, chlorinated or brominated chemistry.

There are no added antimicrobials, and that is a decision rather than an omission. It is what makes the cloth compliant with the Healthier Hospitals Initiative and with the Living Building Challenge Red List. A fabric that keeps moisture out of the substrate does not need a biocide in the yarn to do it.

Beyond that: GREENGUARD Gold certified, evaluated by the EPA as disinfectable in its contract form, bleach cleanable, meeting the ACT voluntary performance guidelines, and tested past 100,000 double rubs. Around forty per cent of the content comes from renewable sources.

The ranges below are the Designtex weaves built on it.