The IDM Shop FAQ

What is the minimum basic unit of measure for fabrics and other products?

The minimum basic unit of measure for products is displayed directly after the price on any given product page.  For fabrics and many trimming products this is usually given as 'per metre.'

Other products such as wall coverings / wall papers and trimmings such as tassels the unit of measure may be 'per roll' or 'each' depending on the product.

Many of the drapery linings are only sold by the roll.

Depending on the unit of measure, entering in a quantity using the quanity bar will correspond to the unit of measure.  For example if a product is sold by the metre then entering say '5' as the quantity for that product equates to ordering 5 metres.

Will my order for a particular fabric be from one dye lot?

Yes.  If for any reason, we are unable to fulfil your order from a single dye lot we will advise you of this in advance of processing the order or capturing payment.

Will the fabric I see today be available in a few months time?

There is no guarantee that a fabric will still be available in a few months' time. We are more than happy to make the enquiry directly with the fabric house on your behalf for their advice.

Tell me about your Fabric Calculator/Estimator?

 For drapery products we have provided a fabric estimator/calculator. We are very much 'preening' when we say that we think it is the best and most accurate fabric estimator for drapery that we have found on the internet.

... We should also point out that we developed it ourselves specifically for our online store and anyone wishing to use it to estimate fabric requirements for their drapery project. :))

It will allow you to calculate widths, drops and meterage for drapery, sheers and will even calculate the meterage of lining your require.

Our calculator takes into account desired and recommended fullness, single or double track and a wide range of curtain headings. 

The calculator/estimator is available here, in addition to being accessible from any product page on the store with a handy pop-up which can be accessed by using the 'calculator button' (which, unsurprisingly, looks like a calculator). This button is found at the top right of the page to the left of the 'cart' button.

Be sure to hit the question mark button as it will provide important information on what allowances have been made and other pertinent details to its operation.

Of course, do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call us on (03) 9999 7305 or email us either directly at info@idealdrapemakers.com.au or via our Request for Quote form

We really are a little chuffed about our calculator!  :)

Do the displayed prices include GST

 If you are physically in Australia - YES they do.

If you are not in Australia then you will still see the tax inclusive list price. However, the 10% Australian Goods and Services Tax (GST) is deducted during checkout and you can check this prior to providing your credit card details for authorisation.

Is your product photography colour-corrected? Is what I see, what I will get?

As much as we would like to say yes. It is not uncommon for there to be slight variances in colour or texture over what is represented in the product photography on our store.

"This is why cannot stress highly enough the importance of requesting a free cutting of the fabrics before you commit to placing an order."

Once an order is placed it is final. If we are running a time-limited promotion and you are fearful that you may miss out if you wait to first view an ordered cutting, simply email us.  With most promotions we can usually lock in a price for you working with the suppliers who are very supportive. 

Of course, while we can usually lock in a price, we have no way of guaranteeing stock availability if you subsequently decide to commit to an order.

It is normal practice among all the fabric houses/distributors to only allow a hold to be put on the stock required to fill your potential order for 3-5 working days.

We also have an inability to guarantee stock for clearance or discontinued lines, whether they are categorised as such in our store or the fabric house supplying the fabric decides to discontinue a product before we have an opportunity to mark it as so in the store.

Why is my cutting different in colour/texture to the cutting as displayed on the store?

There are a number of reasons why a physical cutting be at variance to the product image on the store. Amongst the most common are: 

1. Product photography that has not been correctly colour corrected.

All the product photography on our site is supplied by the manufacturer and or their distribution agents. Unfortunately, there are instances where images have not been correctly colour corrected. This is why it is important to ALWAYS order a cutting of the fabric as a means of assurance that any product you order will arrive and present to you as expected. 

2. The display device you are using is not correctly colour calibrated.

Unless your display is colour calibrated regularly with specialised equipment it is quite normal for a a display to be in need of adjustment.  The degree to which a display device may be in need of correction may only be slight and go un-noticed until you need a high degree of accuracy, such as when choosing fabrics online.

The writer of this FAQ uses dual displays, each which appear to be perfectly colour corrected. It is not until I studio-match and colour correct them for work with our photography that I notice that either one or both displays are in need of calibration. I calibrate them monthly and each time have to make minor adjustments to keep them colour calibrated, yet I could never discern this with my naked eye.

3. The fabric image is of fabric that was milled at a different time and used a different dye lot.

While fabric houses ensure that physical product shipped of a given fabric is all of the same dye lot, it is impossible for them to affect a change once the fabric has been milled. If there is a significant difference in colour then the fabric houses usually advise this at the time we place our orders. The same applies to cuttings which should match the corresponding fabric they hold in stock.

