Ask an upholsterer
Do you need a second opinion, questions about fabric or foam, or are you doing a project yourself and need technical advise, then here’s the place to ask anything upholstery. Leave a comment and I’ll try to answer your question.
By Cape Cod Upholsterer Joe Gramm
Copyright Notice © 2009-2011
Joe Gramm, author and owner of upholsteryblog.com
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Joe Gramm, this blog’s author and owner, is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Joe Gramm and upholsteryblog.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. © 2009-2011
Joe Gramm/Cape Cod Upholstery Shop
Some of you may have landed here doing a search for upholstery on Cape Cod. You can go directly to my upholstery business site by clicking on Joe Gramm/Cape Cod Upholstery Shop
If you're not in a hurry, stay a while and please leave a comment.
Pages
Archives
Blogroll
Links
Profiles
Categories
-
Recent Posts
Categories
Tags
AAA Apple Automobile Repair blog camera review cane furniture Canon Powershot SX20 IS Cape Cod Cape Cod Upholstery Shop certified public accountant Cosmic cushions domain registration down and feathers ECO Friendly fabric food review green products interior design iPad iPhone Joe Gramm love story MA nature recycle Senator Edward Kennedy soy foam Steve Jobs Sullivan Tire Hyannis Tires Tony Curtis Ultimate Frisbee upholsterer upholstery Verizon-
Recent Comments
Joe Gramm on Ask an upholsterer Joe Gramm on Ask an upholsterer Joe Gramm on Ask an upholsterer 
Lori Jeffrey on Ask an upholsterer 
Carolyn F. on Ask an upholsterer Meta
FaceBook
Theme: Vigilance by The Theme Foundry.
I am in the process of reupholstering a round ottoman. I have taken the bottom cover off and it seems that the inside consists of two plywood “drums” on top of each other and the fabric comes from the top and to bottom and meets between these 2 drums along with a row of piping. Does this make sense? I am not sure how to get the 2 plywood drums apart, or if I am mistaken about the way they are constructed. There are 4 upright plywood supports and they may be glued. Do I force them apart? Should I just cut away the fabric if I can and leave the frame intact? I’ve only ever done chairs seats and backs before. Thanks for any advice!
It’s hard for me to answer your question without seeing the ottoman frame. The first thing you need to do is find out if the fabric is infact sandwiched between the two pieces of plywood. Some times with a round ottoman they will simply put a break in the middle by welting the fabric in the middle and continuing down with the fabric. Have you tried just lifting the fabric from the bottom and pulling it to the top to see if it will come off in one piece.
If you’re still having trouble, send me a photo to the email address under my logo.
Hi Joe,
This is a wonderful resource, thank you so much!
I thought it would be pretty simple to make an ottoman, but there are some details I still need to iron out. I hope you can help me.
1. The finished height: the seat of my couch and chair are 17″. What would be the most comfortable height for the ottoman?
2. The cushion: I have an extra cushion insert from my new couch (due to a problem when the couch was delivered). It’s firm 6″ thick foam, all nicely wrapped in 2 oz. dacron and enclosed inside white muslin. I’d like to use this, but the question is how. Should I use it at its full thickness, or should I attempt to slice it in half to make a 3″ thick pad?
If I need to cut it, what would be the best way? I’ve heard an electric knife is best, but I don’t have one. The cushion is about 28″ square, my ottoman frame is 13.5″ x 24″.
Thanks so much!
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn,
I would keep the height of the ottoman around the same height as the seat cushions.
If you want to use the full 6″ height of your existing cushion, you would need to make the ottoman frame height around 11″.
To cut your existing 28″ square cushion down to 13.5″x24″, remove the dacron and use a fine tooth hand saw if you have one. I would not attempt to cut the height in half without the right equipment, as it is very hard to get even. Alternatively, you could also just get a new piece of foam and wrap it in dacron.
I am preparing to buy fabric to upholster a loveseat size (2 cushion) hide-a-bed. I have not found any guides to help with deciding how much cloth I’ll need. Can you shed some light on this?
Fabric yardage would depend on several things. Pattern repeat, T-cushion or rectangular, skirt/no skirt. In general for a two cushion, love seat size sleep sofa, 14-16 yards.
The sofa I have has a T-cishion & will need a skirt, but not a gathered one. I think you call the other kind “box-pleat”.
thanks-
I would get 16 yards.
Is it possible, difficult, or impossible to take a smooth headboard and reupholster it as a tufted one?
It is possible, but difficult. Less difficult would be to keep it smooth and simply put in buttons. Otherwise, YouTube has many videos on how to tuft. Good Luck
Hello,
I noticed a piece of the cloth on the underside of my sofa is ripped.
Of course, I turn it over and found 4 tears. Temporarily I have electrical tape.
In your opinion, is it worth my attempting to replace the cloth? If so, is this
a simple fix I can do myself?
Thanks so much.
Tracy
New Jersey
Sounds like you’re talking about the “cambric” dust cover on the bottom. The main thing is you do not want to see it hanging. If you cant’t see it, or you can tape it so you can’t see it, it should be fine. If you don’t have a good staple gun, it could be more trouble than it’s worth to replace it.
But just be sure there is nothing broken with the frame that caused the tear. Usually a tear happens when a pet tries to get under.
Thanks very much for the great information regarding my camelback sofa. I’ve not found a source online for the 100% Denier Microfiber, and as we’re way out here in the country, 50 miles from Houston, could you suggest an online source for this material?
You could contact Rosario Aguiniga at West Coast Feather and Down in Los Angeles. She may able to help you. (323-268-0083) Hope that helps.
My antique camelback sofa has a carved wood frame extending across the back and down the arms. The front feet are also carved wood, the back feet are plain. The seat is divided into three cushions. The sofa needs rebuilding and I’m wondering if it would work to have the seat restructured into one long cushion. If so, can it be filled with a combination of polyester and down, or what would you recommend for structure and comfort alike?
Ann – Single cushions on camel back sofas look great. I don’t care for the poly/down mixture. Two apposing textures that I find get lumpy after a while. In my shop, you would have these options.
1) Solid fill 50/50 down/feather
2) Solid 100% Denier MicroFiber (a great synthetic down alternative)
3) Envelope Style Cushion / 50/50 down/feather in the envelope with a soft high density foam core
4) Envelope Style Cushion / 100% Denier MicroFiber in the envelope with a soft high density foam core
5) Soft-Medium high density foam/dacron wrap (least expensive)
Hope that helps
hi quick question, i would like to reupholster a wingback chair in an old hudson bay point blanket. will i need to use a fusible interfacing on the back to stabilize the wool or just use as is? thnx
To be honest I’m not that familiar with fusing interfaces because I deal mostly with traditional upholstery weight fabric. I would think a bigger concern would be the wear the facing surface will get vs the back. But that’s up to you. You could interface the blanket just to give it some extra strength.
I am considering having a 96″ rolled arm sofa reupholstered. It has one large seat cushion and had five throw cushions across the back that I would like replaceed with two or three foam cushions. It does not have a skirt, is 26″ deep and 27″ high. I would like the foam cushions on the back to be 29″ or 30″ high. How many yards of fabric will it take and how do you calculate that? Thanks!
Hi Sue, You’ll probably need about 16 yards of fabric based on what you described.. Measuring is pretty straight forward. You measure the pieces on the sofa that will need to be upholstered. Your cuts are based on the idea that the fabric is about 54″ wide. Example: So if you’re measuring the outside arms and the measurement is 27″W x 18″H, you then need 18″ of fabric because you’ll cut the two outside arm pieces side by side.
I received an old chair and I plan to reupholster it myself. However, the zig zag (sinuous) springs on the seat bend down when it is sat on and it’s not comfortable – how do I reinforce these springs? Are zig zag springs supposed to be the only thing supporting the weight when there are no coil springs? Would I install webbing for more support (if so, do you do this on top of or below the zig zag springs) or do you think i need new, firmer springs? Thanks!
Also, I should mention that there is no additional cushion that sits on top of the springs – there just appears to be some padding on top of them.
Zig Zag springs can definitely wear out or can be to soft. You could replace them with a heavier gage zig zag spring. Or, you could replace them with a coil spring. Since the seat is a tight seat with no cushion, be sure to use a heavy seat padding over the springs so you can’t feel the springs.
Thank you! Do you think that rubberized hair and then some batting would be enough on top of new springs?
