reupholstering

[elijahboy]

is this task difficult?

i bought some very high end dining chairs from craigslist for a rock bottom price

the chairs are comtemporary and gorgeous just my style

however the upholstery on the chairs is a cream color and have small stains and i have rented the rug doctor and tried to clean already and didnt really do much good

is it hard to do?

do you have any tips?

how much do you think it would costs to take to a company that reupholsters?

 

[elijahboy]

this is what i want to duplicate and im worried it will look crappy

 

[beerman]

I clean upholstery if you can ID the spot I can tell you what to use to remove it. You might have to do a PH test on the spot to tell what caused the stain.

 

[elijahboy]

well there just isnt a couple of spots the seats are fairly spotted up im sure its food as these are dining chairs

the spots were there when i purchased the chairs.i really only bought the chairs for the style and had already planned on reupholstering them

i think the spot remover i used was called fosters

I clean upholstery if you can ID the spot I can tell you what to use to remove it. You might have to do a PH test on the spot to tell what caused the stain.

 

[hqueen13]

Would slip covers work? They might be easier to make (even if they need to be somewhat form fitting) and the bonus would be that they could be removed to wash.
Can you take a picture of the whole chair?

 

[elijahboy]

oh how i wish i could just throw a slipcover over them the back and the seat are totally seperate pieces and reupholstered individually and every chair has arms

see all the stains on the seat

Would slip covers work? They might be easier to make (even if they need to be somewhat form fitting) and the bonus would be that they could be removed to wash.
Can you take a picture of the whole chair?

 

[hqueen13]

Well, it would be tricky, but I would think you could do it with slipcovers if you wanted to. The hardest part of the reupholstering would be the back since it has fabric on both the front and back of the chair. The bottom is easy since all you need to do is just lay it down and pull it over and staple. I don't know how to manage upholstery when it has fabric on the front and back.
I would think if you finished off a little area around the arms, and then below the arms made a flap that closed with snaps or velcro you could do it without too much trouble and get a decent clean look. Did I describe my mental picture well enough??? LOL

 

[elijahboy]

i think the first thing im going to do (since in the pic the stains look like grease stains) is buy some greased lightning and clean them again with the rug doctor

like you said reupholstering the bottom will be super easy

i was thinking with the back part (take all the chairs apart entirely) is make like a skin (for cell phones) and just slip it over but i will lose that odd seam on the back

Well, it would be tricky, but I would think you could do it with slipcovers if you wanted to. The hardest part of the reupholstering would be the back since it has fabric on both the front and back of the chair. The bottom is easy since all you need to do is just lay it down and pull it over and staple. I don't know how to manage upholstery when it has fabric on the front and back.
I would think if you finished off a little area around the arms, and then below the arms made a flap that closed with snaps or velcro you could do it without too much trouble and get a decent clean look. Did I describe my mental picture well enough??? LOL

 

[elijahboy]

just had a thought

maybe i can do without the odd seam that i really want to keep and make the skin for the back of the chair and add tack studs

 

[SSDreamin]

The seats should be a snap - I've done several like those and it's very easy (duh! If I could do it, it MUST be easy! ) The welting on the back of the uprights would be the trickiest part of those (I may be corrected by someone much more knowledgeable, but welting is just rope wrapped in fabric and stitched). I was told by someone who does this for a living, to carefully take one of the chairs upholstery apart, then use that as a pattern. The trick is, to remember where every piece went and how to put it back together.