About a month ago I decided to reupholster my dining room chairs. 6 of them.
They came with white, yes white upholstery on the seats. I would ask "who's crazy idea was that!?!" But the fact that I bought them in this color is a question I can't answer either so we'll leave it at the simple idea that both Dan and I loved the chairs other than that egregious mistake in fabric color.
Having tried to use 'tie on' plastic covers, which failed miserably, and then fabric covers which only sorta worked for most of the 11 years of the life of these chairs (they would usually end up pulled off the side or the back like in the pic above right -- the ties are there if you look, and the cover is hanging off the back) the now gross, dismal grey of the fabric was begging to be replaced.
So, I drove into the fabric store, one of those home and furnishing fabric stores, and met a friend as I was going in. I told her what I was doing and she said, "Oh reupholstering those kind of chairs is so easy!"
I smiled big, this was just what I wanted to hear!
New fabric and vinyl sheeting, staple gun and staples in hand I started disassembling the chair seats.
8-[ It took me half a day just to remove the staples and fabric.
Then I took one look at the foam under the fabric and knew they had to be washed. (The dirt was actually in a pattern of the fabric...?!) Gross. I did the stomp and smush laundering method in the bathtub. Kinda fun actually :D
So then I wrung them out as much as I could and set them out to dry.
Hours, and hours, ...and hours later they were still wet. One was mostly dry and I tried stapling the fabric on but not only did the staples all buckle and have to be hammered in, but if anyone sat on it they felt wet still.
But the kids and I were leaving the next day for UT,...for two and a half weeks in UT. So I switched gears and decided the chairs must wait till I got back from UT. They'd be nice and dry then. ;D
Two and a half weeks of joyful chaos later---
I got back and picked a foam piece up ready to get the job done. Oh! Guess what? They were still wet... and had molded. WHAT?!?!?!
Somewhere in the two and a half weeks (likely the first day) Dan stacked the foam up and set them aside, out of the way. (He loves to clean the house right after we leave and then the house is clean the whole time we are gone. He revels in it. Does anyone else's husband do this?) So the stacking up and lack of airflow just made them mold inside.
I was so astounded I just stood there looking at it for long minutes... Now what?
I set them out in the direct sun and I guess the 90 degree heat and wind finally dried them. I figured whatever mold was inside would dry up and die so why take days more to rewash them? Yeah, I know, I know. But I still did it. I was really running low on time I wanted to devote to this project.
I had borrowed a staple gun from my cousin as they had done reupholstering too. I was really hoping for better results. The dang staples did the exact same thing; buckled, only went in half way or a quarter even, and so I had to hammer them the rest of the way. So it was a FULL day of stapleing, hammering, yanking out the worst and re-stapling and re-hammering. Ugh. I tried every angle, every configuration of staples and gun, every thickness of fabric etc. All the same results.
If I had to blame this stapling failure on anything I would have to be the seat boards. They are MDF, and not just any grade MDF. They are HEAVY and hard as concrete. They even have a formica top and bottom (I'm assuming for water protection). So I doubt if anything but a pneumatic high power staple gun would have made this job easier.
So I finally finished them. New fabric, with an added vinyl layer as well, somewhat clean foam and no more 'tie on' seat covers. I'm proud they are finished. Dang proud, and dang glad its over too!
I thought many times back to my friend telling me -- "Oh reupholstering those kind of chairs is SO EASY!"
They came with white, yes white upholstery on the seats. I would ask "who's crazy idea was that!?!" But the fact that I bought them in this color is a question I can't answer either so we'll leave it at the simple idea that both Dan and I loved the chairs other than that egregious mistake in fabric color.
Having tried to use 'tie on' plastic covers, which failed miserably, and then fabric covers which only sorta worked for most of the 11 years of the life of these chairs (they would usually end up pulled off the side or the back like in the pic above right -- the ties are there if you look, and the cover is hanging off the back) the now gross, dismal grey of the fabric was begging to be replaced.
So, I drove into the fabric store, one of those home and furnishing fabric stores, and met a friend as I was going in. I told her what I was doing and she said, "Oh reupholstering those kind of chairs is so easy!"
I smiled big, this was just what I wanted to hear!
New fabric and vinyl sheeting, staple gun and staples in hand I started disassembling the chair seats.
8-[ It took me half a day just to remove the staples and fabric.
Then I took one look at the foam under the fabric and knew they had to be washed. (The dirt was actually in a pattern of the fabric...?!) Gross. I did the stomp and smush laundering method in the bathtub. Kinda fun actually :D
So then I wrung them out as much as I could and set them out to dry.
Hours, and hours, ...and hours later they were still wet. One was mostly dry and I tried stapling the fabric on but not only did the staples all buckle and have to be hammered in, but if anyone sat on it they felt wet still.
But the kids and I were leaving the next day for UT,...for two and a half weeks in UT. So I switched gears and decided the chairs must wait till I got back from UT. They'd be nice and dry then. ;D
Two and a half weeks of joyful chaos later---
I got back and picked a foam piece up ready to get the job done. Oh! Guess what? They were still wet... and had molded. WHAT?!?!?!
Somewhere in the two and a half weeks (likely the first day) Dan stacked the foam up and set them aside, out of the way. (He loves to clean the house right after we leave and then the house is clean the whole time we are gone. He revels in it. Does anyone else's husband do this?) So the stacking up and lack of airflow just made them mold inside.
I was so astounded I just stood there looking at it for long minutes... Now what?
I set them out in the direct sun and I guess the 90 degree heat and wind finally dried them. I figured whatever mold was inside would dry up and die so why take days more to rewash them? Yeah, I know, I know. But I still did it. I was really running low on time I wanted to devote to this project.
I had borrowed a staple gun from my cousin as they had done reupholstering too. I was really hoping for better results. The dang staples did the exact same thing; buckled, only went in half way or a quarter even, and so I had to hammer them the rest of the way. So it was a FULL day of stapleing, hammering, yanking out the worst and re-stapling and re-hammering. Ugh. I tried every angle, every configuration of staples and gun, every thickness of fabric etc. All the same results.
If I had to blame this stapling failure on anything I would have to be the seat boards. They are MDF, and not just any grade MDF. They are HEAVY and hard as concrete. They even have a formica top and bottom (I'm assuming for water protection). So I doubt if anything but a pneumatic high power staple gun would have made this job easier.
So I finally finished them. New fabric, with an added vinyl layer as well, somewhat clean foam and no more 'tie on' seat covers. I'm proud they are finished. Dang proud, and dang glad its over too!
I thought many times back to my friend telling me -- "Oh reupholstering those kind of chairs is SO EASY!"
Oh Diane, there's a special project somewhere..... just waiting to bite you ...
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