Rubberized hair is not enough.. I would start with a natural or synthetic burlap, then a heavy deck pad and a minimum of 2″ of high density foam. And finally a layer of batting.
I have two general questions:
1. How do you know if your springs/webbing need to be replaced on a chair? If I sit on them and they feel ok, is that all I need to know? Or could there be a reason under the hood, so to speak, that I could only see by opening the chair up? Would I be looking for holes/fraying in the webbing? A spring that is flat? Something else?
2. Is there a point where the wood in the frame of a chair can no longer be reupholstered? I have some antique chairs, and I’m wondering if there’s a point where too many staples/tacks/nails have damaged the wood beyond further reupholstery. Is there any fix for that?
1) If the webbing is not sagging and you can not feel the springs from the top of the seat, the springs and webbing should be fine.
2) There is a point when to many tacks have ruined the wood that the webbing and springs attach to. There are a few methods to fix the situation.
a) attach a new piece of wood next to the old wood.
b) fill the nail holes using a 2 part wood epoxy from Minwax
c) Replace the frame with new wood. That’s extreme and probably not worth it.
Joe, thanks so much! Hope you had a great holiday.
I have found a bed on sale at Restoration Hardware whose shape I like, but I’d want to change the fabric. I verified that the headboard detaches from the frame, and asked customer service twice if it would be possible to reupholster it and never got a clear answer from them. Would you be willing to look at the pictures of the headboard (link below) and assess whether it would be easy to reupholster, or if there’s something about the fabrication of it that would make it hard or impossible to do so? Thank you!
http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod80051&categoryId=cat1600007
Hi Sharon,
I looked at the link you provided of the bed. If the headboard detaches from the frame, which it most likely does, I see no reason it can’t be upholstered. The upholstery itself is pretty simple. No tufting or complicated curves. I suggest you forward the photos to your local upholsterer to get a price. Hope that helps.
Run an after school care for artistic Big kids through my church… How do I purchase old leather samples for art projects?… Had some Hancock & Moore samples but they are long gone… Where could I find sone… I know they’re out there…please help the Artsy!??…
I’m afraid I can’t help with that. Your best bet would be to call local upholstery shops that work with leather and see if they have any remnants. Or Google “leather manufacturers” and make some calls.
I have a lot of leather pieces. I make chaps for horseshowing and always have left over pieces. It is the same weight as upholstery leather – 2 to 21/2 oz – I have quite a few plastic bags all ready to go if you are interested.
Valerie – Thanks, but I don’t have a use for leather remnants at the moment. Someone was asking me a while back about leather remnants and if I think of who it was, I’ll get back to you. Thanks, though.
Hi!!
I am re-upholstering my sofa, and I found a very affordable fabric. It is
a 52%Cotton/ 48%Poly blend. It is an indoor/outdoor fabric, which will be
great for me, since I have kids and pets. However the website does not
have it as appropriate for upholstery. They list all the fabrics that are
appropriate but this one only says mediufm weight fabric. I received a
swatch today and it seems fine for upholstery. However when I asked
the store they said it is not for re-upholstery, but they didn’t give me
a reason. I did some “stain tests” and is is GREAT! It doesn’t fray or
rip, is very sturdy… and is stlil very pliable and feels good. What do you think?
Finally, the name of the fabric is Mariano Texture Blue. Thank you so much
in advance for your time and attention to this matter!
Paula
Hi Paula – First thing is most indoor/outdoor fabrics I come across have no cotton content in them. Cotton, rots, fades and mildews outdoors. The fabric sounds like a “multi-purpose” fabric. Some multi-purpose fabrics don’t have a specific application rating. If you’re satisfied the fabric is good for your application, then use it. Just be aware it sounds like the company you’re purchasing the fabric from will not warranty the fabric if used for upholstery.
I have an older stationary rocker (on four legs) with wood wing-back sides and arms and also spindles for the back. There are two loose cushions but the base of the chair is upholstered with a skirt (to hide the rocker bits). I would very much like to reupholster this chair but need some advice on how to upholster around the spindles. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer – I would need to see a photo of the chair.
How can I send you one?
Next to my avatar, click on my email link. Then just attach a photo to the email.
Done!
Hi Jennifer,
It’s to complicated to try to explain in an email how to make all those cuts around the spindles. I would simply take apart what is there and use the fabric as a template of sorts. You’ll see that there are little pieces cut directly behind the spindles. When you start it, you’ll probably find out why your grandmother might not haver done the tidiest job. A lot of exact type cuts. Good luck, Joe
am disassembling a loveseat for reupholstery but can’t figure out how wood trim is applied to arms and base. Removed two phillips screws from front base but trim did not budge. If I emailed you a photo can you tell me how to do it? Thanks so much.
The trim could either be glued, stuck or still attached with some finish nails. You just need to gently pry what you can to see where it is still attached.
thanks, joe. Finally discovered that the show wood was attached with a 1.5″ screw in the middle of the arm piece and toenailed at its bottom with another screw. After loosening those a bid the front base trim, which was like dove-tailed in, just slid out. Really appreciate your interest. Rose
Hi, Joe. We’re building in a little window seat but don’t have room for a cushion, just a solid wood top. I’d like to dress it up a bit in a way I’ve seen on old chairs, etc., by covering the middle with leather, or some such, over a thin padding of some sort, outlined with upholstery tacks. How should this be done? Do I wrap the material and any padding over cardboard first, before taking it down, for instance? What padding? Thanks very much for your thoughts, Rosie
Hi Rosie – I’d need to see a photo of the window seat area.
Hi Joe, I’ve decided to reupholster my couch and loveseat after finding some bargain fabric. I would like to reupholster over existing fabric. After much research online I am unable to find any helpful, and simple instructions on how to do the arms of the sofa. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much.
Hi Nancy – I wouldn’t be able to give specific information on how to upholster an arm of a sofa, as every sofa arm is different. It would probably be best for you to ask a specific question you might have. Why do you need instructions on just the arms and not the back, seat deck, skirt, cushions, etc.
Dear Joe, I like the look of tufted upholstered headboards but am wondering if there are any practical pros or cons to tufted headboards versus smooth ones? Thanks, Sharon
Hi Sharon,
Tufting has a certain look. If you you like it you like it. It is more expensive to have done and the tufts can accumulate dust after a while and has a mild ornate look. Smooth is easier and less expensive to do, easy to keep clean and a simpler look. It all depends on what you prefer better. I happen to like the cleaner simpler lines of a non tufted headboard. It may also depend on the fabric pattern you use. It also depends on if you’re talking deep tufting or just buttoned. Hope that helps.
I have a Riverton Collection sofa made by Hitchcock and the springs need to be retied, it does not need to be reupholstered at this time. The sofa is 20+ yrs. old, is it worth fixing? and would it be costly?
Thank you, Sally
Hi Sally – If your sofa has a skirt, it does make it a little more expensive to re-tie the springs. The skirt needs to come off and the outside fabric needs to be lifted in order to get to the springs. You’re probably going to pay $400.00 – 600.00 plus/minus to get the job done.
Hi Joe,
I have six dining chairs with upholstered seats but tall wooden slat backs. I would like to create an upholstered back for them. I have been researching (unsuccessfully) on the internet to see what type of materials I need and how to do this. I have reupholstered seat cushions and I’m confident that I could do this. My question is what material , ie. cardboard, do I use to apply the foam, batting and new fabric to and how can I attach it to the back of the chair. I prefer to completely cover the wooden slats so that you cannot see them in front or back of chair. I hope my question is not too confusing. Basically I want to end up with a framed upholstered seat back.
Thanks so much, Lisa
Sorry for the late reply. Your project is probably finished by now! I guess what you would cover the slats with would depend on if they were curved or not. You could use panel board or 1/8th” plywood to attach to the slats. Then pad with 1″ high density foam and batting.
But this is the type of thing I’d really have to see to get a feel of what’s needed. You could always email me a photo of the back.
Joe, Thanks so much. I felt I must clean it; as we found it in the trash and who knows how old it is. An initial cleaning followed by care and vacuuming…may be good enough. We always have air cleaners on anyway, since we live in the desert. It is very good of you to be available for so many people this way. I appreciate your time, really! You bless many people! toni
Thank you for your thoughtful answer. You suggest not to clean the chair? I vacuumed it until I saw very little dust in a white cloth through the vacuum nozzle. If I don’t hear a reply from you, I will believe I should not clean it. Many Blessings to you! toni
Hi Toni,
By all means clean it if it will save the cost of upholstery. All I’m saying is that after you clean it, the fabric will be more susceptible to getting dirtier faster than before because you’ll have weakened the fibers of the fabric. This is especially true with cotton and less so with a synthetic fabric such as polyester.
