DIY step-by-step instructions for pulling a sofa

You can hardly imagine a modern apartment without a comfortable sofa.

However, this piece of furniture is rubbed over time, pressed through and becomes unusable, especially if you use it daily. The upholstery of the sofa becomes unusable even faster if children actively use this piece of furniture. In such houses, traces of paints or felt-tip pens, adhered plasticine are very common.

This article will come in handy for restoring your favorite family vacation spot. After reading it, you can easily carry out master classes on hauling furniture with your own hands.

The advantages of do-it-yourself sofa uprights

In addition to the economic effect of saving money, a custom-made sofa cover is a great way to show your design ideas and get exactly the piece of furniture that you always wanted. Because in furniture stores, we most often buy a finished product, and of the options when buying a sofa, we can only name the choice of the main casing option.

In addition, even the best furniture maker will not show such attention to the smallest details as the owner of the sofa. With diligence and care, even an old sofa can be restored to its former gloss by following these instructions. In addition, repairing upholstered furniture at home with your own hands is a very exciting experience.

How to pull a sofa with your own hands - master class

Do not be afraid of the constriction process, with a serious approach and the presence of at least minimal skill in handling the tool, you can achieve results that are no worse than those of professionals. The process of tightening any furniture consists of several steps, and sofas are no exception. We will tell you how to sheathe a sofa with your own hands with step-by-step instructions.

Before you start the constriction process, you need to be well aware of two things:

• filler used;
• planned upholstery fabric.

Definition with upholstery fabric

Note! The durability of the sofa is directly dependent on the quality of the upholstery. Therefore, in this matter, be sure to take into account the presence of children or pets in the house. In this case, you should choose a denser material.

Most often, the following materials are used in the upholstery of sofas:

1. velours;
2. flock;
3. jacquard;
4. tapestry;
5. natural or artificial leather;
6. scotchguard.

Velours

It has a velvety structure and a shiny (in the literal sense of the word) appearance.The material is easy to clean and vacuum when needed, has good ventilation, softness and durability.

Flock

Ideal material for pet owners. It is highly resistant to nail damage, easy to clean and has hypoallergenic properties. The fabric can also be used for children's furniture.

Jacquard

Used when you want to emphasize the luxury of your sofa. Such upholstery will cost much more than others, but it is hardly possible to get such a stunning appearance from other materials. Such fabric is cleaned only with gentle detergents, the main thing - no acids.

Important! Jacquard fades over time, so exposure to direct sunlight is contraindicated for it.

Tapestry

Natural material with a three-dimensional pattern on its surface. Landscape motives are most often used. Such upholstery is highly durable, easy to wash, and very pleasant to the touch.

Leather

Leather upholstery cannot be called too practical, it is very uncomfortable to sleep on it, but as an office option, the material is perfect. Over time, even the best leather will begin to deteriorate, so it must be borne in mind that a sofa upholstered with this material is more of an interior decoration than its practical component.

Scotchguard

A modern material that is easy to paint on. This fabric is appreciated for its original prints. It has the strength of bed linen, is easy to wash, therefore it often acts as a cape.

Note! The maximum temperature range for scotchguard washing is 40 degrees.

Filler selection

The choice of fillings is as wide as that of upholstery. Buyers are offered:

1. polyurethane foam;
2. synthetic winterizer;
3. struttofiber;
4. felt;
5. foam rubber.

Polyurethane foam

Synthetic foam material, varying in degree of rigidity, adapts to the anatomical features of a person during sleep. Some cheap types of such filler can lose shape over time.

Sintepon

As a rule, they are combined with other materials, the same polyurethane. Due to the low rigidity, the synthetic winterizer is easily pressed through, but it will be inconvenient to sleep on such material, again because of its low density. The period of operation of this filler is the shortest of all those offered. Great for pillows.

Structofiber

They are called “non-woven independent springs”. And this semi-synthetic material fully justifies its name, repeating the structure of the body of the resting person. The material does not absorb moisture, has high air permeability, does not cause allergic reactions.

Felt

Natural felted material with high density. It is not used by itself as a filler, only in combination with other materials. Provides hypoallergenicity and thermoregulation. However, due to its natural origin, insects and mold can grow in it if used improperly.

Foam rubber

The most affordable of all the fillers on offer, however, this advantage is overridden by many disadvantages. The material is very short-lived, it can crumble over time.The best choice for this material is armrests or sofas that are not intended for long-term and active use.

The best recommendation is to combine several materials in the upholstery at once, one of the most optimal is a “sandwich” made of struttofiber, felt and polyurethane foam.

