cutting foam for chair reupholstery how to…
I removed the cushion from this chair to paint it by using a drill to unscrew the screws holding it to the frame but both the bony foam and the fabric were….not my jam.
It has come to my attention that previous generations believed that less foam and less comfort meant your chairs were attractive but maybe not functional as….chairs. I almost always redo my foam because a) I like my butt on something fluffy and b) thrifted foam and fabric give me the heebity jeebitys.
Pulling off the old fabric can sometimes be done with a bit of hulk strength by hand, otherwise I use a flat head screwdriver to pop the staples and then pliers to get them out. Might I suggest getting a white paper towel to put your staples on so they don’t end up in the carpet? That is a seek and find you do not want.
I like a thick foam so my hiney feels like it is sitting on clouds. It comes in different thicknesses so you can get what feels best to you, the main thing to do is make sure you’re getting the right width dimensions. I like to get my foam at joann when it’s on sale. I usually take the chair seat in with me so I look like a real professional but also because spatial reasoning is not my forte and you only cut too short foam once before you quadruple check that on every future chair. Try for at least an inch on all sides since most chairs have rounded corners.
Take your original weird flat foam and line it up on your new cloud foam. I usually put the long edge of my old foam right up to the edge of my new foam because I am lazy and that is one less cut. Trace that bad boy with a sharpie to get your pattern.
This is where the fun comes in! I cut foam with an electric knife. This guy was a wedding gift that sawed many a Turkey. When we upgraded to a different knife I hoarded this one for foam. Did I cut foam with it while it was still technically a Turkey knife? Maybe, but I’ll deny it if hubs finds out. It is considerably less sketch to just pony up $25 for a foam knife. If you go non electric bread knife May the odds be ever in your favor.
The hardest thing about cutting foam is keeping even pressure and depth so you don’t get ridges. I like to think of it like cutting shrubs cause you’re going for uniform pressure and the corners take that kind of weird rounded wrist movement that round shrubs do. I actually find cutting straight down the easiest so I start with the right side curve (I’m right handed though I take pics with my left because of that one time I tried to take a pic left handed and dropped the phone into a glob of glue) do the curve and then fairly quickly and with even pressure cut down.
When I get to the next curve I shut off the knife (for the love of Pete don’t forget to do that) and TURN THE FOAM so that I turn the curve and then am still cutting down. I do that again for the last corner and then I’m back to the last corner and the flat front. If you have a super egregious depth mistake you can do that thing where you try and shave bits to make it even but don’t get too crazy. If you cover it with batting to reupholster (I highly reccomend) it’ll be fine. You are not a professional upholsterer if you’re reading this tutorial so embrace your inner crafty goddess and realize no one will ever scrutinize that one small lump in your chair. And, like, don’t tell people about it, that just makes you look neurotic.
Link to the knife so you don’t even have to google because I am wonderful:
Hamilton Beach Electric Knife for Carving Meats, Poultry, Bread, Crafting Foam & More, Storage Case & Serving Fork Included, White https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i...
(non affiliate link)