Hi Joe, In trying to be GREENER, people mention using Ultratouch Denim for various types of filling. Would it be good for a seat cushion? Can you use wool blankets at all? How would you best clean upholstery? We found an old chair in France and brought it home. It may be an antique and we don’t want it ruined. It’s good of you to spend time to help folks out. Thanks, toni *(allergic to feathers and sensitive to chemicals)
Hi toni – It’s good to be Green. I don’t know much about wool as a filler. I don’t think wool blankets stacked would be very comfortable. For the masses, I have to be more traditional in some ways, like comfort. I use a lot of synthetic & Soy based products that are hypoallergenic. I carry a nice line of green fabrics. But I don’t have suggestions for the type of filling you want to use.
As for cleaning, I think any type of cleaning ruins the fabric. It’s a tradeoff between trying to get more life out of the fabric The only types of fabrics that hold up to cleanings are polyester and acrylic fibers. If you do get the chairs cleaned, the cleaner should be extracted from the fabric after cleaning. Otherwise you’ve just pushed the soil deeper into the padding.. Good luck….
hi Joe,
I just purchased a set of old channel/scalloped back chairs that i was going to redo. After tearing them down I found a small piece of paper with style number and lot #. Is there anyway to find out the year these were made by those numbers? I am sure they are not too old may 50′s I would guess.
Hi Vicky,
With the Internet, who knows what you could find out. If the manufacturer were still in business, you’d have better luck. . Good luck
Hi there,
I havent attempted an upholstery job (other than smaller fabric projects), so any advise is good advise…I want to know if the footstool I currently have (that is now done in fabric) could be done in leather (in the same way – for ex. it currently has two layers-the main with a pillow like top attached, the rope edges-along the edges of the pillow like top, the curved bottom where its attached to the wood frame and legs, etc)…Im also interested in how to go about attaching the curved bottom (ie nails would have to be used, can i just use glue for this?, what are the steps to accomplish-if it can even be done?)…Thanks in advance,
Greg
Hi Greg – You can usually use fabric or leather in most cases. You’ll need a heavy duty sewing machine to do the pillow top in leather. I don’t work with leather anymore. Not sure what you mean by attaching the “curved bottom”.
Hi, I have an antique camelback sofa with a scrolled wooden frame. The decorative wood on the front of one of the sofa arms has cracked & sags a bit. I’m not sure if I’m explaining it well (the wood extends upward from the outermost leg, defines the sides of the sofa, & rounds outward into a small scroll). I could send a picture if that helps.
I’m interested in reupholstering the sofa though and was wondering if I could just epoxy glue that wood back together? Or does it need more aggressive repair like nails or something? I was also wondering if there are any pitfalls to using a crushed velvet upholstery fabric.
Hi ELI – Hard to tell how to fix the wood without seeing it. In general wood is glued back in place by cleaning the area, re-gluing and applying pressure. Like clamps.
No pit falls I know of with crushed velvets. There are all kinds of crushed velvets and it has it’s own look to it. Get a good quality and you’re good to go.
Thank you so much, That is what I was picturing. It will be enough to figure out the relief cuts around the arm supports. I didn’t want to have to be so specific on the edges to fold them under especially since there is sort of a medallion design that I would like to center on the seat. Really appreciate your advice. Cathy
Joe
Thank you for the help on the ottoman frame. One more question…would you use edge roll and if so how thick? Thanks again!
You can, but you don’t have to. If you do, use 3/4-1″ edge roll. Fit 1″ foam snugly up to the edge roll, but not over it. Then, with your next layer of either 1 or 2″ foam, cut 3/4 – 1″ larger than your plywood. The 1″ foam is just a filler to compensate for the height of the edge roll.
Using the edge roll will give you a squarer look to the edge.
I have an old oak rocker with padded seat including springs. The seat has been redone by professionals but they left the final layer, the upholstery fabric for me to do myself. I thought you stretched and stapled the fabric to the wood and then put gimp over the edge to conceal the raw edge and put decorative nails over that but understand you don’t use the nails with the gimp. I really like the look of the decoratve nails for this chair. So how do I attach the fabric first. Do I have to fold over the edge as I stretch it and then staple it down? If so how do I cover the staples? Will I just hide them under the nails? Need help.
Hi Cathy,
I always use gimp. It’s easier than trying to fold the fabric and have it look neat. Just use a gimp that will blend nicely with the fabric so it will be less noticable under the nails.
Joe,
In an attempt to save money, my husband and I are wanting to make our own cocktail ottoman, with dimensions of approximately 48 x 26 x 19, with turned feet with casters. As I have searched the internet on a DIY ottoman, I have seen where people have used jute webbing on their frame as the base for the ottoman OR they have mounted a stain grade piece of plywood on top of the frame (and then mounted their foam to the plywood). Which is better/easier/more durable? I do not feel up to the task of mounting springs for an ottoman. This ottoman will be used by our family on a daily basis, including by 6 and 8 year old boys. Any suggestions on the best type of frame to build would be appreciated as well. Thanks so much for your help!
Hi Kim,
Your height of 19″ is already close to the height of a chair seat. I wouldn’t add much more than 2-3 ” of high density foam. If you try to find something close to a 2.6 density in a medium compression, that will hold up the longest. What I would do is cut a piece of 3/4″ plywood to fit the top of the ottoman. Cut the foam 3/4′ larger than the plywood on all sides. Then upholster. Attach the plywood to the ottoman by screwing it from somewhere from the bottom, usually from the corner blocks. The beauty of that system is if you want to upholster it again, unscrew it and the reupholstery is simple.
Joe, I am upholstering a camel back loveseat. I have removed all of the pieces and the front panel of each arm is a covered cardboard piece that was nailed to the frame. I have saved the 2 pieces and will recover them. My question is, should I nail them back on going through the front of the fabric and piece or should I try to put the nails back into the cardboard before I recover it? When I removed the pieces I thought the nails had been put in the cardboard and then the fabric had been put on but after I took the fabric off of the cardboard pieces I now think there are nail holes in the front of the fabric. The nails that were used had almost no head on them.
Nailing thru the fabric is OK if the nail hole will not show. You would use a 1 or 1 1/2″ finish nail. If you’re working with a light colored fabric, wipe the nail first as sometimes there’s residual machining oil on the nail. If the fabric is a loose weave and you can kind of wiggle the fabric apart with the nail, then it should be OK. Once the nail is in, push the fabric fibers back in place.
Other methods would be to use two pieces of cardboard. Insert a panel nail through the first piece and place the second piece on top. Then upholster. This works good if you can not place a nail thru the fabric.
I am doing some upholstery work on home projects. (small projects – seat cushions, stools, etc) Is there a good electric stapler that you would recommend for this type of upholstery work?
Hi Bernie,
I use only air guns. But, one of my supply catalogs has a commercial grade electric gun, the Duo-Fast Electric Tacker. That’s probably as good as you can get for electric.
Hi, planning on redoing my dining chairs, they do not have drop in seats. There is webbing on the bottom of the chair, I can either tighten this or make a new wooden bottom. Is there an advantage of one over the other? Is webbing more comfortable since it has a little more give?
Last time I reupholstered them, they seemed pretty saggy but I don’t think I used the correct density of foam.
Would appreciate your opinion, thanks
If the webbing is still in good shape, you can just tighten the webbing by stretching a little more. I don’t really recommend using wood on the bottom. You’re better off tightening or replacing with new webbing.
Hi Joe,
I just purchase an old antique settee that is cutout on the back on two sides with just a 3 inch portion of the wood down the middle . I am assuming they would be upholstered which would show on the front and back. Not sure how to attach that. Would I attach to a cardboard of some sort? wanting to button tuft it like a medallian back Any ideas would be appreciated.
Hi Vicky,
It would probably be better if you could email me a few photos.
How much fabric should I order to cover a sofa 96″ wide by 36″ tall and 39.5 ” deep It is a plain 54″ wide fabric thank s
Need to know a little bit more about the sofa. Does it have seat and back loose cushions, skirt, etc. If it meets all those condtions you’ll need 18-20 yards.
