If these had been screws for the backing and seat, it would have been far easier to reupholster, but alas, these seats had plastic clips that were nearly impossible to remove without damaging them.
It took a while to figure out how to remove the seats to begin with. I finally searched on the internet and found a Reddit post saying you had to use force to remove the seat and maybe a bit of leverage.
After damaging the clips with my pliers, thinking I could twist them off, I did as the post suggested and yanked the seat off damaging, not just the plastic clips, but spitting the particle board on all four corners.
Once I reupholstered one seat with damaged clips, I grabbed a few and headed to the hardware store to replace them. It literally took 8 employees to figure out what these actually were. A few reverse searches later and a some car aficionados later, and I was advised to check an auto supply store for Retainer Clips.
As soon as I showed an employee at the auto store my damaged clip, he immediately directed me to where they were. There were so many to choose from, but none exactly like the one I had. I choose the one that best matched what I had and bought two packages of 8. For a cost of $10, it was well worth it, as they are nearly impossible to not damage which reupholstering folding chairs with these clips.
I used fabric I originally bought for a window bench and loved it so much I bought the entire bolt when I found it for 90% off in store at JoAnns. I had originally seen it online and loved it but not at $110/yard. Once I used a few yards of it, I feel out of love for it and gave 7 yards to a friend who used some of it and offered the remaining 4 yards to another friend.
When I started this project, I asked if my friend still had the fabric and she said yes! She had ended up not using it, so thankfully I didn't need to purchase fabric for this project, but I did originally buy it, so I'm approximating about $40 for fabric.
Another friend lent me a staple gun and staples. She included 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch and I found that 1/4 inch worked well for this project. It cost $5 to replenish her supply of staples.
In total, it cost less than $10/chair and 30 min./chair to reupholster and considering these retail for $24/chair, I wonder if it is actually worth it financially. However, from an environmental perspective, I think it was well worth it as the folding chairs themselves were in excellent condition and we would have contributed much more to the landfill if we replaced these and tossed the damaged ones.
Fabric:
hartsfabric.com/aperture-stee...
Retainer Clips:
amzn.to/4ajFxgT
amzn.to/44DWYra
Staple gun:
amzn.to/3ygBt3w
Other supplies:
Hammer, pliers, scissors.
Find me here:
/ pepperandpine
/ pepperandpine
/ pepperandpine
www.pepperandpine.com
6 авг 2024
