BUILT IN OBSOLESCENCE

BUILT IN OBSOLESCENCE

Another good reason to recover is that over time it works out to be cheaper than buying new furniture, this is because if for example you buy a set of dining chairs at $300 each and you only get 3 to 5 years out of them before they would need replacing or recovering due to manufacturers using cheap materials to cover them and poor quality foam, you would then spend another $300 and get 3 to 5 years again, and so on.                                                                                                       

If instead of buying new ones again you decide to recover the original chairs with a good quality fabric and replace the foam using Dunlop Enduro foam you would get at least 10 years or more out of them and would cost around say $200 to $250 each. So this would save you having to buy new ones around 2 or 3 times.

The same goes for lounge furniture, a good example of this is the recover work we do for a university, they buy good quality furniture but because it’s in such high traffic environment the fabric gets dirty and can even wear out in a two to three year period, if they were then to spend another 2.5/3K to replace the sofa it would cost much more over a 10 year period then if they were to recover the sofa 2 or 3 times for around $1200 each time over the same 10 year period. Would be under 4K over a 10 year period compared to around $10K buying new each time.

Below are a few recent jobs completed.

                                                     Jimmy Possum 3.5 seater sofa

                                                                          BEFORE

AFTER

                                     

                                                             Moroso lounge suite

                                                                  BEFORE

  

                                                                  AFTER

                                                               Tapavino restaurant

                                                                       BEFORE

                                                                      AFTER

                              Fabric Care and Cleaning

Alcoholic Beverages 

After the moisture has been blotted up, dab at the stain with a clean cloth dampened in rubbing alcohol. Then blot repeatedly with liquid detergent mixed with cool water. Blot dry with a towel. Dab again with clear cool water and blot dry.

Blood 

Mix one teaspoon of ammonia in a cup of cold water and apply it sparingly to the spot. Blot with a clean towel. Repeat the procedure until the spot is gone. Then dab the area with cool water and blot. Wait 15 minutes and moisten the area again with white distilled vinegar. Blot thoroughly with a dry towel.

Chenille Yarn Fabrics 

Shampoo cleaning or hot-water extraction, taking care to restore the pile orientation in finishing will produce a satisfactory result. Care must be taken not to undertake concentrated rubbing on a small area, which may produce irreversible disruption of the chenille fibre. It should be noted that even the simple act of wetting the fabric is likely to produce an appearance change even if the chenille fibre is not disrupted. This is largely due to flattening of the chenille fibre while it is wet and may result in a 'dappled' or 'mottled' surface. Warning: Some high pile viscose rayon chenilles, velvets and pocket weave jacquards may change in surface character if stain repellent treatments are applied. Extra care should be taken to pre-test for these fabrics. Chewing Gum Rub an ice cube over the gum to harden it, then scrape off the excess with a dull knife. To remove what's left, use dry cleaning fluid. Chocolate and other soft candy) This is a .combination greasy/non-greasy stain. Scrape excess away, then go over the spot with cool water mixed with a liquid detergent. Blot thoroughly and then clean with dry cleaning fluid.

Coffee and Tea 

Sponge with warm water. Apply warm glycerine. Leave for 30 minutes. Flush out with water and dry quickly.

Cosmetics 

Sponge with warm water. Apply warm glycerine. Leave for 30 minutes. Flush out with water and dry quickly.

Fruit and Fruit Juices 

After excess is blotted up or scraped away, blot the spot with cool water. If a stain remains, add liquid detergent and a drop of vinegar to the water. Dab the spot with this mixture and blot until there's no trace of a stain. Then go over the area lightly with clear water to remove traces of vinegar. 

Grease (including hair grease and oil) 

Scrape away excess if necessary and then dab repeatedly at the stain with dry cleaning fluid. If any stain remains, go over the area with a lukewarm mixture of liquid detergent and water. Always make sure you use a clean portion so you don't put the stain back in the fabric. Last, go over the area with a clean cloth moistened with cool clear water.

Ice Cream 

Scrape away excess and apply cool water mixed with liquid detergent, blotting frequently with a dry cloth so as not to saturate the fabric. Let dry and then go over any remaining stain with dry cleaning fluid. Blot dry.

Ink 

Moisten with warm glycerine. Leave for 10 minutes. Apply liquid detergent and brush lightly. Flush out with water and dry quickly.

Iodine 

Rub with cut lemon before sponging with warm water. Apply small quantity of detergent with cle—an cloth. Blot stain then remove soapy residue with cloth wrung cut in warm water and white vinegar solution (1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water).

Milk and Vomit 

Blot or scrape away the excess, then take a clean soft cloth and blot. Apply clear cool water to the area, blotting frequently. Then blot with a detergent solution to which you've added a small amount of ammonia. Blot dry and wait a few minutes. Go over the area with dry cleaning fluid, blot dry. Finally, blot the area lightly with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. Professional Cleaning Frequency Is determined by the furniture use, your own maintenance, upkeep and environmental conditions. As a good 'rule of thumb' overall cleaning is recommended every 12 months for most family room lounges. Check your care label first to see if a mill-applied protection was incorporated during fabric manufacture. It is not necessary to apply an after-market protector over mill-applied protectors on new fabrics. Fabric protectors do not eliminate the need for vacuuming, routine cleaning or proper care. They will, however, make spot cleaning and vacuuming quicker, easier and more efficient between professional cleans and keep your fabric looking cleaner longer, as well as extending its life. Professionals applying fabric protectors must always pre test to qualify fabric suitability.