Joe,
We are a small upholstery shop in Dallas. I have one question that is really bothering me. How do you ensure customers are happy with their foam/fill material? I try to keep samples but given the quantity of thickness, density and compression possibilities, I find it very difficult to efficiently manage all the possibilities. (plus, several people come in and want combinations of various compressions to try and get a soft upper layer and then a more supportive middle.) It’s kind of driving me nuts. Any advice?
PS. We’re on the internet at Dallas Upholstery if you have the time to check us out and offer any advice. Your blog is fantastic!
Thanks for the nice comments. Cushioning can certainly be a dilemma. In general, I use Albany Foam and Supply 4″ 2.6 Density Ultra foam medium with a 1.0 oz stitched dacron wrap. That satisfies most of my customers for chairs and sofas. For someone looking for a more plush cushion, I use an envelope style with a 2.6 density soft foam. The envelope can either be down/feather or Denier Microfiber. The envelopes I order from West Coast Feather and Down and use my own foam core. For other customers I use solid down/feather(50/50) or solid Denier Microfiber which is a great alternative to down. All those combinations work 90% of the time. I get a lot of customers who complain more about cushioning being to soft. I sell a lot of foam replacing soft cushions. So my advice is to stick mostly to high density 2.6 foam with a compression of around 35lbs. And always wrap the foam. Other than that, listen to your customer and be creative. If I’m doing foam replacements, I always have the customer bring the cushions in for me to see and measure. Hope that helps.
My boyfriend owns an auto body shop and we want to expand it to do auto trimming. Our only problem is that we need a supplier for fabrics and materials, do you have any suggestions?
By now I’m sure you have the fabrics all figured out. If not, you could start with Burch Fabrics. You can find them online.
Hi
What do I need to look for when purchasing an air compressor and staple gun?
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca – For a staple gun I use a BEA that takes a #7 staple. I think the BEA is the best and the #7 staple you can get everywhere. The only time it will not fire a staple is when it’s empty. Compressors depend on what your use will be. For one person, a small compressor is fine. I use a Bostich Trim Air. It’s only a few gallons, but it does everything I need and it’s maintenance free. If I’m blowing off a piece of furniture, it tends to get low on air rather soon. But that’s OK. It recovers quick. (no pun intended) Plenty of air for any kind of stapling. it’s very light and portable for use in or out of the shop. I also have a monster 13 gallon Speedaire. Great compressor, but it’s noisy, heavy and not so portable. But if two or more people will be working off one compressor, you’ll probably need something like the Speedaire or certainly bigger than the Bostich Trim Air. You’ll find the smaller the gallons, the sooner the compressor comes on to replace air. The larger the gallons, less time coming on to replace air. Hope that helps.
Dave,
My Mom gave me a leather Hancock & Moore wingback chair that was purchased in August, 1996. Its dimensions are too wide by several inches to get through our basement door. Is there a way to take the chair apart so that I can move it to our basement and reassemble it there? This chair has lots of sentimental value as it was my late Dad’s favorite chair.
Thanks very much, Gary.
By now you’ve probably figured out that there is not an easy way to disassemble a wing chair. Sorry for the late reply. It would probably be easier to take the basement door off.
I am interested in doing some automotive and motorcycle seat upholstery, but I don’t know what would be a good machine for sewing the heavier materials involved, I have found some machines on ebay and craigslist, but I am having trouble nailing down a specific model, any advice?
Dave,
I’m looking for a new machine myself. I’ve used for many years a Pfaff 145 and love it. The best repair and sales sewing machine shop around here is Reliable Sewing Machine. They like to sell Juki. But if I can get a Pfaff 1245, I’ll be happy. If I were you, I’d call around, ask around and get as much info as you can before buying. My machine is the most personal tool in the shop.
Hi, what questions do I want to ask when interviewing a prospective upholsterer?
Stephanie,
That’s a tough question. Most of my customers are repeat customers or referred by a customer. The rest come from finding me on the Internet. There, my photo gallery usually takes care of any questions perspective customers have. So I guess I would ask if they have a website with photos you could look at. Also how long they’ve been in the area. Virtually no one ask me for references anymore and I’m glad. Over the years I’ve had customers say they’d be happy to be a referral if needed. But most people don’t want to be contacted. You could also ask if they do the work themselves or contract it out. If they contract it out, that may not be a bad thing. If the price is where you want it and the workmanship is good, that’s what matters the most. Hope that helps. Joe
I recently bought an old Jenny Lind spindle “dayman’s bed” which had an upholstered seat cushion and two back bolsters. I opened the upholstery to find the foam covered in muslin. The foam was in fair condition but the seat especially was soft and, of course, the fabric had problems. Well, I took it to an upholsterer and am pleased with the job EXCEPT after I returned home and unzipped the pieces, I discovered he did not include the dacron as promised (though not in writing.) Is this a big deal? I really want this upholstery job to last. I picked out the firmest foam for the 4 inch seat and medium density for the back bolsters. I’m wondering if I go back and ask for the dacron, will it “mess up” the nice, even look?
Thanks!
Hi Johanna,
One of the purposes of dacron is to help with friction between the fabric and foam. This is not scientific, but I believe the fabric wears better with dacron on the foam. If you think they look nice as is, you probably won’t gain a huge amount by having the dacron added. But If you think it should have been added as part of your verbal agreement, a layer of 1/4″ bonded dacron should be enough and won’t change the current look that you like. Hope that helps.
purchased 2 bradington-young recliners in Jan ’11; strong odor – asked dealer who said it was the leather, but I am familiar with leather and it is not that. (purchased 2 similar B-Y recliners for another location 3 years ago, no such issue) Opened the zipper head pillow, bolster and seat cushion – all three have the distinct odor coming from the fill. Took back and top fills out of zipper pouches/covered with plastic and placed several arm & hammer baking soda boxes in the contained area for 2 days. Did a little. What is your take?
Larry, I would bring them back and get your money back. But now you’ve probably voided any warranty that you had. No other suggestions for you I’m afraid.
This blog is by far the best I have come across in the upholstery category. We have just started a blog, nothing like as nice as this, but just started. If ever in orange county California check us out, your experience and opinions would be appreciated. We do Upholstery in orange County ca</a?
Thanks for the nice comments! The “Ask an Upholsterer” page is surprisingly very popular. Surprising in the sense that people like yourself finds it! Again thanks, and by the way, was that a job offer in sunny Southern California? Just kidding
When reupholstering slip seats in the traditional style, what kind of problems if any, will just slightly overlapping the webbing cause? It is important that I use the jute webbing I finally found at a local craft/fabric store, which only comes in a 3.5″ width. I know that when I tack down each of the three strips going from front to back, the ends of the webbing at the back, will have to overlap. The opening of the frame measures 10.0″ at the rear, and 12.75″ at the front. The side to side tacking shouldn’t be a problem. Thank you for your help!
Jute webbing as you know is thick. The only problem you could have is feeling the webbing when you sit on the seats. As long as you use enough padding, you should be OK. The polypropylene webbing is lighter and stronger and would maybe have been a better choice. What kind of padding are you using over the webbing?
Thank you for the information Mr. Gramm. I have just finished tacking down the webbing on the first seat frame. I’ve also tacked on a piece of burlap. I plan to use vegetable fiber under flax twine loops for the padding. Is there a good method of determing how many pounds I will need? Have you any tips on where can I purchase it? I think it will probably be necessary to cover the vegetable fiber with upholstery batting too. What do you think?
Glad you made it that far Melissa. None of my suppliers carry vegetable fiber. It’s either horse hair, foam or dacron. You could try Van Dyke Restores. Keep in mind that any type of loose fiber on your project will be VERY difficult to work with as far as a consistent thickness and feel. Good Luck!
How many yards of 54″wide fabric do I need to cover 45 chair seats 14″ X 15″. No sewing or seams just staple to underneath side.
1) Is there a pattern to match
2) Is the 14″ measurement the width or length
I have a 1950′s vintage Scandinavian dining room set. The chairs have slip seats which wrap over the front edge of the chair. The seat sections are solid plywood with covered with a thin layer of horsehair, a thin layer of batting and muslin beneath the fabric.
Over the years, the muslin and fabric have been replaced, but I believe the chairs still have the original batting and horsehair.
