Can I reupholster my existing care home chairs?

With care homes across the UK looking to reduce their carbon footprint many are looking at ways in which they can re-use the furniture they already have. One question we have had recently is, can we reupholster our existing chairs?

Whilst this is a solution that is possible, it isn’t as cost-effective and as efficient as you may have thought.

The processes involved in reupholstering a chair

Firstly, the chairs need to be collected and brought back to the factory to then begin the re-upholstery process.

The chairs then have to be stripped down, starting by taking off the cover and then removing any foam/filling etc. This is a very time-consuming process as everything must be removed from the frame, all staples, fillings and webbing etc. to ensure that when the chair is re-upholstered it looks as neat as possible.

All of this needs to happen before you can begin the re-upholstery process, meaning the length of time it takes us to strip down and then upholster the chair is nearly twice as long as the time it takes to make a chair from new. This in turn also means the cost is likely to be twice as much.

At the end of this process all you are left with is an old frame that has already had X number of years of use and is, therefore, unlikely to be as sturdy or robust as a new frame.

In conclusion the re-upholstery process is, unfortunately, a very costly solution due to the length of time and the number of processes involved together with the additional cost of picking the chairs up and taking them back to the factory in the first place. In addition, all we are typically able to reuse from the original chair is just the frame so the amount of material saved is very little.

Can I recycle my care home chairs when I buy new ones?

Unfortunately, at this point in time, there isn’t an effective way of recycling old care home furniture, but this is something we are continuing to look into.

I trust this article has given you some insights into the process behind reupholstering a chair, but if you do still have some questions, we are more than happy to help you, either contact us via the button below or use our live chat in the bottom right of this page and we will be more than happy to go through your questions with you.

Who is Edison & Day?

We are a UK manufacturer of care home furniture and have been supplying the market with high-quality furniture for 15 years, we create furniture and experiences that have the personal touch.

We have the largest care home furniture selection in the UK that is available to order online and with our industry-leading Dayex service, you can have your new furniture in as little as 5 working days.