What is the best type of foam rubber for chairs: price, thickness and density

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Furniture foam rubber

One of the areas of application of foam rubber is the production of upholstered furniture; foam rubber is used in almost all types of sofas, mattresses, armchairs and chairs.

Features of upholstery of upholstered furniture;
Main indicators of the quality of furniture foam rubber;
Purpose of various brands of furniture foam rubber;
Choice of material.

Foam rubber: types, properties, sizes, brands, application

Foam rubber is the common name for polyurethane foam.
The scope of application of this material, without exaggeration, covers all areas of human activity. Soft cellular synthetic foam with excellent insulating properties, high elasticity and breathability is used:

In furniture production. Foam rubber is indispensable in the manufacture of upholstered furniture from economy class to especially comfortable models. Armchairs, sofas, chairs, mattresses - the manufacture of these interior items is impossible without this universal material.

In construction. Insulation, sealing insulating materials.

It is worth noting the use of foam rubber products when finishing rooms to absorb sounds. Installing acoustic traps and sound-absorbing mats significantly reduces the level of external and internal noise in the room.

In the production of sporting goods. Sports equipment, mats of varying hardness and thickness, use of foam rubber scraps for filling jumping and safety pits.

— textile, footwear industry; — automobile production; — making toys; - medicine; — production of household appliances.

Polyurethane foam is widely used as a protective and packaging material.

The emergence of new materials with similar characteristics does not reduce its popularity, and the latest developments significantly improve its basic characteristics.

Advantages and disadvantages

The material is polyurethane foam, which consists of many cells filled with air. The raw material is used to impart elasticity to furniture items. Many users choose this particular filler as an internal component of sofas and upholstered chairs. This distribution is due to the following advantages:

No additives or processing mixtures are used in the production of the material, which means that furniture foam rubber is safe for humans. It does not emit substances harmful to health and does not cause allergies, so it can be safely used for furniture in a children's room;
polyurethane foam is not affected by fungus, because it is moisture resistant. Even with high air humidity in the room, the chances of mold spores appearing are negligible;
The material can be used in different temperature conditions and differences in indicators. Foam rubber retains its qualities in the range from -40 to +100 degrees;
compared to other materials, the filler has improved soundproofing properties, due to which it is able to absorb noise;
foam material has high elasticity and at the same time elasticity. It bends under the weight of a person, but also easily restores its shape after some time.

An undeniable advantage of raw materials is their affordable cost. It is thanks to this indicator that all upholstered furniture, for which foam rubber is used as a filler, has a budget price.

Like any other material, foam rubber has a number of disadvantages, including:

short service life: up to 7 years of daily use;
When the material burns, hazardous substances are released into the atmosphere.

In general, foam rubber has proven itself on the positive side: its dense structure is well suited for sofas, chairs, banquettes, corners and other upholstered furniture.

Production of foam rubber

Polyurethane foam is 90% air; its production process consists of mixing certain components, a chemical reaction between which leads to foaming and hardening of the material.

Chemical production requires attention and strict adherence to technology. Before mixing, the components for the production of polyurethane foam are checked for qualitative and quantitative indicators. In a foaming machine, the components are mixed, the process of foam formation and maturation occurs without the direct participation of the operator.

The polyurethane foam mass is poured into molds; in the case of continuous production, it is placed on a conveyor belt, where the chemical reaction is completed. The time for complete hardening is about 3 days.

The process of cutting foam rubber is carried out on special machines. Cutting form: from simple cubes of different sizes to complex shapes and profiles.

Waste-free foam rubber production is ensured by installations for fine cutting (crushing) of waste.

How to choose foam for upholstered furniture

28.07.2021

Over time, even in high-quality and expensive upholstered furniture, the seats and backs are compressed and deformed. If the sofa or chair is still in good condition, then you can repair it yourself by replacing the filling with a new one. You can use foam rubber (foamed polyurethane) as it. But there are many types on the market, each of which has both positive and negative reviews on the Internet. And an unprepared buyer will simply get confused in this diversity. We talk about what type of foam rubber to use for a sofa or other upholstered furniture in this article.

