Sometimes you really want to update your interior orbreathe new life into upholstered furniture, but there is neither the means nor the desire to buy a new set of furniture. There is an excellent way out of such situations, which will allow you not only to restore, but even improve the appearance of the interior: changing the covers and upholstery of upholstered furniture. A large number of companies in each city offer their services for re-upholstering a sofa, however, armed with some simple tools and materials, you can do such a procedure as re-upholstering a sofa with your own hands.
Types of sofa repair work.
When it is necessary to pull the sofa
It is known for certain that the frame materialfurniture is much stronger and more practical compared to fabric and foam rubber, therefore the service life of the base of our furniture is much longer than that of the filling. Therefore, many experts recommend not to throw away old furniture, but to repair it. The essence of re-upholstering a sofa is to change the cover and filling of upholstered furniture. There may be several reasons to resort to such restoration with your own hands:
Sofa section diagram.
- the upholstery and filler lost their appearance;
- marriage or manufacturer's mistakes: often defects are imperceptible at first sight, and sometimes appear even after several years of operation;
- you need to change the dimensions, for example, moving may require a new shape or size of the sofa;
- The old type of furniture does not fit into the new interior;
- dirt accumulation:It is no secret that upholstered furniture and pillows are an excellent environment for the life of bacteria, allergens, accumulation of dirt; and also, during the decomposition process, some materials used in stuffing (for example, foam rubber) release toxic substances;
- Reupholstering a sofa yourself is a budget-friendly and easy way to transform your interior.
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What you need to self-tighten the couch
Scheme of upholstery of a corner sofa with different fabrics.If you have decided to reupholster your sofa but are afraid to do it yourself, your worries are in vain. This skill is not taught professionally, so all furniture reupholstery specialists are self-taught. Therefore, with patience and some simple tools, anyone can master this technique. Before starting the reupholstery process, you need to stock up on everything you need:
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Getting Started
A visual example of re-upholstering an old sofafor a new one. To reupholster a sofa with your own hands, you need to perform the actions in a clear sequence. Beginners are advised to choose simple furniture for the first time, for example, a sofa bed. And you should definitely not start with leather furniture, since the first time may not go as smoothly as you would like. First of all, you need to disassemble the sofa: separate the armrests, disconnect all the mechanisms and components. It happens that the screws, locks or springs are damaged - they should be carefully removed and stock up on new materials. The next step is to remove the old upholstery. Experts are categorically against sewing new upholstery over the old. Firstly, the old layer will lie in folds, and secondly, you will not get rid of the dust and dirt accumulated over the years. Remove the fabric, trying not to damage it, as it will serve as a template for the pattern of the new upholstery. As a rule, the fabric is held in place with staples, so carefully bend each staple with a staple remover or a regular knife. Remove the old insides and add foam rubber. When choosing foam rubber, pay attention to its density: very soft foam rubber will quickly lose its shape, the sofa will become deformed, and too dense and hard foam rubber will cause discomfort. Make sure that the new sofa is not thicker than the old version: if you overdo it with the filler, the sofa may not fold or the covering will stick out. If you decide to cut and sew the covers yourself, then you should approach this process with special care. Choose the most practical fabric that is not too rough or with a high percentage of synthetic fibers. You need to cut out the new fabric very carefully, taking the shapes and sizes of the old upholstery as a basis. When cutting, keep in mind that the old fabric could stretch out or the new upholstery will stretch, and after a while the sofa will lose its shape. The most convenient way to apply markings on the fabric is to use regular chalk, it erases easily and leaves no marks. Be sure to leave a few extra centimeters, which will go to the fold. Reupholstering a sofa is a process that requires care, especially the correctness of your cutting must be checked before cutting the fabric. The threads should be the strongest, so that the sofa will last for many years. Experts recommend upholstering the sofa, starting from the middle. Before reupholstering the sofa, make sure that you have not mixed up the edges, the right and left sides. The cover is attached to the wooden frame with a stapler, you can even take ordinary buttons. If something went wrong, you can pull out the staples and start all over again. After placing the cover, you can assemble the sofa. Assembly is done in reverse order. However, in some cases it is better to leave the process of reupholstering the sofa to professionals:
- if the furniture has a complex design and it will be difficult to assemble it after the constriction;
- When sewing a new cover, there are some difficulties;
- need not only replace the cover and filler, but also parts of the frame;
- The material to be worked on is too complex or expensive.
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Which material to choose
Scheme of formation of a sofa on a spring block.Having decided to reupholster a sofa with their own hands, a person usually wonders what the furniture should look like. And if everything is more or less simple with the filler - usually it is foam rubber, then the top material can be different. The most popular materials for covers today are:
- the cloth;
- leather;
- synthetic leather;
- eco leather.
Fabric is the simplest and most cost-effective option.But it also has its disadvantages - it is unstable against dirt and damage. The fabric is easily stained, it is easy to cut. It is especially risky to use fabric for the cover if there are small children and pets in the house. Cotton, linen or tapestry are mainly used. Combined materials, fabric with the addition of synthetics, are also widely used today. Such materials are less capricious, durable and easy to care for. Leather is undoubtedly an excellent option for furniture. This material is durable, relatively easy to care for, you can choose almost any color, one of its main advantages is a respectable and chic appearance. But a big minus is the cost of the material. Therefore, for self-upholstery of a sofa, without many years of experience, it is not recommended to choose leather, so that a mistake in the work does not cost too much. Leather substitutes are a great alternative to natural material. In terms of composition, all leatherettes are a fabric or paper base with polyurethane or nitrocellulose impregnation. The coating is applied to one or both sides of the base. Such materials as sofa upholstery are easy to care for, durable and not susceptible to sunlight. Some high-quality examples of leatherette are almost indistinguishable from natural leather, and in terms of such criteria as strength and elasticity, they even surpass their natural counterparts. Eco-leather is one of the latest developments. Despite the fact that this is a type of leatherette, eco-leather has a natural appearance, the most modern impregnation is used, and the material is even breathable.