Carrying out material calculations

If the filler can be measured based on the geometric dimensions of the sofa, then with the upholstery, the issue is a little more complicated. First, consider the roll width of the selected material. And if it is not enough for some separate part, you will have to connect the separate pieces with a sewing machine.

When measuring, take into account not only the height of the material, but also the need to overlap the material on the sofa frame, up to 20 centimeters of fabric can be allocated for this. As a rule, the upholstery is attached to the sofa with special brackets.

Experts advise, when calculating, starting from the double length and width of the sofa, it is easier to get rid of unnecessary leftovers than to puzzle yourself over how to connect the missing pieces. If there is a pattern on the fabric, do not forget about the need to adjust the material, the consumption in such cases increases even more.

Preparing the necessary tools

Before starting work on removing old upholstery, you need to have the following tools on hand:

• stationery knife;
• scissors;
• hammer or nail puller;
• screwdriver;
• furniture or construction stapler;
• set of open-end wrenches.

Removing the upholstery fabric and removing the old filling

We remove the upholstery fabric with a clerical knife, if we plan to measure new upholstery by its size, we do it as carefully as possible. Most often, the fabric is attached to the wooden base of the sofa with furniture staples.

In many cases, it is easier to pry the material out of these staples, and gently hammer the staples into the wood with a hammer, than to remove each one separately. Even experienced craftsmen do not always manage to do this, and such a procedure takes a lot of time.

It is recommended to dispose of the filler, no matter how much you want to save money on its replacement. Over time, even the highest quality material tends to cake and accumulate dust, dirt and microbes in itself.

Inspection and search for problem areas inside the structure

At this stage, the sofa should be taken apart into separate pieces. This point is especially important when it comes to furniture of a decent age. In such structures, even with careful storage, fasteners and mechanisms can be disrupted. We carefully inspect the wooden parts, if necessary, they need to be updated to similar ones. We lubricate the metal contact points with silicone to protect them from squeaking.

Cutting and fixing new material and filler

After going through all the preparatory steps, you can proceed to the upholstery of the sofa.
We start by securing the upholstery. First of all, we attach the selected filler to the wooden base.

Note! If there are several layers of fillers, they must be fixed together with special glue. It is important that the composition of the glue is odorless.

The monolithic layer obtained by such gluing is fixed with staples. Better to shoot them perpendicular to the plane of the beams, this will provide the best grip. Saving on staples is not the best solution, because when the filler is torn off after the final assembly, it can be fixed again only by complete disassembly.

The cutting of new upholstery can be done in two ways:

1. taking measurements from the old one;
2. measured by the already fixed filler.

The most correct measurements will be for the fixed filler. It is recommended to leave a small margin, within 2-4 centimeters, in case of incorrect measurements. You can always hide excess material behind a seam, but you cannot add it to the cut off without re-sewing.

Assembling the sofa

We assemble the sofa in the reverse order. Finally, we collect the seat and back. Before assembling, we carefully inspect individual parts for the reliability of the fastening of the material and the integrity of the structure.

Some features of the constriction

The main nuance in the high-quality hauling of any sofa is the fastening of the upholstery. The material should not be too stretched, but there is no need to give excessive freedom to the fabric. Press on the fabric with your hand - on a properly tightened sofa, this can be done without much effort, after which the material with the filler should return to its original state. If you hear squeaks or crackles of the upholstery, then the tension is excessive and over time, such upholstery will break.

Note! The upholstery of corner sofas and furniture on springs also has its own characteristics, more on them later.

Corner sofa

The main condition when working with such a design is the alignment of the picture. You need to start marking the upholstery from one of the edges, moving to the opposite. The sequence is as follows - first we sew the corner, then the sleeping place, and only then the back.

Spring sofa

When upholstering a spring sofa, an additional layer of material is most often used between the upholstery and the metal frame. This is to reduce the risk of tearing the upholstery on the sides where the soft filling layer does not fit.

The nuances of working with genuine leather

When using genuine leather as upholstery, several rules are followed. First, the thickness of the material should not exceed 1.5mm. Such skin remains elastic for a long period of time and does not crack in places of inflection.

Important! It is strictly forbidden to independently upholstery furniture with damp leather, because when moisture evaporates, the material will shrink.

When cutting leather, pins and needles should not be used to secure the material in any places other than seams, because holes in the leather do not heal. When sewing leather, grease the sewing machine foot with Vaseline, this will speed up the sewing process and protect the material from tearing.

Material left for the seam allowance may roll when pulled. To avoid this, we iron such places with an iron through gauze - and the problem is solved.

After studying all the stages of the process of stretching the sofa according to our instructions, it remains only to be patient and you can start repairing upholstered furniture at home with your own hands. Even the most bulky sofa can return its former gloss in just one or two days of work.

Video: how to pull furniture with your own hands