In the manufacturing operations of our custom made drapery products we often advise customers of large orders that are to be delivered in phases over a period of time to order all the fabric up front - arrangements being made to have it stored either at our factory or with the fabric house. We do this to ensure that all drapery produced using the fabric matches and is from the same dye lot and to avoid any colour variance due to fabric from different dye lots produced at different times.

4. The texture of the fabric refracts the light in a unique way that is difficult to capture photographically.

Texture surfaces with any sort of sheen are notorious for misrepresenting themselves photographically as unless the exact lighting conditions are reproduced when viewing the physical product, the product may appear to be different in colour to the photographic image.  Viewing a physical cutting under a number of different lighting conditions (daylight, different interior lighting settings is often helpful to establish whether colour variance is in whole or part attributed to this effect).

5. The sRGB colour pallet used for web display is not able to accurately represent all of the colours depicted in a product swatch or image. 

When a colour falls outside the colours available in the particular colour pallet used by the display device, the colour is termed as being 'out of gamut.' When a colour is 'out of gamut' the display device will attempt to represent the colour as closely as it is able, but this can lead to colour variance between product images and the actual physical product. The effect may be slight as there may only be a small range of colour that has fallen out of gamut, nevertheless, it can be sufficient to explain the difference between an image of a textile and the actual textile.

In summary, there are a number of reasons why product images appear differently to actual physical product.  Often it is a combination of the above reasons. The real assurance you, the customer can have prior to ordering, of colour fidelity is to ORDER A CUTTING before committing to an actual purchase. This may prolong the process of obtaining your desired fabric, however given usually high values of textile orders, it is a small price to pay for the and peace of mind, that by ordering a free cutting you are also providing a high degree of assurance that you will receive exactly what you expect and have paid for.

How do I order a cutting?

If a cutting is available for a product you will see a checkbox on the right hand side panel of the product page just under the shipping information.  Simply check the box and then press the 'add to cart' button. 

When you view your basket available using the basket icon at the top right of the store page, or as you add a product to your basket, the amount charged displayed for any cutting should be zero.  Simply proceed through checkout.

If your order contains only cuttings, on checkout you will be required to enter your shipping and bill to information just like any order. However, you will be advised that you will not be charged and that no payment is necessary.

You will receive a confirmation of your free cutting order via email shortly after (almost immediately) upon completion of the checkout process.

There is nothing more to do except wait. We will keep you advised as your cutting order status changes. 

Be aware, that as free cuttings are only sent by regular 'Aussie Post' that delivery time may vary (sometimes wildly from exeperience)  You if you have not received your cutting after 2 weeks, do drop us a line or call us on (03) 9999 7305.  We can vouch for the fabric houses who will send you the cuttings, in that they are both reliable and prompt in sending out cuttings.

Missing cuttings are usually resolved by sending you a replacement cutting.  We have not had an instance (as of writing) where a cutting has been 'lost in the post' more than once.

As the cutting service we provide as an, extension of the service our valued suppliers provides, is a FREE service. Cuttings are ONLY sent via regular mail.

For your convenience, enquiries and requests for information about our postal service, including praise and / or complaints may be addressed by calling 13 76 78. (Australia Post Customer Service Line).

Why is it important that I order and receive a FREE cutting of the fabric(s) I am interested in prior to placing and order for the purchase of fabric(s)?

Fabrics can and do vary from the photographic image. This can be due to a number of reasons. - Please refer to the topic on 'Product Images' in this FAQ series for more information.

Please remember we have a strict 'no returns' policy once the fabric has been cut by the fabric house. By ensuring that you order and receive a free cutting prior to purchasing fabric provides a high degree of assurance that what you see is what you will get when you order your fabric.

Free Cutting Limits?

Orders for free cuttings are limited to three per customer. The service is something that is only made possible through the fabric houses who, like ourselves, hope to impress you sufficiently with product quality to convince you to place an order.

While the choice and range of fabrics available in our store catalogue is truly daunting, we ask that those who are interested in ordering cuttings limit their orders only to those products they have short-listed for actual purchase. That is not to say that we expect that every order of cuttings will translate into an eventual order (as much as we might hope that they do), but we do ask that visitors who use the service use some discretion and have some consideration for the fabric houses/distributors who provide cuttings through us, in good faith that by doing so, they will be provided to potential customers who are seriously moving towards a purchase decision.

We are lucky in Australia that cuttings are generally provided free. This is not the case in many other countries where a small, per cutting, charge is levied for the same service.

