The Upholstery Forum

I have a job coming up where the client i requesting a specific color of vinyl. It will be used in the medical field. I called the supplier who makes medical equipment with this particular vinyl but they will not let me know who the vendor is who supplied the vinyl.. I get it... But, how can I track this vinyl down? I checked with a local vinyl supplier but they did not have this vinyl and were pretty short on any vinyl for use in the medical field. HELP!

Whats the medical equipment manufacture?

@vicstric

We can figure it out for you.

Thanks @bigrig! Midmark. The specific color is Dusty Blue - part number 233. I also came across another part number as 056-0164-00 from Midmark.

@vicstric Midmark medical?

I useJ Ennis Supply’s for my medical grade cloths and vinyls, apparently there world wide... but can be frustrating to deal with.... big corporation mentality.

Is there a reason the customer needs the exact same vinyl? It may not be available to the public. Spirit millennium Naugahyde is really good contract vinyl comes in like 60 colors. They should have something very close.

@vicstric

Esprit may be very good for this too.

@vicstric

This is my field so here is the scoop. They sell parts as they do in Industrial seating. They wany you to buy say a "preupholstered panel" which would be a portion of a table or seat/chair armrest, back etc... for $500-800.00. Midmark medical covers their medical equipment with Ultraleather. This is where you buy the replacment upholstery vinyl. Like John said in a post before there is a Alternative to Ultraleather, I just cannot remember what it is.

www.ultrafabricsinc.com

Wow! Thanks @bigrig and @john! Yes I saw where they (Midway) would sell "panels" for their stuff, but I am not at all sure the equipment at this clinic is Midway.

Bigrig, how did you determine that Midway uses Ultraleather?

John, I am sure the customer would go with anything of very similar color. But I figured that Midway probably knows their stuff with regard to medical/healthcare requirements, and they happen to use the color the customer wants so that is just where I started.

Thanks all for the help. What a great group of helpful folks. I hope i can return the favor in the futire.

A big thank you to @revv up also! I greatly appreciated the info!

@vicstric

Midmark medical is what I found not Midway.

I looked at the Upholstery Coverings then tracked down the SKUs for the color schemes. I really like vinyl and am getting pretty good at figuring out what material is what by looking at the emboss, how it looks on the furniture etc.. I think I have spent 3/4 of my upholstery education doing this so far

sorry... midmark is correct.

@bigig, Maybe you could write up a "how to" with your learnings. I know I can get really bogged down in things like trying to track down a vinyl supplier. I am sure I am not alone... :)

@vivtric,

You would be surprised to know how many things you buy are from the same source yet carry different names with prices that vary.

@vicstric I know what you mean getting bogged down by trying to find exact match. I usually tell people that it will be very hard and probably expensive to get exact match vinyl. Also a lot of manufactures get access to material that we don't. When you tell them that they are usually more open to an alternative that is better and cheaper.

@BigRig that is awesome you were able to find out all that information! I would love to know your research process like victric said.

Well, i pinned my supplier down to show me some ultraleather fabrics. Man is that stuff expensive! Maybe that is why they didn't direct me there to start with. Feels really good and is supposedly has very high abrasion resistance.

Yeah ultra leather is stupid expensive. For me it never made since to pay that much for vinyl when for that price you might as well use real leather. But I guess that's not the case with medical equipment. Ive never tested it but I would bet that Spirit millennium lasts as long as Ultraleather

@John, @vicstric ,

Thanks for the project guys. I will figure out where this stuff is originating from.