The art of reupholstery: the old fashioned way
We live in a throw away society where people value ease of purchase, instant free delivery and cheap prices over quality.
Fair enough but you get what you pay for – all these chinese made goods created with near slave labour out of poor quality materials.
But then people seem to be more interested in how they look on instagram rather than the quality of the life they live.
When it comes to upholstery, most chairs and furniture and filled with foam pads – apart from the debate on how toxic the foam is since we have no idea what actual; foam is being used by the chinese / far eastern manufacturers – foam degrades quickly over time becoming brittle and then losing its bounce and shape so your chair or sofa will begin to sag and lose its comfort.
Antique biedermeier sofas and art deco armchairs on the other hand are made properly the old fashioned way with fully sprungs seats and back pads.
The springs are held in a web of twine then covered in a payer of hessian. On top of that yo start building the seat pad using horsehair or natural fibre topped with a layer of calico and cortel with a fire resistant interliner.
This allows you to control how sqooshy or firm the seat is and wether it has little or lots of give. You can also build the seat up into a perfect dome so that it looks great – its important to keep the seat relatively firm otherwise sitting for a period of time can start feeling uncomfortable and give you a sore back.
The choice of webbing is import too as that underpins the springs and gives them something to ‘bounce’ off – we only use teh best black and white webbing and natural stuffing.
The final ingredient is of course having an upholsterer who has the right tools and skills to work with these classic pieces and h or she must have a clear understanding of how the seats and back pads both work and look.
Contact us for a reupholstery quote for any of your furniture.
