- Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:12 pm
#10402
Hi everyone. I recently reupholstered my grandfather's swivel/rocking/easy chair With leather — my first project of its kind — and my only sticking point has been the foam in the seat cushion. Largely because the old foam was the one thing I threw away before I could study it in-depth.
From what I can remember, the original cushion was installed in the late '60s or early '70s, and when I pulled it apart, it wasn't just a slab cut to shape. It seemed to have hollow "silos" cut into it (is if for tufting), and then another thin layer of foam glued over the top and bottom surfaces of the holey foam to ensure the holes didn't show through the outer covering. Two vent grommets in the back edge of the cover; when sitting down, and standing up, you'd hear the rush of air going through the vents, and the cushion would return to shape quickly enough that you wouldn't see an impression of your butt.
The foam I ended up using was (from what I can tell) 1835 "medium" slab foam. Nothing fancy, not memory foam. The covering is 3" thick, but I got 4" foam to keep it nice and taut. To give it a little "preload," and to make it look a bit overstuffed around the sides, I cut it with a full 1" allowance around the perimeter.
It came out looking perfect, and it feels fantastic to sit on. The only irritating thing is, when I stand up from the chair, my (relatively small, lightweight) butt leaves a prodigious impression in the cushion that doesn't really go away, and air does not get sucked back into the cushion. Yes, I installed vent grommets similar to the originals.
So I guess my question is this: is it fairly common to use a "cored" foam for such applications? Or is there a better density/weight of foam that returns to shape more reliably?
From what I can remember, the original cushion was installed in the late '60s or early '70s, and when I pulled it apart, it wasn't just a slab cut to shape. It seemed to have hollow "silos" cut into it (is if for tufting), and then another thin layer of foam glued over the top and bottom surfaces of the holey foam to ensure the holes didn't show through the outer covering. Two vent grommets in the back edge of the cover; when sitting down, and standing up, you'd hear the rush of air going through the vents, and the cushion would return to shape quickly enough that you wouldn't see an impression of your butt.
The foam I ended up using was (from what I can tell) 1835 "medium" slab foam. Nothing fancy, not memory foam. The covering is 3" thick, but I got 4" foam to keep it nice and taut. To give it a little "preload," and to make it look a bit overstuffed around the sides, I cut it with a full 1" allowance around the perimeter.
It came out looking perfect, and it feels fantastic to sit on. The only irritating thing is, when I stand up from the chair, my (relatively small, lightweight) butt leaves a prodigious impression in the cushion that doesn't really go away, and air does not get sucked back into the cushion. Yes, I installed vent grommets similar to the originals.
So I guess my question is this: is it fairly common to use a "cored" foam for such applications? Or is there a better density/weight of foam that returns to shape more reliably?