How long does it take to receive cuttings?

 Cuttings can take up to two weeks to be delivered. While we process the orders on the day we receive them, they are all sent via Australia Post by normal delivery

I'm afraid, gone are the days where we could comfortably quote a few short days or even next day with our National Postal Service when items are sent by regular post.

By all means, if you have not received a cutting within a full week or two, then please ask us to follow it up for you. We will at least be able to confirm that your order was processed by the fabric house/distributor. Unfortunately once cuttings have left the showroom or warehouse the only action we can take to remedy the situation is place a second order for the same cutting or cuttings.

What is the minimum order unit I can place?

For fabrics, unless otherwise specified, the minimum order unit is 1 meter.

Curtain Linings:  Unfortunately, curtain lining, unless otherwise specified, is only sold by the roll. This includes interlinings such as bumph.

Upholstery:  Generally upholstery is sold by the meter with a minimum unit of one meter 

Wall coverings (e.g. wallpapers), the price can be either per meter or per roll. We generally like to list a roll price.

Do you acknowledge my order?

At the time of order you should receive an automated copy of your order invoice along with a transaction record.
 

Describe the order process and your communication with me once I place an order.

At the time of order we 'Authorise Only' your credit card payment.  Your card is not charged at this time.

You will receive an itemised invoice along with details from your payment provider of the transaction.

If any particular order item for fabric is less than 3m and you HAVE NOT provided information in your required 'cuts' including allowances we will attempt to contact you via email or phone.  We need this information as it is required by our suppliers in oder for them to be able to process your order.

As your order progresses through our processes you will receive an email as the status of the order changes.  Once we have handed off the order to the supplier for fulfilment we mark the order as 'Shipped' Generally, depending on the time of day we place the order, Goods physically leave the warehouse within 2-4 days on their way to you.

The length of time that your order is processed by the warehouse can vary depending on how many orders they have queued to be processed and the frequency with which interstate consignments are shipped. - For example a fabric house may only dispatch to a particular state twice a week. 

It is also important to remember that processing your order is not as simple as taking your fabric off the shelf, packaging it, and then sending it via road courier. The fabric must be unrolled and carefully inspected. Your cuts are used to ensure that you receive fabric without flaws before it is packaged and consigned for transport - All this takes considerably longer than for traditional shelf products.

How do I check the status of my order?

If you created an account on checkout you can simply log in and see the current status of your order. It is the same information that is mailed to you as your order progresses towards completion.

By all means feel free to pick up the phone and ask us on (03) 9999 7305. Alternatively you can email us on info@idealdrapemakers.com.au. This is a heavily monitored shared mailbox.  If the order has already been placed with the supplier we will make enquiries on your behalf and report back to you.

Do you provide quantity discounts?

 On the vast majority of products we list a quantity based schedule of discounts is provided in a table below.  The table lists the order quantity required to qualify for a discount 'tier' along with the discount amount represented as a percentage, along with the adjusted price.

Can promotional discounts and quantity discounts be combined?

Only one coupon can be used for a single order.

While coupons cannot be combined or aggregated, coupons and quantity discounts can. (Unless otherwise specified).  Using a coupon on a purchase quantity that qualifies for a discounted rate often makes us cry, but should keep you smiling.  :)

Tell me about your Fabric Calculator/Estimator?

 For drapery products we have provided a fabric estimator/calculator. We are very much 'preening' when we say that we think it is the best and most accurate fabric estimator for drapery that we have found on the internet.

... We should also point out that we developed it ourselves specifically for our online store and anyone wishing to use it to estimate fabric requirements for their drapery project. :))

It will allow you to calculate widths, drops and meterage for drapery, sheers and will even calculate the meterage of lining your require.

Our calculator takes into account desired and recommended fullness, single or double track and a wide range of curtain headings. 

The calculator/estimator is available here, in addition to being accessible from any product page on the store with a handy pop-up which can be accessed by using the 'calculator button' (which, unsurprisingly, looks like a calculator). This button is found at the top right of the page to the left of the 'cart' button.

Be sure to hit the question mark button as it will provide important information on what allowances have been made and other pertinent details to its operation.

Of course, do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call us on (03) 9999 7305 or email us either directly at info@idealdrapemakers.com.au or via our Request for Quote form

We really are a little chuffed about our calculator!  :)

Do the displayed prices include GST

 If you are physically in Australia - YES they do.

If you are not in Australia then you will still see the tax inclusive list price. However, the 10% Australian Goods and Services Tax (GST) is deducted during checkout and you can check this prior to providing your credit card details for authorisation.

