Romo Fabrics FAQ: A Quality Inspector Answers the Questions Designers Actually Ask

I'm a quality and brand compliance manager at Romo. I review every incoming fabric and wallcovering delivery before it reaches our showroom stock—roughly 300 SKUs a year—and I rejected about 3% of first deliveries in 2024 due to shade drift, finishing defects, or width issues. These are the questions I get from designers, purchasing leads, and sometimes our own sales team. No filler. If you're comparing fabrics or planning a commercial order, these answers will save you time.

• What makes Romo group fabrics different from standard textile imports?
• Is Romo the same company as Romo Mattress and Furniture in Joliet?
• What does RN 17910 on a textile label mean?
• Is coral velvet fabric durable enough for commercial interiors?
• How to sew knit fabric without it stretching into a mess?
• How should I compare quotes for contract upholstery fabric?
• What's the most common mistake you see when designers order decorative fabric?

What makes Romo group fabrics different?

It's not magic—it's scope and consistency. Romo Group covers decorative fabrics, wallcoverings, contract performance textiles, and the Linara fabric range, all designed to work together in one interior. That breadth helps you specify a room without chasing three separate suppliers. But the part I see every day is the quality system. We hold production to a frozen master sample, and we check every incoming batch against it for shade, hand, drape, and finished width. If a shipment doesn't match, it doesn't move. In our Q1 2024 audit, we caught a 2% shade drift on a velvet run and turned back 4,000 meters before it left the mill. The vendor called it 'within industry tolerance.' We rejected it anyway. Looking back, the only mistake was waiting for the audit instead of testing from the first transport batch. Now we check earlier. Consistency is the brand. Period.

Is Romo connected to Romo Mattress and Furniture in Joliet?

No. That Romo is a furniture retailer in Joliet, Illinois. The Romo I work for is a UK-based textile group with over a century of history and showrooms in London, New York, and other design centers. Both businesses carry the same name, but they're in completely different industries. If you're searching for 'Romo mattress and furniture Joliet,' you'll find the store. If you're specifying decorative fabric, you're looking for the textile house. We get this question a lot from U.S. designers, especially when they first start specifying. I should add: if you bought a mattress from the Joliet store, we can't help with your warranty or delivery—you need to call that retailer. And if you bought our velvet, the Joliet store can't help you either. Different Romos. Different rolls. That's it.

What does RN 17910 on a textile label mean?

RN stands for Registered Identification Number—a permanent ID assigned by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to companies that manufacture, import, or market textile products. Per FTC rules (ftc.gov), most textile products sold in the U.S. must show a company name or RN on the label, together with fiber content and country of origin. RN 17910 is assigned to Romo's U.S. distribution entity. It's our way of saying, if this fabric has a problem, here's who answers for it. It is not a quality certification. It won't tell you thread count, rub cycles, or fire resistance. I've had customers assume an RN is an eco-label—it's not. An RN is traceability, not a trophy. So next time you see 'standard textile RN 17910' on a bolt label, you'll know exactly what it is—and what it doesn't mean.

Is coral velvet fabric durable enough for commercial interiors?

Yes—if you check the construction, not just the color name. 'Coral velvet' is a colorway, not a fiber or weave structure. You can find it on a cotton-rich velvet for light upholstery, or on a high-performance acrylic-blend velvet for hospitality seating. The durability comes from the yarn system and backing, not the palette. I review abrasion data before approving any specification, and I'll be honest: the color card tells you nothing about rub cycles. Look for rub test results, pilling ratings, and light-fastness on the spec sheet. The old assumption that 'velvet always crushes' is a legacy of predominantly viscose velvets. Modern performance velvets—including some in our contract line—use tighter constructions and synthetic content. My experience skews toward contract seating, so I can't speak as confidently to residential drapery. But if a supplier won't give you test data, treat that as a red flag.

How to sew knit fabric without it stretching into a mess?

Start with the fabric, not just the machine. A knit with poor recovery—one that stays stretched when you pull it across the grain—will fight you no matter what needle you use. That's not a sewing problem; it's a fabric problem. For stable sewing, choose a knit that snaps back once released. Then match your technique: ballpoint or stretch needle, reduced presser foot pressure, and a walking foot for long seams. On a standard machine, lengthen the stitch slightly and use a zigzag or lightning stitch instead of a straight stitch. The quick test I use in the studio: stretch a cut edge, hold it for five seconds, and release. If it doesn't return almost fully, treat it as a fragile sample, not a forgiving woven. And before you cut a full roll, don't skip preshrinking. That's the kind of thing that annoys a quality person when we see it later. It wasn't the seam that failed—it was the fabric shifting after cutting. That's the real culprit.

How should I compare quotes for contract upholstery fabric?

Compare total cost, not unit price. A $10/yard quote can end up more expensive than a $14/yard quote once you add freight, dye-lot matching, shrinkage, expected waste, and the cost of discovering a problem after cutting. I calculate it this way: unit price + freight + expected waste + your labor + the cost of a defect. On a 1,000-yard order, a 5% defect rate means 50 unusable yards; at $10/yard that's $500 of material down the drain, plus the labor wasted on cutting it. Last year, we rejected a batch for shade drift after 1,000 yards had already been cut. The vendor replaced it, but the schedule pressure stayed. Quality issues aren't just a supplier problem. They're a timeline problem. So I don't buy on the lowest quote. I buy on the quote I can defend to a client. The lowest quote is often the one that changes when you ask about fire-retardant finishes or separate sampling fees. Per FTC guidelines, durability claims should be substantiated—ask for the data in writing before you commit. It saves arguments later.

What's the most common mistake you see when designers order decorative fabric?

Not ordering a cutting sample first. Even with a Pantone reference and an accurate digital photo, physical fabric can surprise you—hand, scale, drape, and how the repeat lands. I'd rather send you ten samples and have you reject nine than ship 100 yards of the wrong hand. The other common mistake is skipping the spec sheet: width, pattern repeat, care code, and flame-retardant options. I've seen a gorgeous fabric turn into a problem because the installed width was four inches less than the designer assumed, so the panels didn't line up. A cutting sample costs a few dollars. A recut costs days. TCO again—it always comes back to total cost.