The art of letting go is something so uniquely related to how well we value things and their inherent relationship to our very existence. Highly valuable commodities, especially those of high personal and memorable value, can be quite difficult to just let go off.
Just as hopeless romantics speak of sentimental value in relationships, there also exists among homeowners a certain sense of sentimentality in their respective belongings. Articles that have provided the individuals with unquestionable service quality may find themselves quite difficult to just discard and forget.
Among the valuable pieces of belongings American homeowners have, there is no greater fascination noted than those for upholstered items. Perhaps this fascination lies in the fact that most upholstery involves pieces of furniture that provide homeowners some sense of comfort, inner peace, and tranquil moods. Examples of these may include, but not necessarily limited to, sofas, beds, and other furniture that allows for comfortable seating and or resting. With this in mind it can also include the seats in automotive vehicles and other modes of transportation.
The Anatomy of Upholstery
Upholstery roughly translates to the final product of a combination of padding, covering, frame, springs, and webbing to render the item or article stand alone and functional. Upholstery, as we have already mentioned, is the work of art involved in putting together different types of padding materials on a sturdy frame, enmesh it with springs and webbings, and provide a tapestry of intricately designed cover.
Understanding the value of such pieces of furniture and articles requires understanding of the science and art involved in putting together these seemingly unimportant materials into one meaningful and fully functional whole.
1. The upholstery will need a frame upon which all other component materials will be set upon in the very same manner as one would while painting on a canvas. The quality of the final product will be greatly dependent on the type and quality of frame that was used.
Softwood has been used in the design and construction of the furniture frame upon which the joinery is set upon. The problem with this kind of wood is that it may not have the necessary strength to support the joinery that is required to achieve the best results. This is perhaps the reason why a lot of upholsterers prefer hardwood like oak and alder to softwood.
The tight graining inherent in hardwoods allow pegs, tacks, and screws to be securely set against the grain of the wood. This reduces the chances of these joinery materials from loosening with the passing of time. For upholstery blocks and braces, hardwood laminates are often used over solid hardwood because of a relatively stronger characteristic.
The central idea in designing and making the frame for upholstery is to make the sturdiest frame possible for the furniture to be able to be used well even beyond its intended purpose. The more rigid the frame the better it is for the whole upholstery project because it precludes the possibility of cracks and or failures.
The science of upholstery framing is in the employment of distinct carpentry skills that allow for joints to be strengthened by blocks or dowels. Both methods provide extra support to the frame by securing wood elements together in order to contribute to the overall quality of the product in terms of durability and strength.
2. Upon the completion of the upholstery frame, a spring system is carefully planned and detailed to fit the frame and provide additional support to the seating or resting area. There are essentially two types of spring systems used by upholsterers. Standard spring systems are cheaper systems that attach springs to the frame of the furniture in order to support the seat deck – the layer of padding on top of the spring system.
Eight-way hand tied spring systems cost more to design and build but they offer greater comfort to the end user because such spring systems allow for the multiple movements, not just the up and down movement in standard spring systems. This is done by individually tying heavy gauge coils from front to back, side to side, and diagonally. This arrangement allows for better quality as well as better comfort and longer-lasting durability.
3. Seat cushions and padding are essentially what offers the user the perceived quality of comfort one would expect from the upholstered furniture. Majority of seat cushions are made of high density foam core sandwiched or log-rolled in soft polyester, feather and down, or other hypoallergenic down alternatives. Some upholsterers include Dacron in order to provide additional resilience, allowing the furniture to retain their shape and form even after repeated use and abuse.
4. We now have the frame, the spring systems, and the cushion and padding such that we now need to cover the whole thing. Upholstered furniture are commonly covered with tightly woven fabrics and blends in order to be worn longer. Some upholstery use leather as cover as it afford the user extended durability and ease of care, aside from the natural characteristic of softening and improving with time.
Holding On
The major idea in preserving the life and durability of upholstered furniture in the home is in the use of proper maintenance and cleaning procedures. By practicing these very simple steps regularly and religiously, homeowners can maximize the life and overall beauty and luster of upholstered furniture.
1. Institute a regular maintenance schedule, say once weekly or even once monthly, for all the upholstered furniture in your home. You can always encourage the active participation of every household members by assigning them individual furniture to maintain.
2. Remove all loose furniture cushions and padding, unless of course they were sewn tightly during the process of upholstering. Use a handheld dusting brush to loosen dirt while at the same time removing the dirt and dust with the use of a vacuum brush attachment.
3. Vacuum clean all surfaces of the upholstered furniture like the sides, arms, back, skirt, the seat deck (if visible), and the platform underneath the furniture cushions. Include in the vacuuming both sides of loose cushions after which you can replace them on the furniture.
4. Once you have vacuum cleaned the furniture cushions you can now proceed to their more thorough cleaning by creating your own cleaning solution. In this case, you may want to mix ¼ cup of your ordinary laundry detergent or even a liquid detergent to a cup of warm water. In order to achieve the desired foamy result, you may have to place the mixture in an electric mixer so that they attain a firm body, somewhat similar to a whipped cream or even an unbaked meringue.
5. It may be necessary to first test the effectiveness of your home-made cleaning solution by applying a few drops of it on the back of the upholstered furniture you intend to deep clean. Do this by dipping an ordinary household sponge in the foamy cleaning solution you made and rubbing it at an otherwise inconspicuous portion of the furniture. Allow for ample time to dry, say overnight, after which you can check the area for visible signs of fading, discoloration, or even shrinkage. In such instances, it may be wise to forego with the do-it-yourself cleaning and just leave it to the professionals.
6. If there are no signs of fading, discoloration or shrinkage, then you can begin with deep cleaning your furniture using the solution you made. Dip the sponge, pat it on the furniture surface, form a foamy texture until the suds show the presence of dirt by scrubbing the surface in a circular motion.
7. Use a scraper to wipe away the soap suds and rinse the area by patting it with a damp piece of clean cloth. Do this for every sizeable portion of the furniture until such time that you have already covered pretty much the whole thing. The idea is to clean one manageable portion after the other, allowing for overlaps, to make the cleaning more thorough and efficient.
8. Allow for complete drying of the furniture, say overnight, and using evaporative devices like electric fans and even hair dryers.
Mulling it Over
In cases when the furniture has sustained a sizeable amount of damage, but not so extensive enough that it can still be managed by do-it-yourself activities, perhaps using a little creativity of your own may help you save some time off your furniture’s life.
Small tears in furniture cushions and padding can be resolved by a little stitch work with able and steady hands. If there’s a gaping hole in the cushion, perhaps it may be a good idea to take a sample of the cushion fabric or leather to a store and purchase something similar.
Now, if all these general regular cleaning and simple do-it-yourself repairs do not make a dent in the damage sustained by your furniture, perhaps you may want to rethink holding on to it.
Letting Go
Maybe what you need right now is the closure that your piece of furniture has served its purpose and that it is now time to say goodbye. When everything else has failed that no amount of cleaning nor even professional help can save your valuable piece of furniture, letting go of it makes more sense than holding on.
Who knows, the furniture you are letting go of might provide some other useful purpose in somebody else’s world?