Will my information be passed on to any other companies?

With the exception of ourselves, our upstream suppliers who require delivery details, the shipping company, and your payment gateway provider (Stripe or PayPal used on our store), your secret is safe with us

We do not provide information to any other party without your permission.

'Authorise Only' Credit Card Transactions?

As many of the orders that customers make are of a high dollar value, we feel that it's important that we first confirm both stock availability and estimated delivery time, 'before' we capture payment from your credit card.

For most deliveries the quoted estimated delivery time is listed on the product page.  If there is a significant variance from our quoted estimated delivery date then we will advise you of this.  This gives you the opportunity to cancel your order if you wish to do so, as once payment has been captured the transaction is deemed final.  Do, however, remember that we can only provide an estimated delivery time. If despite, all our good intentions, shipments are delayed for reasons outside our control, knowledge or foresight and your order has left the warehouse, it is not possible to cancel it. 

Small order Surcharges - What? and Why?

If you order value from any one supplier falls under a nominal threshold you may be charged a Small Order Surcharge.  These are charges added to orders by our suppliers and which we pass on to you.

The vast majority of our fabrics and other products found on the store are traditionally consumed by the Soft Furnishings industry in the manufacture of their products. We oursevelves have been manufacturing custom made drapery and window treatment products for over 30 years.

Small Order Surcharges are accepted within the trade as it requires just as much time and resourcing to process a small order as it does for typically much larger orders which the Fabric Houses and Distributors normally process. We ourselves incur Small Order Surcharges if we place small orders to satisfy manufacturing orders.

It is also important to understand that Small Order Surcharges are applied on a per supplier basis. So if your order basket contains product from more than one supplier and each suppliers products when tallied do not reach the nominal threshold, your order may attract more than one Small Order Surcharge which is then added to your order total during checkout.

It's very much a case of 'swings and roundabouts.' - While you may be levied one or multiple small order charges, you also gain access to products that normally are only available to the soft furnishings trade. 

Unfortunately,  it is not viable or fair to the customers to absorb the small order surcharge into the per meter price. If a customer is placing a large order we would recoup many times more than the actual cost we are attempting to pass on.  At the same time our pricing would be less competitive than it otherwise could be.

In summary, levying Small Order Surcharges is an accepted part of the Soft Furnishings Industry. We feel that in passing on the exact cost of any surcharge we ourselves have placed on our orders, we have found the right balance between fairness to all our customers with regard to the per meter price they pay and transparency in relation to the origins of the surcharge, why it is levied and how it is applied.

For more information including a schedule table which lists suppliers, associated brands and surcharge amounts please go here. You may also find our Small Order Surcharges Page available on the top menu bar of our onliine shop.

Please tell us your ‘cut’s when ordering fabrics

When you order fabrics it is important to tell us your cuts including any allowances.  This is because it is not uncommon for a fabric roll to have one or more flaws in it.  This can be the case regardless of the brand or price of the fabric.

When the fabric houses are provided with information regarding your cuts, it enables them to ensure that no flaws fall within any of the cut lengths you have specified. 

Specifying ‘cuts’ is normal practice in the textile industry when ordering fabric and it often works out to the customer’s advantage, as allowances made by the fabric house to ensure you receive flawless cuts can be very handy, providing you with a little bit more of the fabric then you ordered.  .. And it’s that little bit more that can sometimes be sufficient to make cushion covers or tie-backs with your remnants at the conclusion of your project, by way of example.

If you are not sure of your ‘cuts’ then please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be more than happy to help you calculate the appropriate cuts.

If your ‘cuts’ information is not provided we will attempt to contact you for this information and will hold your order until we have done so.  We want everything to go as smoothly as possible for you and ensure that the fabric you receive is ‘flawless.’

Where is your returns policy?

Our Shipping & Returns policy can be found here and is accessible from the top menu bar on the store.

What are your shipping charges?

At this time Shipping is FREE (Australia-Wide only). 

International orders are held until a formal shipping quote has been sent and accepted by the customer. It is then added to the order and the order processed.

Do you physically hold stock of your products?

The short answer is 'generally' no.  With the many thousands of fabrics and other products we have in our store catalogue, it is not possible to hold stock of every item.  In our own manufacturing operations (we specialise in custom made drapery and window treatments), we operate on a 'just in time' basis.

Your order once processed is shipped directly from the fabric houses/distributors directly via freight companies that are familiar with textile transport and the care that is needed with the consignments they carry.

How will you ship my order to me?

