Where to get new material for dining chairs?

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TeaLeaf

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#272382 23-Jun-2020 01:02

Have a nice table and chairs, too good to throw out, but the fake leather is looking crud. I want to replace it with something material possibly a darkish caramel type colour.

Anyway, where is the best place to go to get material to DIY the seat coverings? Spotlight?

Bung

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#2510145 23-Jun-2020 06:03

You may have other alternatives to Spotlight. There may be shops that deal in end runs of material and some op shops have left overs from someone else's projects. Measure up what you'll need so you're ready when you find something suitable.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

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#2510334 23-Jun-2020 10:36

Bung: You may have other alternatives to Spotlight. There may be shops that deal in end runs of material and some op shops have left overs from someone else's projects. Measure up what you'll need so you're ready when you find something suitable.

Thanks mate. To measure up, should I just take one set cloth off for now and measure it and times that by 6 and obviously arange to try and get a x CM by y CM total, or sqm if I can etc?

MikeAqua

7779 posts

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#2510380 23-Jun-2020 11:33

Try talking to a local upholsterer, they may be able to sell you some material. They will make some margin on it and you will get access to the wide range of quality material not available on the retail market. They would have high quality foams available too if you need those.

That's what I did when I reupholstered the squabs in my boat.

Mike

BlueShift

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#2510407 23-Jun-2020 12:16

I did this with our dining set recently. I just got a couple of metres of robust material from Spotlight. That was plenty for 6 seats. It was easier than I expected, just unscrew the seats, plier off the staples holding the old fabric on, then staple on the new fabric. It took a minute or two to work out the best way to fold the corners to make it look good, but other than that, no drama.

MikeAqua

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#2510445 23-Jun-2020 13:23

BlueShift:

I did this with our dining set recently. I just got a couple of metres of robust material from Spotlight. That was plenty for 6 seats. It was easier than I expected, just unscrew the seats, plier off the staples holding the old fabric on, then staple on the new fabric. It took a minute or two to work out the best way to fold the corners to make it look good, but other than that, no drama.

A chair base is more or less a squab and they are easy - even boat ones which are an odd shape.

A solid chair back would be harder depending on shape.

Mike

TeaLeaf

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#2510565 23-Jun-2020 14:53

BlueShift:

I did this with our dining set recently. I just got a couple of metres of robust material from Spotlight. That was plenty for 6 seats.

Sounds good. Do you remember what material you went with? I see they have normal price and vip price which is 1/3 retail but free to join haha.

This is not an ultra formal dining area, we have quality Rimu furniture throughout our PPOR. None the less, this fake leather was shizer, but the table and chairs are still ultra solid for a laminate set. The table edges may need new laminate at some stage as a few fractions of a mm lifted and cracked in spots. But who cares when its just a holiday set.

Ive never done this, but the Mrs sounds confident. Im sure there is a youtube tutorial for me haha.

TeaLeaf

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#2510566 23-Jun-2020 14:55

MikeAqua:

A chair base is more or less a squab and they are easy - even boat ones which are an odd shape.

A solid chair back would be harder depending on shape.

Thanks Mike. Nope they open back luckily. Fake rimu/totara type laminate. The squabs are still comfy, just that cruddy fake leather stuff cracks so much, despite being for a casual environment, i would like guests not to walk away with some fake leather on their booty hehe.

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Gurezaemon

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#2511088 23-Jun-2020 22:37

I just did our dining room chairs over the weekend.

The foam was very tired, so I got some pads of 30 mm thick reconstituted foam from Para Rubber, and it feels way more comfortable than the tired foam that was in the chairs previously.

The local (Whangarei) emporium had some great material for $10 a meter, so I bought a meter more than I thought I'd need, and got going with the staple gun. Very easy, but rather tedious. My advice - get more material than you'll need - it's cheap, and saves the hassle of cutting it wrong and having to go and get more. Ask the people at the store what is good for upholstery, and you'll be fine.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

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#2511093 23-Jun-2020 22:43

Yep planned to have spare anyway, you never know, one might need replacing again.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

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#2511094 23-Jun-2020 22:43

Yep planned to have spare anyway, you never know, one might need replacing again.

MikeAqua

7779 posts

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#2511216 24-Jun-2020 08:38

TeaLeaf:

MikeAqua:

A chair base is more or less a squab and they are easy - even boat ones which are an odd shape.

A solid chair back would be harder depending on shape.

Thanks Mike. Nope they open back luckily. Fake rimu/totara type laminate. The squabs are still comfy, just that cruddy fake leather stuff cracks so much, despite being for a casual environment, i would like guests not to walk away with some fake leather on their booty hehe.

Often the squab is just a square piece of board with the padding glued onto it and the fabric stapled to the underside. Lots of YouTube vids on how to recover. Often there is liner layer between the foam and then covering fabric (I'm not sure why), that may need to be replaced too.

Mike

Bung

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#2511289 24-Jun-2020 09:45

MikeAqua:
Often the squab is just a square piece of board with the padding glued onto it and the fabric stapled to the underside. Lots of YouTube vids on how to recover. Often there is liner layer between the foam and then covering fabric (I'm not sure why), that may need to be replaced too.

The calico layer between padding and surface material stops the two rubbing together and wearing. It is also easier sometimes to get the padding under control before doing the top neatly.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

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#2519568 8-Jul-2020 20:33

Bung: It is also easier sometimes to get the padding under control before doing the top neatly.

Good tip.

Just FYI, we tried Spotlight, it was a bit of a mess in there and quite hard to find a fabric suitable.

I think perhaps as suggested one of the Upholsterers may sell fabric retail as well, will try that. Any suggestions around Albany or north would be appreciated. Thanks all.