An upholstering question

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I have some dining chairs where the foam in the seat pads has disintegrated, and need to fix for Xmas. ;-(

The pad consists of a (looks like) solid beech frame with woven webbing stretched across it in both directions. With a foam pad on top. The fabric covering is in good condition.

The webbing has also sagged or in some cases broken.

So some questions.

What is the best webbing to buy that won't sag and break? Would the original foam pads have been moulded - the seat bottoms had a sort of domed appearance when new. But the foam is too far gone to tell now. It appears to have been about 1" thick. Would that be right? I've not found trimming foam neatly to be easy - so is there a better material to use? The cost doesn't matter too much - within reason.

[Bob Minchin]

An Upholsterers suppliers will have the correct webbing as well as different grades of foam. Some of this is minced up and restuck together giving a much denser foam. If you want to do any shaping, it is normal to do this on the underside to avoid visible lumps showing through the fabric. Bob

[The Medway Handyman]

Webbing is webbing, not much choice - its usually jute.

Highly unlikely that it would have been moulded, just cut from a block. 1" is about right. The dome is caused either by the edges being pulled down or by a 'dacron' pad (bit like cotton wool).

Foam varies in density, higher density tends to last longer. Density & firmness aren't related, you can get high density soft foams for examole.

Doesn't have to be cut accurately cos its covered up, but 1" can be cut with decent scissors, a bread knife, or an electric carving knife.

Plenty of online suppliers about.

[Harry Bloomfield]

The Medway Handyman presented the following explanation :

Bread knife worked for me, but a hot wire system can also be used.

Or market stalls.

[Cicero]

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Foam and webbing together sounds a bit unusual. If you're in a hurry you could replace the webbing with a drop-in plywood base covered with foam and cloth, or more traditionally, upholstery wadding and cloth. Easily done using little more than a stapler. About an inch thickness of foam or wadding, shaped only by the stretched cloth cover is about right - much thicker and it's uncomfortable to sit on.

Cic.

[The Medway Handyman]

Spose it depends on the age of the chair, it was common. Unless its been redone before?

[Bruce]

There's a good selection on eBay.

[Andy Dingley]

Proper chair webbing. This isn't "any old webbing", and for chair bases it's even a better grade than general upholstery webbing - cotton or linen, not jute. Try J A Milton for web-orderable upholstery supplies.

Possibly. Did they have a smooth top surface? Moulded foam is used for cheapness in manufacture, as any baboon can fit it, without having to shape the top cover neatly. If you're DIYing, you're not in such a hurry.

If you do use foam on a chair, get a decent grade. Personally I always go for latex (firmness, service life, fire protection). If you're not trying to re-sell, then PU chip foam is cheaper and reasonable quality.

Good foam knife (the right breadknife!) and working round gradually to form a good shape.

Best book on upholstery is James' The little hobby guides tell you the basics, but this is the real one.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right. Having spent some time on it this evening the originals although looking like ordinary textile webbing appear to have elastic in them. They're just over an inch wide. The cords in the webbing are the size of string. But since they've all broken obviously poor quality.

Yes - sort of domed. The fabric is, I'd guess, brushed nylon or similar and has survived well.

Ok.

I have one of those electric bacon slicer cutters I've never actually used (special offer I couldn't refuse) and wonder if that might work for this?

I'll see if I get a taste for it. So far removing a zillion staples hasn't been a bundle of laughs.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The little Ebay research I've done suggests otherwise?

[The Medway Handyman]

I haven't looked, but 20 years ago I was in that game & that was all that was about - apart from rubber webbing. Things might have changed.

[Andrew Gabriel]

20 years ago, I bought rubber webbing, fixing clips, etc from John Lewis.