 Orders are shipped in nearly all cases by road transport.  A signature is required at the delivery address.  Our best advice is to have the goods shipped to an address where someone will be available to sign for it. 

While we can request, on your written authorisation (via email or on the order) that the order be left without a signature, we strongly advise against this as you are responsible if the order goes missing for any reason, once delivered. Ideal Drape Makers is not liable for goods which go missing if left without a signature at the delivery address.

Do you sell and ship outside Australia?

We are and Australian owned and operated company and while we can ship to virtually any address in the world, in many cases, it is not economically viable to do so as the shipping charges can, and do make shipping orders overseas, unviable.

If you are not in Australia, we are happy to provide a shipping quote. Simply place an order. Your credit card will be 'authorised only' for the transaction and held until we provide you with a formal shipping quote at which time you may elect to proceed with your order after processing the additional shipping charges transaction and capturing funds for the entire order once confirmed with you.  If, after receiving the shipping quotation you decide not to proceed with your order, it may be cancelled without your any charges having been made to your credit card.

Will my order be shipped as a single consignment or do you part ship?

If your order can be fulfilled from a single fabric house or supplier then you should receive your order in once consignment.

Many multi item orders, however, can be fulfilled by more than one fabric house or distributor. When this occurs you will receive your order in more than one consignment.

I've ordered something that is out of stock?

One of the reasons we 'authorise only' at the time of order is so that we can verify that stock is actually available. If stock is not available we advise you and you have the opportunity to cancel your order for the item or the entire order if you choose without any charges made to your credit card. 

It is only after we have validated both stock availability and that the estimated delivery time to you is within the availability information quoted on the product page.

(We have found that this practice very successful in ensuring that only orders we can fulfill are actually processed. However it is not infallible. (To date we have had no instances where, after our verification of stock availability, an item has not been available after processing payment.)

If we advise you that an item is out of stock and you would are prepared to wait, we are more than happy to place a backorder for the product.

How did you perform your colour categorisation?

Originally we performed colour categorisation for use by our dynamic filter utilising both information from our suppliers own colour category assignments and also by eye.  While this sounds fairly straight forward, we increasingly found that a lot of products across mutiple supplier had insufficient, inconsistent or incorrect colour assignments.

Now with the number of products in the store having grown substantially to many tens of thousands of products we have incorporated a means of computer colour recognition and assignment.  Our original colour categories have remained unchanged and continue to be augmented with additional assignments as new products are on-boarded, however, much of the heavy lifting is now performed via computer image scanning.

The CCS colour palette is used consisting of 140 colour names. It is a palette which most modern browsers support.  When new product is on-boarded it is scanned and colour category assignments are automatically generated and applied for use with the filter. Thereafter manual updates to colour assignments are continually being made over time by very tired people who tend to look cross-eyed after several hours straight behind the keyboard. It is amongst the most boring administration tasks performed on the store ranking equally with design pattern identification and classification which we are still endeavouring to master.

We fully acknowledge that both computer automated and human colour category assignments are far from perfect. Regularly testing the filters has provided ample reason to inwardly, and at times, outwardly cringe.  We perform corrections in batches as it requires performing an export of the entire inventory followed by an import after the batch of corrections is made.

We also undertake consolidation of colours from time to time removing colours that and both weirdly named and which have few product assignments which could equally be classified under a similar better known and understood colour.

Why are design style patterns not consistently applied?

Although our family has been manufacturing drapery for more than thirty years, we didn't realise how little we knew about the names of patterns until we started our online store.

We would like to think we are getting better at pattern classification and are preparing an online pattern glossary as an integrated part of the site.

Please do not hesitate to advise us if we have got a pattern classification incorrect. Although there may be the odd product that has been misclassified, we would welcome notification of corrections we need to make, particularly if we have completely misunderstood a complete pattern classification of products.

Really! Any advice or pointers or suggestions with regard to our product classifications are welcome. :))

Do you publish a catalogue of your products?

No. Our store is our catalogue.

Do you have a showroom?

Yes, we have a small showroom as part of our factory complex that is used exclusively for the display and demonstration of our custom made drapery and other window treatment products such as Roman Blinds Products. Our swatch book collection in the context of our online store is limited to less than 1000 swatches.

We recommend customers who want to view a vast range of swatches to visit the fabric houses directly.  The Fabric Houses / Distributors have specially equipped and stocked showrooms that are designed to be used by retailers who refer customers to them. They are well appointed and have specialist and very knowledgeable staff who are there to help members of the public who are interested in their fabric ranges.  A list of Australian showroom locations, by brand, can be found in this FAQ.