You should know that when you furnish your attic, many of your furnishings are in a fight to be given a second life. These are, mainly, the furniture (sofa, couch, armchair, etc.) whose covering fabric is in bad condition. Instead of patching or reupholstering the leather of your old furniture, reupholster it and gain in design and economy. With this technique, you will obtain a personalized and authentic result. Plan your time because this is hand sewing. The time for “do it yourself” has finally arrived.

Essential points to check

Before you embark on your upholstery project, make a checklist of all the things that need to be reinforced. To do this, first, consider the condition and nature of the frame of each piece of furniture. Indeed, it is more practical to recycle a wooden sofa than a steel one in terms of upholstery. Then, bet on the strength and solidity of suspension equipment such as springs. In most cases, the “S” and corkscrew springs are the most popular on the market because of their quality but also because of the optimal comfort they provide. Finally, consider the design style of the original upholstery of your old furniture. This will allow you to better organize your work surface and deduce the priority tasks.

The actual reupholstering: all the steps to follow

Upholstering the furniture

You can opt for an upholstery service for specific interventions requiring advanced technical means. This is the stuffing of the three basic structures of your seat, namely the bench, the backrest, and the arms. Thus, you can opt for various types of stuffing and foam. These include natural crepe hair, wool tufts, and urethane foam, also known as “foam”. The latter has multiple advantages. Indeed, it is a sufficiently dense material that exclusively meets the requirements of the various branches of an upholstery operation, such as strapping, upholstery, and quilting.

Foam bonding

After tightening and securing the entire base of your chair with several straps, proceed to gluing your upholstery. A polyvinyl-based glue is excellent for attaching an assembly that is resistant to all forms of friction in the case of slippery leather. In addition, careful gluing ensures that the furniture will look and feel good once the upholstery phase is complete. If you feel that the damage to your sofa is irreparable, then opt for the purchase of new furniture.

The installation of the covering fabric

The covering phase must follow the upholstery of the sofa with soft materials. For this purpose, it is necessary to choose the type of material to be applied, whose quality varies depending on several parameters such as the tenacity against light beams and friction. First of all, the covering material must be resistant to natural light, which is the main cause of the disintegration of the fine particles of which it is composed (kryptons). In order to measure the degree of resistance of each fabric, manufacturers have proposed a classification characterized by a score ranging from 1 to 5. The higher the score, the better the material. Subsequently, the cover fabric must have the optimum endurance to withstand a pair of rubs (a pair of rubs is the equivalent of a couple of vertically opposed forces from sitting down and getting up from the seat). Therefore, the quality and durability of the fabric are evaluated according to the number of friction pairs that the material can sustain. This number can vary from 80,000 to 100,000 pairs, equivalent to a lifespan of over 50 years.

Upholstery project: budgets and prices

The cost of an upholstery project varies depending on the quality and quantity of equipment and materials required. Indeed, the price per meter of a good covering fabric is between 42 and 340 dollars, while that of the stuffing can go up to $160. The labor cost is $460 to $540. You can use an upholstery and covering company for all your upholstery projects for individuals. Do your due diligence before you do anything with your upholstery.

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