Shoe Polish 

Apply liquid paraffin to loosen the stain, then sponge with dry cleaning fluid. Soft Drinks, Sweets and Syrups 

Sponge with water, add warm glycerine and work into stain. Flush out with water and dry. Spot Cleaning Treat spills and stains as soon as possible. Test on hidden area to ensure fabric and colour are not removed. Gently scrape any soil or mcp any liquid from the surface of the fabric. Use of soap or detergent with water should be approached with caution since overzealous rinsing to remove soap residue may result in over-wetting, water marking and possible wetting of substructure this may create other stains or damage products). Our spot cleaning advice is offered in good faith and should not be considered as a guarantee that all stains may be removed. For severe stains please consult a professional upholstery cleaning company.

1 For Non Oil-Based Stains Use warm water and non toilet soaps which do not contain optical brighteners (consider Velvet soap, Lux Flakes, Softly). Mix a small amount of soap and warm water solution and apply to the stain, rubbing gently. Blot dry with a clean towel. Apply cool water (preferably rain or distilled water) and blot dry again. Then with a hair dryer working out from the centre of the stain, dry quickly to prevent rings forming. It is generally preferable to clean whole panels of fabric in this way rather than trying to spot clean specific areas.

2 For Oil-Based Stains Following the same basic guidelines as above, apply a proprietary brand solvent based cleaner and try to clean generally in panels rather than spot cleaning specific areas. A helpful industry 'secret' is for spot removal of oil based biro marks by the application of a conventional hair spray.

Urine It is especially important to treat this stain right away, before the urine dries. Otherwise, the urine may react with the fabric dyes and cause permanent discolouration. First, dab at the stain with a solution of white vinegar and water and blot dry. Then apply a mixture of liquid detergent and cool water, blotting frequently and with a dry cloth to avoid saturating the fabric. Finally, dab the spot with clear cool water and blot thoroughly.

Velvet Curtain Care Curtaining velvet needs care in handling and use. Window fittings coming in contact with the curtain should be avoided. Stiff brushing or strong vacuum cleaning on the reverse side of velvet can also pull at the pile. Draw cords or other methods of drawing without handling the curtain itself are recommended, as grasping, particularly with fingernails, can cause crushing and other damage. Velvet curtains should be dry cleaned. Water Spots Blot thoroughly and then dampen the entire spot with clear white vinegar. Wait a few minutes. When the area is dry, moisten it again with clear water, blotting with a dry cloth after every application of the damp cloth. If the fabric has a pile, brush in the direction of the pile when it is dry.

Hope this may be of help :).

Antique Furniture - chair types and history

At Cover It Upholstery Sydney we specialise in all types of furniture.

Below is some interesting history regarding chairs we are often asked to recover.

Further in this post, some pictures of some train carriage seating we have upholstered as part of the refurbishment of the "3801" by Eveleigh Projects. We completed this job a while back but thought it would be a good inclusion with this post.

Balloon back chairs

This style of chair was made between c1850 and c1890, and were inspired by Continental designs. They were originally intended for the salon, rather than as dining chairs, so carvers are extremely rare. The finer examples have cabriole front legs and are usually in walnut, but there are also many less attractive examples made in their thousands for a mass market. Fakes are unlikely as they have always been in plentiful supply and modestly priced. However, copies have been known to have been imported from the Far East which are heavier than the Victorian originals, and are obvious copies.

Bergere Chairs

Bergere Chairs As with many furniture terms, bergere is used not altogether correctly. Often featured to describe a particular type of armchair and settee with caned sides and back, a bergere was originally any armchair with upholstered sides. This particular form of seating first appeared in France c1725 and gradually spread in popularity to other European countries displacing chairs with open arms. The name is now perhaps most frequently applied to a style of chair which was popular during the Regency period: often of square form but sometimes with a curved back and having caned sides, back and seat (usually fitted with a squab cushion). Similar upholstered examples can be found but these usually date from a little later.

Chaises Longues & Daybeds

Chaises Longues & Daybeds The Regency period saw the introduction of the chaise longue, a fully upholstered chair with an elongated seat and inclined back and arms. They were sometimes made in mirror image pairs, with headrests at opposite ends, but are now mostly found as single examples. The frames of Victorian chaises longues were often elaborately carved.

Chippendale style chairs

 Chippendale chair designs were often copied in the Victorian period, and these copies are now very collectable in their own right. Reproductions can be distinguished from chairs made during the Chippendale period by the use of exaggerated elements of Chippendale style such as very pronounced cabriole legs, an over-elaborate base splat, and a large amount of carving. The quality of the carving, though competent, is often rather stiff and lifeless, and is shallower than 18thC carving with less undercutting. The chair will have a lesser degree of wear than period examples, and sometimes were made with corner brackets that were not found on chairs until the 19thC. Breaks sometimes occur in the scrolled ends of top rails, and a repair would be difficult to disguise against close inspection.

