masqthephlsphr (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
masqthephlsphr) wrote2010-09-23 10:43 am
masqthephlsphr) wrote2010-09-23 10:43 am
Chair-a-medic
Earlier this year, I bought a chair that felt fine on the showroom floor, but about killed my back after 8+ hours of sitting in it. All La-Z-Boy could do was offer to let me come back and pick out another one, and though it was a little better, again, hours and hours of sitting just added up to aches and pains in all sorts of places.
What it boiled down to was: it *is* possible for a piece of furniture to just be OVER-stuffed. And short of ripping the fabric apart and removing the big hunk of foam inside and getting it trimmed down, I didn't know what to do to fix it (other than return it and be chairless, or sell it and be chairless, or give it away and be chairless). I have been "getting by" for months by fitting a piece of soft cardboard between my back and the cushion. The cardboard pressed down on the cushion back, flattening/leveling it somewhat, and after time it molded to my back so it wasn't quite so stiff. But in the long term, that's a ridiculous solution.
I found a furniture repair place close to my home and finally had the guy in to look at my chair today. It cost a little money, and in the end I found out there was nothing he could do I couldn't do, but I had to observe him at work to know that.
The first thing I learned is the back fabric of the chair is nailed down, so you can detach it without ripping into the fabric itself. Then I learned all that "foam" I've been complaining about is actually this Dacron fluff, which can be pulled out in bits and pieces as big or small as you want. It was just so densely packed in it felt like one big hunk of foam.
So he starts pulling big hunks of fluff out, and shifting the rest of it around and having me sit in the chair and tell him how it feels. I swear that man took out a 13 gallon trash-bag's worth of fluff before I was satisfied.
And even then, I wasn't completely satisfied. I kept having him move the fluff remaining here and there and shifting it around, trying to keep it from bulging in weird places that I knew would make the part of my body resting there cramp up after a while.
Yes, I AM A PRINCESS, and that chair has a BIG PEA.
I asked him to leave the back unstapled/unnailed so I could keep adjusting it until I was satisfied. I'm fairly handy, I'll be able to get it the back fabric back in place when I am finally happy with it.
What it boiled down to was: it *is* possible for a piece of furniture to just be OVER-stuffed. And short of ripping the fabric apart and removing the big hunk of foam inside and getting it trimmed down, I didn't know what to do to fix it (other than return it and be chairless, or sell it and be chairless, or give it away and be chairless). I have been "getting by" for months by fitting a piece of soft cardboard between my back and the cushion. The cardboard pressed down on the cushion back, flattening/leveling it somewhat, and after time it molded to my back so it wasn't quite so stiff. But in the long term, that's a ridiculous solution.
I found a furniture repair place close to my home and finally had the guy in to look at my chair today. It cost a little money, and in the end I found out there was nothing he could do I couldn't do, but I had to observe him at work to know that.
The first thing I learned is the back fabric of the chair is nailed down, so you can detach it without ripping into the fabric itself. Then I learned all that "foam" I've been complaining about is actually this Dacron fluff, which can be pulled out in bits and pieces as big or small as you want. It was just so densely packed in it felt like one big hunk of foam.
So he starts pulling big hunks of fluff out, and shifting the rest of it around and having me sit in the chair and tell him how it feels. I swear that man took out a 13 gallon trash-bag's worth of fluff before I was satisfied.
And even then, I wasn't completely satisfied. I kept having him move the fluff remaining here and there and shifting it around, trying to keep it from bulging in weird places that I knew would make the part of my body resting there cramp up after a while.
Yes, I AM A PRINCESS, and that chair has a BIG PEA.
I asked him to leave the back unstapled/unnailed so I could keep adjusting it until I was satisfied. I'm fairly handy, I'll be able to get it the back fabric back in place when I am finally happy with it.