I want to strip off the old padding and horsehair. I have found upholstery foam which is slightly thicker than the padding and horsehair combined.
Most information I have found suggests using foam and batting combined. This will make the slip seats too thick, especially where they curve over the edge.
I had intended to cover this with muslin and not use any cotton batting.
If I compress the foam as I am stapling on the muslin, I can get a smooth, tapered edge.
The fabric I will be using is fairly heavy.
Is the addition of batting really necessary?
By compressing the foam as I am stapling on the muslin, I believe I can make a tapered edge.
One of the main reasons to use a cotton or dacron batting is to reduce the friction between foam and fabric. It will actually make it easier to get smooth edges all around the slip seat. You can use a thinner batting such as a 1/4 or 1/2″ bonded dacron to keep it from being to thick. That being said, it’s not totally necessary. Just makes it easier.
Thank you, Joe.
I tried one chair without batting. The biggest problem I found was making the right angle turn with the foam over the front edge. Would you suggest I use foam on the seat portion only, and use a layer of batting over the seat and down the edge?
Janet, What I do there is use a spray adhesive to hold the foam in place around the wrapped edge. It works the best with 1 or 2″ foam. Anything thicker than that and it gets difficult to wrap..
I have taken a sectional couch apart. We were given it and I would like to save it. Dont want to keep the interior stuff and would like to replace it. If the sectional is about $1800, am I going to spend that price in replacing all the insides?
How do you get a tight fit of the dacon and is it needed?
I don’t think if it would cost $1800. to replace the insides. By “insides” I assume you mean the padding on the arms and back as well as the cushions. BUT, it’s a lot of extra work to do that. I need more info to help more.
Hi
I want to reupholster my ottoman, the problem is that the legs do not come off. I can not figure out how to go around the legs. I am using leather (fake). There seems like there is going to be so much extra material around the legs not sure what to do. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Susan
Susan,
It’s all a matter of pulling, cutting and tucking in the right places. Vinyl stretches like crazy. That’s probably part of your problem.
Hi,
I want to re-upholster this ottoman and it is 38″ sq by 15″ High. How many yards of fabric will I nee?
Thanks
Please see link for ottoman
http://www.westelm.com/products/tillary-sofa-f985/?bnrid=3901801&cm_ven=EDM&cm_cat=PROMO&cm_pla=20101203_Tillary&cm_ite=hero_cta_shop_sofa&cm_em=kaiduku@hotmail.com
Hi Irene – As shown in the link photo with a solid fabric, it will take 2.5 yards.
Thank you
I am looking for dedium ot firm density hypoallergenic foam for a massage table (very little compression ) and a good covering material. Wife is very sensitive to smells. Is the soy based foam a good option or do you know of a good source for foam?
Carl,
Soy based foam will be your best choice for environmentally friendly foam. You can find it at Albany Foam on page 6 of their catalog. It’s called Novus Soy Foam. As for the cover, you’d want to use a polypropylene based vinyl. I don’t have a good source for that, but I’ll check around and reply back if I find something.
Hi,
I just purchased an antique (early 1900′s they say) camel back settee that is structurally sound but needs re upholstered. I have taken it apart down to the frame and have the pieces for patterns. My question is, I am wanting to button tuft the bacfk but am unsure of how many to do. The settee is on 54″ across so don’t want too many or too few. What would be a good way to figure this out?
Hi Vicky,
I think for a settee that size, you would want between 9 and 12 buttons across and maybe four rows. The rows depend on if the settee has a loose seat cushion or not. You could probably get away with three rows with a seat cushion. Twelve buttons across would make the buttons around 4″ apart – Nine buttons across around 6″ apart. The photo is just for an example. It’s about the width of your settee and is a camel back style.
That is great. Thank you for your quick response. Mine is similiar to that but with lose cushions. I will probably go with the 9 across. One more thing. It was filled on the back with 2 layers of cotton batting and a lining of horse hair in the middle. Is it possible to steam clean/deodorize the horse hair and re-use it? It really smells old and musty.
Vicky – There’s really no good way to sanitize the horse hair. Getting it wet could only make it worse. Was the back of your settee tufted originally??
Thank you Joe, I was afraid of that. So should I just use foam wrapped in batting? I do believe it may have been at one time but I only found 3 buttons on the back that were lose but there seemed to be evidence of of more on the back where they tied them but I can not find very many markings on the fabric to go by. This is really my first big project and just want to do it correctly to keep the integrity of the piece as much as possible. I re upholstered an antique brass bench last year with button tufting (my first attempt) and it turned out really nice but again; that was just one cushion.
I would really like to thank you for taking your personall time to answer all of our questions. This is a God send. Thank you.
Vicky
Vicky – are you simply adding buttons to the back or deep tufting with the pleats. Because deep tufting will require that you make holes in the padding for the button to pull the fabric into. That’s what creates the pleats and the look of the tufting in the photo.
I am acutally wanting to do deep tufting with pleats but as I said, I honestly don’t thing it was originally done that way because there is not enough fabric to indicate it. I would assume they were just decoration. So should I use foam and wrap it? then punch the holes? and how would you mark the fabric to match the holes?
Yes I would use foam and cotton. You’ll want at least as much foam in thickness as the horsehair and a few layers of batting. To do deep tufting you’ll need to mark the foam with the button pattern that you want to use. Then cut the holes in the foam. I use a #22 button die to make the holes by hand. Then the two layers of batting. Once the batting is on, work a hole through the batting where the buttons are. I sometimes use my finger or a pair a scissors. To go step by step explaining how to do deep button or diamond tuft would take forever. So I’m going to suggest that you look at some of the many YouTube videos on the subject. Just do a search for deep button tufting or diamond tufting. Then feel free to ask more questions after the videos.
Thank you for the direction. I am somewhat familiar with the diamond pattern as that is what I did on the bench but I did have a pattern to follow with it so I will still find some videos since I am starting from scratch on this piece. I can not get a picture to upload so I will send to your email and then send a picture when I am done. Thanks again for all the info.
Hi Joe,
I have my loveseat tore down to the frame and springs. All the webbing was rotten so need to replace. My question is what is the best approach to reattaching the webbing to the coil springs from the bottom? when I took the cover off the botton most of them were just lose. I have not attempted this feat yet so I am at a loss on this one. Do I tie the springs to the webbing?
Vicky,
Are you leaving the spring twines tied to the top of the springs in place? If so, What I do is tie the springs to the bottom of the frame using spring twine. The tie is less complicated than the top twines. Simply tie each spring at the bottom of the spring in rows going the length and width and attach to the bottom of the frame where the webbing goes. Then cover each row of springs with your webbing. Don’t forget to weave the rows of webbing for added strength. Hope that helps.
Yes that helps. I am having to retie a lot of the springs because the old twine was rotted and broken but at least I know which direction to go with it now.
thanks again.
Hi Joe, the spring info was great and worked fine, thank you. I just had an appraisal on my piece (just the frame) and they tell me it is a Louis XV style french piece. When I do research on this style it seams all of the pictures I see have a “single” style bench seat cushion. This piece came with two box cushions. In your professional opinion; would you keep with the two box cushions or go with a bench cushion?
Vicky,
I like one. Plus it takes less time, which never hurts! Good Luck. Send a photo when your done.
Then that is what I will do. Do you have an email address? not sure I know how to upload pictures on here.
thanks for all your help. Should be done in a couple of weeks; time permitting.
Hi Vicky – use the email link under my logo.
Hi there-
after a few moments of desperation I think you are just the person to talk to! I have a project that I have in mind, but can’t seem to wrap my brain around the logistics of how to accomplish it. I would like the create an upholstered daybed. I found just the one I want to replicate and now it is a matter of figuring out how. I have a limited knowledge of upholstering but I am hoping this will be my chance to learn a little more. Below are a few links to images of the daybed concept:
I love the framed look that the sides have around the main panel. I was having a hard time figuring out if I would upholster the main panel and then do the framing upholstery using tack strip or if I had that backwards and should be doing it in reverse. Here is a link to the plan for the overall bed structure that I am going to have my husband build (with the exception of the finials, scalloped side and a few other minimal modifications):
http://www.knock-offwood.com/2010/05/furniture-plans-lydia-daybed.html
If you feel this plan will not work to accomplish what I am trying to do-please let me know! I really appreciate your help and advice. Any suggestions or instructions would be helpful! If you have further questions or need clarification just let me know.
