Better to reupholster leather or buy new?

If your leather looks like this, you probably need some help.

Last time we talked about the formula on figuring out how many leather hides to buy if you are reupholstering. But here's a question - is it better to buy leather furniture or reupholster?  Well it depends on what it is and how meaningful the furniture is to you. If you are buying hides for a lounge suite, that's going to be pricey and then there is the labour involved of getting your upholsterer to complete the project. You can purchase a leather alternative which look very close to the real thing, but will also bring your costs down. But often you may find that even though leather lasts a very long time, it may be better to purchase new. However, if the the furniture is meaningful to you in some way (check out this post) then reupholstering it may be the best thing for your furniture. 

How many leather hides do I need to buy?

When you are getting a lounge suite covered in leather, you need to figure out how many hides you will need. Leather comes per hide, not on a roll from your local fabric store. That means it takes a little brain power to determine the number of hides you need to buy. In general, it's assumed that each hide will give you approximately 4.75 square metres of leather, but how does that translate to how many I need for my lounge suite?

Here are some basics so you can get a better idea of what you might need, but check with your upholsterer to confirm you will have enough for your project before buying. It is likely however, that your upholsterer has their own source on getting hides. So check that the deal you're getting is in fact better than what your upholsterer would be able to get within the trade. 

A Leather Sofa Question

"I recently bought a new leather sofa, and was told when I bought it that the cushions would bounce back after they were sat on. I've only had it a few weeks and the cushions are left wrinkled every time someone sits on them. I've been told that I need to smooth out the wrinkles every morning. I really don't want to have to keep doing this and I'm starting to regret buying leather."

Don't regret buying leather, if well maintained it can last a life time. But in your situation I can see why you're getting frustrated, I wouldn't want to be smoothing out the wrinkles everyday either! There are a lot of reasons why the wrinkles may be happening. First of all leather will have a tendency to stretch a little, it is a skin after all, but the softer the leather the more it will stretch. If you combine a soft leather with a foam that is too soft then you will find that the leather will wrinkle more. A soft leather feels fantastic to sit on, but there is a trade off.  It is likely then that in your situation that you have  a leather/foam issue. 

Foam is rated in two ways Density and Foam Hardness (compression). The density rating will let you know how long it is expected to last, and the hardness (compression) indicates if it is soft, medium or firm in feel.  So if your sofa has a low density and is soft in touch, although it may be comfortable when sitting on it in the showroom, it may not withstand the rigours of daily life.

You could go back to the company and ask what the density and the compression (hardness) of the foam is. If it is on the softer side, ask if they would replace the foam with a higher density foam with a medium to firm hardness.

So in future if you are investigating buying furniture make sure you understand the importance of foam. Most people just think about the the upholstery fabric, but don't realise, that just like a house, it's the foundation that has the biggest impact.

If you have any questions or would like some advice or help, feel free to call 0800 698 746

Reupholster or a Slipcover?

Not a good slipcover candidate

I'm sure you've asked yourself which is the better option at some point. Each option has it's benefits, and it depends on what you are trying to achieve with your furniture.

When a piece of furniture is reupholstered it will be stripped back inspected and any parts will be replaced (such as springs). Then new fabric is sewn to create the cover and cushions. The end result is a tailored, professional 'new' piece of furniture. We can also even make a few changes to the style of cushions and padding on the arms to make it look like a new piece.

Furniture Trends

I'm sure over the years, you've seen trends come and go, and it's no different with furniture.

What are some of the trends that we've seen recently:

Environmentally Conscious Furniture

With the environment being top of mind in all areas, 'eco-furniture' is here to stay. This means recycled or repurposed materials, wood from sustainable forests, and chemicals that have a lesser impact on the environment.

What girl could refuse?

In 2008 Bruce (my husband) alluded to a romantic leisurely drive from Christchurch to Wanaka. Winding our way through rugged mountains, coffee and champagne lunches beside picture perfect lakes with spectacular snowy alpine views, all to celebrate our 29th Wedding anniversary, I just couldn't refuse.

But there was more to it than that: Warbirds over Wanaka.  Adding that into the weekend would be the icing on the anniversary cake. However, what that truly meant was walking the talk…sales and marketing…with over 80,000 people in attendance and the aircraft manufacturers, pilots, engineers, and enthusiasts lined up to hear about our Amazing Leather Repairs.

Yes it turned into a fantastic opportunity to display and talk about Fibrenew.

Choosing an Upholstery Cleaner

We all need to clean our upholstery from time to time. It is the key in keeping your furniture looking good for as long as possible. You wouldn't buy a car and never clean the inside or outside (well some people might), and the same goes for your furniture. This is especially true if you have kids or pets.

But there is a wide range of cleaners, but which one do you choose?

Vinyl - The Facts

One of the more popular fabrics we work with is vinyl. The reason for this, is that we work with a lot of restaurants and other high traffic hospitality businesses. When you are in the service industry, you need a versatile product that meets certain criteria.

Vinyl is a durable and easy to clean fabric, that comes in a variety of colors and textures. So no wonder it's popular in the restaurant trade.

For a hospitality business, the top 3 needs in a fabric usually are:

1 - Affordability

2 - Ease of use (i.e. how easy is it to keep clean.)

3 - Durability

Enjoy your leather lounge suite, for longer!

Imagine sitting down on your leather lounge suite every night smelling that sweet smell of new leather, looking at it you think 'wow it looks as good as new'! (There's nothing quite like the smell of new leather, is there?)

I interviewed Bruce Bryant of South Auckland last year about leather furniture and he said:  “I have spent the last 12 years cleaning, repairing and re-dyeing leather in NZ”  (Bruce’s company has more than 32 years of solid industry experience, in the vehicle, aircraft, marine and residential markets.)  "I know that leather can last forever if cleaned and protected regularly."

Leather, or is it an Imitation?

This is an imitation.

So you are interested in using leather for your upholstery, but not sure what to look. This blog post is a summary of the full article that is on our website, have a look for a more detailed discussion. 

There is leather and then there are a lot of products that are imitation leather, such as:

• Bi-cast, 
• Split leather
• Faux leather 
• Pleather reconstituted leather
• Bonded leather 
• PU coated leather

Looking After Your Upholstery

You spent good money fitting out your business with fantastic looking upholstery, but how do you look after it and make sure that it stays looking as crisp and clean as the day it was 'upholstered'?

First of all you need to look at the furniture, is it leather or vinyl banquet seating, fabric upholstered chairs, or the couches in the lunch room?  Each of them need to be treated differently. 

The following tips can be passed onto your cleaners, posted in your lunchroom or sent out to individual branch managers or franchise owners.

Here are a few things to keep in mind.