Dining Chairs

By the second half of the 18thC the dining room had become the focal point of any great house. There the main meal of the day was taken and the long D-end dining tables which permanently graced the rooms cried out for equally 'long' sets of chairs to accommodate the diners. Until then meals had usually been quite intimate affairs eaten in private apartments off folding tables while seated on parlour or side chairs. While breakfast and supper might still be taken in that way, by 1800 the importance of the dining room as the centre of the house was established, and so it continued through the 19thC. Now, despite our reversion to less formal eating habits, the demand for sets of dining chairs remains strong with premiums being paid for large sets.

THE 3801

Seating upholstered by Cover It Upholstery Sydney

AWARD WINNING Cover It Upholstery Sydney

Cover It Upholstery Sydney 

Welcome to our blog! This post is to let you all know Cover It Upholstery Sydney has just been voted 12^th most popular home improvement business on the site “Home Improvement 2Day”.

It’s always good to be appreciated J.

Top 25 Awards

Cover It Upholstery Sydney has been selected as one of our Most Popular Home Improvement Specialists!

Awards received for 2016:

·         #12 Most Popular Home Improvement Specialist in Sydney City 

If you are interested you may like to visit our website Cover It Upholstery Sydney and read some testimonials from some of our customers.

Here is a photo of a piece of Versace fabric and the small stool we recovered with it.

Below is some info about linen fabrics and how to care for them

Linen is a pure natural fabric of great beauty with unique features, a noble fabric since ancient times, treasured by the Egyptian Pharaoh's before the Europeans and Russians. Linen is derived from the flax plant which grows well in cool, damp climates such as found in northern Europe, the Baltics and northern Russia. Flax is sown in the autumn and harvested 100 days later by hand. The flax is left exposed to the sun to weather, then washed, scoured and cleaned before being spun into yarn and woven into linen fabric. Flax is fully biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Linen is soft to handle and comfortable with excellent insulating properties. Quality Linen is produced by mills in Europe that have a long tradition in the art of linen production and where quality control is strictly maintained.Quality Linens are all washed twice at the mill to reduce possible shrinkage.

Care Instructions

Most fabrics will fade and eventually wear out which, for fabric lovers, is part of their charm. With proper care linen can last for many years and be a source of pride and joy to the user. Being of natural fibres, small imperfections can sometimes be found such as knobs and slubs which is normal, and part of their charm. Shrinkage and stretching can occur so allowances of 4% - 6% is recommended to accommodate this. Depending on climatic conditions they are more prone to movement, in wet, damp conditions or high in humidity. Stretching can occur particularly with heavier weights so we recommend that bottom hems not be finished until hung when adjustments can be made. Again this is subject to humidity as linen absorbs moisture which can cause the problem. Many people prefer to let the curtains balloon onto the floor which is a nice generous effect. All curtains should be fully lined to protect them from harsh sunlight and furniture should also be protected from direct sun. Furniture and curtains should be vacuumed from time to time to prevent dirt building up. Washing can be done by hand in a tub or if machine washed protected in a bag. Use clean water with a mild detergent at temperature of 40°. No bleach or chlorine to be used. Stone washed linens are NOT washable and should be Dry-cleaned only For stains or marks apply a damp or wet clean cloth and rub gently. Do not rub excessively hard as colour can remove. 

BRAND NEW AGAIN

 

Brand new again

When your furniture is looking tired, out-of-date and needing some tender love and care, you can give it a new lease on life with re-upholstery.

 Re-upholstery is the technique of repairing old furniture like recovering a chair, replacing the foam inside a seat or repairing the joints. Cover It Upholstery Sydney have been in the upholstery industry for more than 30 years but officially established in 1998. Our interest for breathing new life back into old furnishings was sparked from the love of antiques and restoring old furniture and bringing it back to its original condition.

At Cover It Upholstery Sydney we can restore modem or antique furniture, large or small. Some items could take long to do depending on the damage. It's very rare that a piece cannot be restored no matter how extensive the damage is, as we can do full restorations to upholstered furniture. In the past we have worked on restoring furniture at clubs, restaurants and bars as well as worked on many antiques — some more than 250 years old.

Re-upholstering your old furniture could be a better value alternative to buying new furnishings, as there is often nothing wrong with the furniture besides worn or dirty fabric so therefore to opt to recover existing furniture with any choice of fabrics is the way to go. Knowing that if recovering quality furniture you will get 10 to 20 years out of it instead of buying something that will need to be replaced in a few years. Also you may be disappointed by what is on offer in retail stores.

 Another benefit of upholstering old furniture is that it reduces landfill waste as well as the number of trees that needed to be cut down to construct furniture pieces. Reupholstering old furniture is a way of recycling your old furniture and making it new again. Reupholstery also gives you the opportunity to personalise your furniture using quality materials and perfected trade techniques that will give you a piece that will last a long time.

We do a lot of commercial work consisting of either recovering existing furniture or making new. Every year we make a lot of banquette seating for various bars and restaurants.

Below are some examples of some recent work done the second half of 2016.