Hi Kara,
I can see your not afraid of taking on big projects. The difficulty in the job will depend on how much knowledge you have in terms of the supplies and materials needed and padding techniques. The upholstery part of the project comes in four parts in this order.
1- Front and back rails get upholstered
2- Top and sides of foot and headboard get upholstered
3- Inside and outside panels of the head and footboards get upholstered
4- Seat cushion
There are several ways to complete the panel look in the linked photos in your question. Pad and upholster the top and sides of the head/footboards leaving the square opening in the center for the panels. I would use either a stiff cardboard panel board or 1/4″ plywood for the panels. Once you upholster the panels, the panels can be attached in either of these ways.
1- If the fabric is thick or textured enough, you can use a small finish brad nail. Work a small hole in the fabric with the brad and nail through the fabric and panel board. Once secure, work the fabric back until you can’t see the hole. This will only work if the wood on the frame is thick enough to secure the brad.
2- Sandwich several panel nails between two pieces of panel board. Upholsterer and bang the panel into place with a rubber mallet. This will only work if the wood on the frame is thick enough to secure the panel nail.
3- Upholster and hot glue the panel into place. I would use cardboard panel board with this method.
Hope that’s enough info for you to decide whether or not to start the project. Feel free to ask more specific questions if needed. Here is a general materials list you can expect to use on a job like this. All of it can be found at my main supplier, Albany Foam and Supply
* staple gun
* 1″ foam for for the head/footboard top and sides – 1/2″ for the panels – dacron batting over foam
* Spray adhesive to secure the foam to the frame
* 5″(?) foam plus dacron wrap for mattress cushion
* Panel nails and or brads
* Panel board or 1/4″ plywood
Hi Joe-
Thank you so much for your help and suggestions!!! We just built the bed last weekend and my fabric came in a few days ago. Once I get all of the upholstery supplies I will begin the upholstering!
I am sure I will have a questions when I get there, but I wanted to thank you for the information you have already provided.
I chose option number two to adhere the center section with in the framed portion. I hope it works!
Thanks again.
Great – Look forward to hearing from you Kara !
Hi Joe, I have a large “L” shaped sofa and my cat used both arms as a scratching post, leaving the stuffing falling out and the material a mess. The sofa is okay other wise except for the arms what is your suggestion? Thanks Bonnie
Hi Bonnie,
Not sure what to suggest to you. Is the same fabric still available. It would be expensive to replace the fabric and repair the stuffing damage to “new” condition. Your best solution may be to get new matching fabric – make a fitted arm cover and attach it as best you can. Of course the padding would need to be repaired also. Any willing upholsterer could do that for you if you didn’t want to do it yourself. Hope that helps.
hi there, I am looking all over for this upholstery fabric. Do you have any ideas. The only thing i have to show the fabric is this link. I love the pattern
Avington Slipper Chair – Leaf
thanks for any help! I am very new and green when it comes to upholstery =)
Hi Lisa – I didn’t have any luck finding that particular fabric. One place to search is Greenhouse Fabrics.
Hi Joe,
We have a “zero-gravity” chair in black leather. The bottom/footrest area has a worn spot from my husband’s shoes. The rest of the chair is in fine shape. I would like to have the worn area repaired but not the whole chair recovered. Is that possible? Something you can do? (I live on the Cape.)
Thank you.
If you haven’t found someone to fix the foot rest part of the zero gravity chair, please send a photo to my email address.
Hi, I recently had two matching slipper chairs reupholstered. They were purchased at an antique store and, when I purchased them, they smelled very musty and possibly mildewed. I stripped the chairs of their fabric (down to the padding and canvas underneath the seat). What remained of the seat, after stripping the fabric, had a very strong odor — musty and mildewey. I then had the chairs professionally painted. After the painting, I had them reupholstered. I told the upholsterer of the strong odor. I believe that he replaced some of the seat padding (although I do not what exactly). I picked up the chairs the other day and they look great. Out of curiosity, however, I smelled the seat padding to make sure that they no longer smelled. They still have a slight musty odor on the seat, underneath the cushion. When I place the seat cushion on, the smell transfers slightly to the bottom of the cushion. Perhaps I am being too particular, but I just do not want the smell to get worse.
Hi Alison,
If the musty/mildewed padding was not replaced, it’s likely the smell will last for a long time. High humidity and dew points will make the odor worse. With low humidity and dew points, the odor will be less obvious. So it will depend on what part of the country you live in and whether your house is air conditioned or not. I wish I had something better to tell you.
Thank you. They are in an air-conditioned setting. It seems that the seat padding was replaced in certain parts and not in others. I think the source (from smelling the area) is the padding that is over top of the springs. Is there any way to peel back that portion of the upholstered area and replace the padding over the springs. I am just frustrated because some padded areas were obviously replaced and other areas were not. I am very pleased with the outcome of the reupholstery, but somewhat worried that something musty- smelling lies underneath. You can only smell it when you actually “put your nose to it,” but I still know it’s there (and I am kind of a clean freak)! Do you think that is something that I should attempt to remedy (i.e by having that portion of the seat redone)? Thank you in advance. I appreciate it!
Hi Alison – Very sorry for the late reply to your last question.
To do it right, there’s a fair amount of work to get to the seat padding. The seat deck is the first part to be upholstered – which means lifting up all the outside parts of the chairs to get to the staples etc.
If you have an oral or written contract that says that the musty padding was to be replaced, then I would talk to the upholsterer about a remedy.
Hello! We just purchased a sectional, but need to position the pieces differently than they are originally configured. Two brackets with 6 screws each are on sides that are now visible. We want to remove them and yet protect the fabric, leaving the possibility down the road to reattach the brackets if we need to reposition how we use the sectional in the future.
I do have Brass Tacks that decoratively fit the fabric and cover the holes, but the holes are larger than the tack nails, and the tacks do nothing to secure the fabric. Do you have any suggestions? Is fabric glue enough? Do the holes need to be fully plugged with something?
THANK YOU so much in advance for your input and suggestions.
Kay
Kay- Fabric glue should be enough. If you want to use the brass nails – either fill the screw holes with toothpicks and then tack the brass nails or hot clue the back of the brass nail and press into place. Hope that helps.
I’m reupholstering a tufted wingback chair that I found on craigslist. The fabric I have chosen is a large scale ikat. Since I don’t want the pattern to get lost in the tufts, I have decided to plug the holes in the foam. What is the best way to do this keeping a very smooth look? Is it best to fill them with dacron stuffing using some spray adhesive, or is there a better way to go about it? Thanks, Shannon.
Hi Shannon – Fill the holes with dacron at about the same compression(softness-firmness) as the foam. You don’t need to use adhesive. Then cover it all with a layer of dacron batting and you should be good to go.
Thanks Joe. Just one more question I forgot to mention. The foam also has slits cut into it between the holes, do I need to do anything with these? thanks.
In that case, I would use a light amount of spray adhesive to close the slits. Just peel back the foam and get a very light coat of spray adhesive on both sides of the foam and press evenly together. I like to use latex or vinyl gloves to keep the adhesive off my fingers. Citra-Solve, by the way, is a great solvent for removing adhesive from the hands.
Hi Joe,
I have a 7 year old Hancock & Moore leather sectional. The cushions can barely hold their shape anymore. I took apart the cushions and found that the the back rests are filled with a batting/stuffing that looks like it is divided into 3 rolled sections. The seats are batting/stuffing on top of a foam piece–the foam is in great shape. The batting seems to be fairly compressed now and the cushions could use some more stuffing. We have 4 big teenage boys and with their friends this couch gets a lot of wear. What would you recommend as a batting/stuffing to buy for this type of sofa and for the amount of wear it gets. If there is something I can use, where would you recommend I get it?
Also, what are your thoughts on those leather recoloring kits? This was an expensive sectional and I would really like to keep it and have it looking nice for a few more years.
I would appreciate any advise! Thank you for your time,
Colleen Bauer
Hi Colleen – I would use what’s called “stitched dacron” to wrap the seat cushions. It’s dacron with a polyester cloth on both sides of the dacron stitched together. You could use the same thing to wrap the loose filling in the backs or you could add to the existing filling with a similar product that is already there. I would check with your local upholsterer to get the supplies.
As for the leather re-color, I’m afraid I can’t help with that as I have no experience with it.
