Naugahyde is our largest supplier of upholstery vinyl. We buy from Nassimi, Omnova, Spradling and many other large mills. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a Nauga. No one is hunting naugas and raising them for their hides. Naugahyde is rubber based synthetic leather made originally for purses.
Naugahyde is our go to mill for many reasons. The first is tradition. My grandpa and my great grandpa used to buy Naugahyde vinyl from Uniroyal 50 plus years ago. When most manufacturers started to switch to suppliers overseas, we decided to stay loyal to Naugahyde. They are one state away in Stoughton Wisconsin. We can get to their plant in 8 hours if we really needed. We can typically get rolls of vinyl next day if we send them UPS ground.
While most manufacturers of upholstery vinyl show off their 10,000 double rubs or 50,000 double run durability, Naugahyde rates many of their products in the millions. The Wyzenbeek double rub test is the standard for the industry and Naugahyde blows this away. While we have access to all of Uniroyal's patterns, we only stock a few. We stock Zodiac, Expressions, Spirit Millennium, English Pub, and Rogue II. We will buy Naugasoft for jobs and sometimes we buy the Supreme version of the pattern but for the most part, we stock the vinyls listed above.
Our favorite pattern by Naugahyde is Spirit Millennium. What makes a pattern a favorite?
- The color shades have remained true for decades
- It is always in stock
- It is 2 million double rubs
- We can replace furniture or repair furniture years later and its a dead match
- It is made in Wisconsin and shipping charges are low to Chicago
- It stretches really well and pulls tight around curves
Naugahyde vinyl is used for more than just food service. We find it to be ideal for home use too. When not using leather or fabric, the best thing to use is Naugahyde. We get rolls shipped directly to our factory from the mill in Wisconsin. We get it delivered by truck on a pallet. They stack it like a pyramid with 15 rolls. 5 on the bottom and then 4 then 3, 2, 1 etc.
The most heavy duty of the Naugahyde patterns is probably Zodiac. It is actually on the harder side to use for upholstery. It doesn't stretch as much as a lot of other materials. It is so tight that we will alter our cutting pattern to give us a little more material for sewing and upholstering. It is amazing to see one of our large bar stools with backs upholstered in glossy blue sparkle glitter vinyl.
There was a time when Richardson Seating was probably the biggest user of Zodiac in the world. We were lucky enough to have a chair and bar stool in Target stores and they selected Naugahyde Zodiac Burgundy for the color. Burgundy is more of a bright metallic red. There are also silver metal flakes in the vinyl that give it a very cool reflective look. We were making the Lucy chair and the Lucy stool. The Lucy chair is still for sale on our website. We can make the lucy stool too but I don't think we have them in stock.
For several years, Target ordered several thousand units per week. It was a huge deal for our factory. We doubled in size overnight. Luckily we recommended zodiac vinyl by Naugahyde when made everyone's product last for years after purchase. We haven't sold the Lucy chair through Target's retail stores in years. We still get calls with questions about them because they have lasted so long. The lucy chair is available on our website or on Target's website.
If you don't see something you like, just ask. We can make most of our items in any color.