A throw looks like the simplest custom textile there is. Four decisions separate one that gets kept from one that gets replaced.

Decide woven or printed before anything else

Woven jacquard builds the design out of yarn: both faces, nothing to crack or peel, limited colours, and a one-off loom set-up.

Surface printing takes any artwork at any colour count with no set-up, on one face, as a layer that softens over years. Neither is better; they answer different briefs.

Ask what the edge finish actually is

Hand-knotted fringe, tied tassels, double-folded hem or whipstitch. All four hold.

A cut fringe does not. It is the warp of the cloth with nothing stopping it, and it starts travelling in the first wash. It looks identical to a knotted one on the shelf, so you have to ask.

Get the yarn stated, not described

“Chunky” and “luxurious” are not specifications. A stated fibre, yarn weight and knit gauge tell you exactly what will arrive.

And remember that a bigger stitch snags more. For hotels and rentals, a tighter gauge is worth more than a dramatic cable.

Confirm the size is post-wash

Woven cotton can lose five to seven percent on a first hot wash unless it was pre-shrunk.

Ask for the finished size after laundering. If the answer is the loom size, plan on a smaller throw than you ordered.

What to send when you ask for a quote

Artwork, quantity, finished size, and what the throw is for. That last answer decides woven versus printed before anything else does.