Hi. I have a 25 yr old Hancock & Moore leather high back Executive desk chair that has been well used (by me). The springs are shot and there is an indentation in the chair that makes me keep sliding forward on the cushion (which I recently put new foam in). My question is whether it’s worth having new springs put in the chair, and what approximately that would cost. Other than one broken wood decorative piece that goes over one of the 5 metal wheeled legs, the chair is in very good shape. Thanks. I appreciate having someone to ask.
If the springs are either zig-zag or coil springs, it may be worth fixing if you like the chair. if the spring system is some sort of proprietary system, then it’s probably not worth fixing. Prices vary widely from local upholsterer to upholsterer and more so from one end of the country to the other, but on Cape Cod you could be looking at $200.00. Keep in mind that sight unseen, it’s hard to give an accurate price. Feel free to email me a photo of the chair.
Hi. I have a 14 year old recliner (probably Hancock & Moore or Bradington Young) which is currently covered in fabric. It is either time to upholster or replace. Can you help? The chair seems to be in good working order but the fabric has soil marks that just can’t be removed. Does it make sense to upholster the recliner? Is there a fabric you would recommend to give it another 14 years? Joe thanks for helping.
I stopped upholstering recliners a while ago. For me, they are very labor intensive and I have to charge a ridiculous amount for labor. You might get a different opinion from another upholsterer. Technically, there’s no reason a recliner can’t be upholstered if the mechanism is working properly. It just comes down to cost effectiveness for you the customer. Call a local upholsterer and see what they would charge, then compare with a new recliner. As for fabric – try to get something that is able to be cleaned with water such as a fabric with a polypropylene content. JF fabrics from Canada has a good selection. Hope that helps. Thanks for asking!
Hi. I found your web site while researching how to make a button tufted ottoman using a table frame. I have a beautiful table frame and don’t want to cover its sides. I have purchased a square of plywood to just fit on top, and plan to button tuft the wood adn then bolt it to the table. I intend to use 3″ foam on top of the plywood. My question for you is: Do I need to use an edge roll on the outer edge of tyhe wood? If I don’t use an edge roll, will there be a hard edge? Suppose I decide not to use the plywood, but to use jute webbing instea. How can I finish the piece so the fabric is only on the top of the table frame and doesn’t overlap the sides (which are too pretty to cover up)?
Many thanks!
Hi K,
Thanks for finding me. Sounds like a nice project. I would upholster the plywood and screw it to the table top from the bottom. That will give you the cleanest look. As for the foam, with or without an edge roll will probably work. The main thing is to always cut the foam larger than the plywood. That will help eliminate the hard edge when pulling your fabric over the edge of the foam. If you don’t use the edge roll, cut the 3″ foam at least one inch bigger than the plywood on all sides. Using an edge roll creates another step. Say you use a 3/4 ” edge roll. Staple the edge roll onto the plywood so it’s even with the edge of the plywood. You’ll have to fill the void in the middle that will be created. So in that case, use 1″ foam that fills the plywood up to the inside of the edge roll. Then use 2″ foam, cut to cover the foam and the edge roll, overhanging the edge roll by 1″ on all sides. That will give you the 3″ you want and a softer looking edge. I would also cover the foam with batting or bonded dacron. It will be much easier working with your fabric. Foam creates a lot of friction. Hope that helps. If any thing is unclear, write back!
Hi, to answer the question about places for classes in Denver: I found a great class through Colorado Free University – although, don’t let the name fool you… it wasn’t cheap. I took an 8 week class, but I think they only offer a two week class now. Adil, the teacher, was great. I think he is trying to get out of the business though – or at least go more in to interior design. I learned a lot, but not quite enough to tackle the bigger projects. Good luck to you!
Candice
I have 2 slip covered love seats in which I replaced the foam in the seat cushions so they are in great shape…but I need to refill the loose cushion backs which are curved L shaped. They are filled with loose batting fill. What is the best kind of fill to use and the best place to get it…and how do you know how many pounds you need.
Thanks
Hi Pam,
Thanks for leaving a comment. There are so many types of loose fiber fill it’s nots funny. Are you going to fill the back cushions yourself or have an upholsterer fill them. My favorite is a loose fiber fill called “micro denier”. I think it keeps it’s shape better than any loose fiber on the market. I take a pattern of the cushion and send it to West Coast Feather & Down in Los Angeles. They send me back a new cushion with a down proof ticking cover, filled with Micro Denier.
To fill them yourself, you could try a supplier like Rockford Supply. They sell to the public and have a product called “slick Fiber”. They tell you how much slick fiber it takes to fill a 20″x20″ throw pillow. The site is below. You’d have to measure your cushions and figure out how many pounds that you’d need. You can find the slick fiber here. “http://www.rochfordsupply.com/shop/Pillows_and_Padding/Loose_Fill/Slick_Fiber/index.html”
The least expensive alternative may be to call your local upholsterer and see if he/she has loose fiber in stock. I usually have some on hand and also have barrels full of remnant loose fill that I give away.
Feel free to write back with more questions, if needed.
Upholstering a sofa and the sofa had some type of fabric used to extend the fabic in the areas that are unseen . What is the stuff called that is used to extend the fabric? I really would like to know. In the past, I have used other pieces of fabric from other projects. It is especially helpful when you use expensive fabric or leather. Please help.
Hi Walton,
I’ve always called that a “pull“. I keep tons of remnant strips of fabric that I use as pulls. I did a search on the Web and didn’t find much info on it. But I did find a site that sells a product they call “pull strips”, for that very purpose. Their description matches my term as “pull”
Here’s the product description from “http://www.sind.com/product.aspx?ID=2210″
Pull Strips – Sewn to decking material and other fabric parts to allow the upholsterer to pull outer fabrics in place for stapling, Propex pull strip fabric is specifically designed with the tensile strength to hold staples, enhance seam strength and reduce seam slippage.
Hi there, I found your website while looking up information on upholstery careers. I am intersted in getting in to this line of work. Even though one of your posts says its a dying trade, I think that young customers are looking for ways to modernize their furniture without having to purchase all new. Do you have any ideas for how to gain experience and/or learn the trade? There don’t seem to be many courses on upholstery in denver?
Thanks!
Candice
Hi Candice,
Thanks for writing. I guess when I say “upholstery is a dying trade” it’s because of just the situation you’re in. Someone wanting to learn the upholstery trade, but no where to learn it. It’s not just the Denver area. Even here in the Northeast, vocational schools have dropped their upholstery courses years ago and adult education classes are all but impossible to find.
I couldn’t agree more about younger people wanting to have their furniture upholstered. When I started, the average age of my customers were 60 and older. Now, I’d say my customer base is late 30s and up. That’s a big change. So there are fewer and fewer upholsterers, but the client base is still there. I would try calling all the upholstery shops in your area to see if any of them are willing to take on an apprentice. Youtube has lots of upholstery videos also. You won’t learn as much from a Youtube video as you would as an apprentice, but it would be a place to start.
Let me ask, have you done any upholstering before and what skills do you already have for an upholstery career?
Hi Joe, thanks for your reply. I have been thinking about approaching a local shop to see about offering my help (however minimal!). It is a good question – what skills do I have??? I can sew, I am creative, and I love to work with my hands. And, I cannot sit at a desk 8 hours a day… is that enough? Talk to you soon, Candice
Candice,
Sound like you have the desire and skills to get started, especially sewing. Sewing is a huge part of upholstery. Do you a have a space to work and any tools yet?
Hi again, I have space in my house, and garage. But, I think I should look in to becoming an apprentice to gain experience. I can’t really see someone trusting me with a big job if I tell them I did an ottoman or something! I did find a class here through Colorado Free University that I will take next month. That should be a good taste to see if I want to pursue it further. Thanks so much for your interest. I will keep checking out your blog. Happy Holidays!
Candice
Hi Candice,
I think you’re taking the right approach. The course will give you an idea of what a career in upholstery will entail and the equipment needed if you were to start your own business. And it would be helpful to have some basic knowledge in trying to apprentice with an upholsterer. What most people don’t realize about upholstery is what make a piece look spectacular, usually starts with the foundation. The frame needs to be tight, springs need to be tied and the padding has to be right. Without that, the fabric won’t look good. So gluing and spring tying are a must to be a well rounded upholsterer. But in reality, upholstering is mostly a lot of copying and then the more advanced work of redesigning a piece.
