Small Side Chair
So, you’ve got your small project, and you’ve got your great fabric and then boom! You hit a roadblock: the padding is crap, and needs a complete replacement. Boo. This actually happens frequently, so it’s best to know how to re-pad a chair properly. This chair is an antique, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to use antique methods of upholstery. This chair had foam previously, and there’s no reason that we can’t replace it with foam again.
On this chair for instance, the padding was comprised of deteriorating foam chips, with a layer of 1″ crumbling foam on top. Not good. The only thing to do was scrap it all, and start from scratch. Originally, the chair may have been built up with antique paddings. These are usually horsehair, straw, cotton, hessian, coconut fibres, burlap and others. If these materials are present, they can (and should) be cleaned up and reused. This maintains the authenticity of the antique, which may or may not have historical significance.
Proper Materials are Important
Along the way, someone had added a layer of plywood to the edge of this chair, which is too hard. You really don’t want to feel the front seat edge of a chair, so proper materials are important. Make sure that the frame is still sound before you remove any such wood in a chair – it may have been added to secure the frame which is otherwise beyond repair.
I removed the plywood from the front edge. This plywood has no structural importance to this chair.
The proper material to use is edge roll. It is a tissue material wrapped in a binding with an edge to allow you to staple it to the wood edge of a chair or sofa.
It just gets stapled directly to the frame, along the front edge. Use the shape of the edge as your guide. It should protrude from the front slightly.
It’s very important to properly fill the centre of the seat with enough padding – I used 1″ foam and multiple layers of cotton felt – so that it doesn’t sink when you sit on it. It should feel firm, but comfortable. Mostly, you don’t want to be able to feel the front seat edge when sitting.
A layer of 1″ foam goes over all the padding. Use quality foam for all your applications.
Finally, a layer of bonded polyester will round everything out for a full look.
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