Please let me know how the class goes. I’ll be curious to hear what they teach you. Today on Cape Cod we have a blizzard warning for Saturday night and Sunday. I’m going to try to get my last piece promised for the holidays delivered today before the storm. Happy Holidays to you and thanks for finding my blog!
Hi Candice,
I am also interested in taking classes in the Denver area. Did you have any luck contacting any of the local shops for an apprenticeship. Any information would be helpful, thank you.
Elizabeth
Emily Griffith is the only place that I have found that offers a level 1 and level 2 class
Hi joe,
I have a huge tufting job to do in leather. In the past for the few buttons i’ve had to make I just skive the leather thinner. Do you know of a quicker method to make leather buttons. Standard leather is too thick. Also Do I need to make holes in the foam to tuft, what tool is needed. I could use some advice on tufting if you have any.
Best regards,
JC
Hi JC,
Sorry for getting back so late. Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution for making leather buttons. I don’t do much of that these days.
I can help a little with the tufting question. Yes, make holes in the foam where you want the buttons. I don’t do huge amounts of tufting so I use a #22 button dye/cutter. Some times you may even want to score lines in the foam between the button holes in the diamond shape. I prefer a firm foam. If I was using the previous fabric as a pattern, I may mark the holes out on the new fabric with chalk. But if I’m starting without a pattern, I just start in the center with my first button. Then, work the fabric into the next button hole with my finger. The button is about the same size as the end of a finger, so the button fits perfect into the same spot your fingertip was. The main thing is to keep the lines in the fabric, in both directions, straight and level. Don’t know if that helps, but that’s my take on tufting.
Hi Joe,
I have 6 dining room chairs maybe from the 1930′s or 40′s that are wood with leather seat attached by large bronze nail heads. The leather is beautifull worn but half of the chairs need repair. Can the chairs be restored with leather that looks older or reclaimed?
Thanks, Pam
Pam,
One thing I an not is a leather expert. I tell most people it’s cheaper to buy new furniture in leather than it is to have me upholster it. But in your case, it sounds like you have nice vintage furniture that you want to keep. Are you trying to restore just the ones that need repair and match the ones that don’t need repair or will you redo all of them. Matching will be difficult. If new, get the most worn style leather you can find. I just did a quick search for “making leather look worn” and found some crazy ways to make new leather looked distressed or worn. But I will tell you that buying leather by the hide for reupholstery is expensive. So making new leather look used, worn and distressed may hard to do knowing how much you paid for it. Sorry, but that’s all I can say about the leather. The bronze nail heads can be found in a few places like Van Dykes Restorers .. Hope that helps a little.
Pam,
I was reading old posts to try to find help on my project. You probably no longer need an answer, but maybe it will be useful to someone else.
The current trend in leather is a more “natural” look. You can now buy lightly corrected pigmented leather that shows markings from brands/scars/mosquitos or even leather that is designed to patina by showing surface scratches, wrinkles and wear. If you can’t find a local upholsterer to provide you with hides, you can always buy them from a furniture store. The trick is finding a furniture store that offers custom leather upholstery. If you can choose from an array of leathers for a piece then you should be able to buy a hide. Most manufacturers will not provide leather by the hide pricing in their price book the way they provide fabric by the yard pricing so many salepeople don’t know it’s even an option. An experienced salesperson who is willing to go the extra mile and contact the rep or the manufacturer to find out availability and pricing is essential.
Thanks for adding the info about acquiring leather. I know you weren’t necessarily referencing me, but in my case it’s not about going the extra mile for the customer. Although I have many good years ahead of me in the upholstery business, after thirty eight years in the business my hands just don’t want to pull and stretch leather any more. Upholstering with leather is much different than upholstering with fabric from an upholsterers standpoint. Leather requires a lot of stretching, most of which is done with a leather stretching tool, but non-the-less still hard on the hands.
I will say that there is a misnomer out there about leather furniture and that is about it’s durability. Most of the calls I get for leather have to do with repairs. Either it got ripped in moving or the dog or cats claws have damaged it or it’s losing it’s color in places.
The bottom line for me is I like leather furniture, but I’ll leave it up to other upholsterers to work with it.
Hello, I am getting a couch and loveseat upholstered with leather. I have had different estimates on how much leather I will need. From 6-25 hides?!? Are some people just trying to get my money? Why is there such a difference? Here are the specs…
couch- 84″ long x 38″ high x 34″ front to back.
3 – 25″l x 25″w x 5″h cushions to sit on and 3-25″l x 19.5″w x 5″h cushionsfor the back.
It has a 4 inch legs, so 34″ of leather to cover the back, if that makes sense. The cushions are also not fixed and are square.
loveseat- 62″long x 38″ high x 34″ front to back. same size cushions as couch, but it has 2 of each instead of three.
How many hides would that be if an average hide is around 50 sq. feet? Thank you so much for your time.
Hi Karina,
It’s not clear from your email if the sofa and love seat are fully upholstered or not. By that I mean arms, back seat deck, etc. You need to order 18 sq. ft. of leather for every yard of fabric. So assuming that the sofa and love seat were fully upholstered and the sofa needed 18 yards and the love seat 16 yards of fabric, that would be a total of 34 yards of fabric. So 34 yards of fabric x 18 sq. ft. of leather would equal 612 square ft. of leather needed. If a hide averaged 50 sq. ft, then you would need a total of approximately 13 hides. (612÷50 =12.24 hides). Additionally, 10-20% extra should be ordered for flaws or unusable parts of the hide. That would bring your total hides closer to 16.
So what you need to do is ask your upholsterer how many “fabric” yards is needed for both pieces. Take that fabric yardage number and and times it by 18. That will give you the total square feet of leather needed. I would be happy to calculate the number for you if you could supply me with the fabric yardage. Hope that helps.
Hi – I have noticed in the interiors magazines that there are a lot of items that are having their arms and/or legs covered in fabric but the fabric almost looks ‘sprayed on’ – the features of the arms/legs (eg claw-and -ball feet) are clearly defined. Is this a property of the fabric, the method of application or both? Could you explain how to achieve this look? Many thanks from rainly ol’ England.
ps – here’s an example http://squintlimited.com/furniture/heritage/upholstery/chairs/101/
Hi rainy ol’ England,
Thanks for writing. We’re about to get a tropical storm here on Cape Cod. You might even get the rain from it next week as it crosses the pond! To answer your upholstery question – It looks to me like it’s paint. There’s no way to get fabric to do that unless it’s heat molded and I doubt if they did that. Probably free hand with some crackling technique also. Hope that helps. Joe
Hi There, I am in Atlantic Canada and attempting to do market research on the upholstery industry. I was wondering if you could share where I could find market research information on upholstery. Many thanks, Maureen
I don’t really know. That’s a good question. It depends I guess on what aspect of the upholstery industry you wanted the market research on. I’d contact the Upholstery Journal
Hi,
I have recently purchased a leather sofa and when I bought it, I was told the cushions would bounce back after someone had sat on them. I have only had the sofa a couple of weeks and the cushions are left wrinkled everytime someone sits on them. A representative from the shop I bought the sofa from has been to look at the sofa and they have said I need to ‘dress’ the sofa every morning, smoothing out the wrinkles as you would do with a bed. I was wondering if this is true of some sofas or whether they are trying to pull a fast one?
I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks Jade
Hi Jade,
Thanks for the question. It’s a tough question because there could be a lot of reasons for the wrinkles. I would not want to “dress” it every time I sat on it. First, there are different types and grades of leather. And leather does have a natural tendency to stretch a little. The softer the leather, the more it will stretch. But, if the foam is too soft, the leather will wrinkle more. So, I suspect the foam as the problem. Foam is rated in two ways. Density and compression. The density rating, indicates how long the foam will last. 1.8 density is commonly used in new furniture. I offer my customers a 2.6 density, a longer lasting foam. The compression, indicates whether the foam is soft (21lb. compression), medium (35lb. compression) or firm (45lb. compression) in feel.
If you want to pursue it with the furniture company, here’s a question to ask. “What is the density and the compression of the foam in my sofa”. If they tell you a 1.8 density with a 21lb. compression, that’s a soft foam that will not last and will cause wrinkles. If that’s the case, you could ask them to replace the existing foam with a higher density foam with a medium(35) compression. Especially since they told you the cushions would bounce back. I hope that helps. Feel free to post back with more questions, if needed.