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Main parameters of PPU:

1. Density. An important indicator that largely determines the remaining characteristics of the finished product: rigidity, wear resistance, and the ability to restore its original shape. Indicates the amount of material (kg) contained in one cubic meter.

2. Stiffness (compressive stress). This is the amount of force required to compress the foam by 40%, measured in kPa.

3. Permanent deformation. Characterizes the ability of a product to maintain its shape and size. The sample, compressed by 50%, is kept at the established humidity and temperature, and the deviation from the original shape is measured after the external influence has ceased. Increasing the density reduces the amount of permanent deformation.

The above indicators, along with elasticity, strength, support and comfort coefficients, determine the types and brands of polyurethane foam.

Quality indicators

To understand the quality of the material with which furniture is filled, it is important to know the main characteristics by which it is determined. These include the following indicators:

density;
strength;
compressive stress
markings;
elasticity;
permanent deformation;
degree of comfort.

Each of the listed criteria needs to be considered in more detail. As already mentioned, the density of the material determines its purpose. The higher this indicator, the greater the load the material can withstand on furniture and the longer its service life.

The strength criterion is represented by two characteristics: tensile strength and the degree of elongation of the material before this fracture. With a density of 25 kg per cubic meter, this figure will be equal to 130 kPa (tensile strength) and about 260 percent elongation.

The compressive stress of a material indicates how much force must be applied to compress the sample. Rigid varieties of foam rubber are sometimes artificially equipped with strong compression to improve performance, but when the cells with air are opened, the material returns to its structure.

Foam rubber markings have a separate classification, which will be discussed in our article below. The elasticity of the raw material is determined by dropping a special test ball onto it. They throw it onto the material and check the degree of rebound: if the ball bounces high, then the foam is hard and less elastic.

To determine the indicator of residual deformation, the method of strong compression of the sample is used, which is left in this state for a while under the influence of a certain temperature and humidity. At the end of the period, the sample is measured and compared with pre-prepared standard indicators. Hard foam will have little permanent deformation.

Indicators of the degree of comfort are also represented by two designations: support coefficient and comfort coefficient. These criteria are determined by the softness of the material, as well as the distribution of the load along the plane.

PPU brands

Polyurethane foam is marked with a series of Latin letters and numbers, the letters indicate the type of material, the numbers indicate density (kg/m3) and hardness (kPa).

"ST" - standard. The basic brand is the only one that is produced on the basis of one basic polyol. The density indicator of a material determines its rigidity.
"HL" - hard, "EL" - increased rigidity. It has a high load-bearing capacity, its structure allows it to withstand higher loads than standard brands.
"HS" - soft and ultra-soft. The brand determines the most plastic of all types of polyurethane foam. Surface softness provides the greatest comfort to products made on its basis.
HR" - highly elastic. It combines low initial stiffness and high load-bearing capacity, which makes it especially comfortable.
"LR" - soft, viscoelastic. Characterized by increased viscosity and a “memory” effect. Capable of distributing the load over the entire plane. It is also called thermoplastic.
"RTC" - reticulated polyurethane foam. Special treatment destroys the thin membrane, as a result, closed cells are transformed into open ones, and the porosity of the material increases significantly.
Secondary foam rubber. This is the case when recycled waste is transformed into a new type, characterized by high quality indicators. It is characterized by high density, excellent insulating ability, open pores and cavities between large inclusions absorb sound waves almost completely.

New developments are constantly increasing the number of varieties of this synthetic material.

Selection rules

Before choosing a filler for upholstered furniture, it is important to decide what kind of product it is. If foam rubber is selected for a sofa, pay attention to the markings with density indicators from 28 kg per cubic meter and higher. If you purchase less dense material, there is a risk that the sofa will not last long.

Use the following recommendations when selecting:

check the thickness of the foam; for upholstered furniture it should be at least 3 cm;
find out about the rigidity and elasticity of raw materials: a stiffer option is suitable for seats than for filling headrests or armrests;
some types of foam rubber do not hold their shape at all, which indicates their low quality, so check this criterion in the store to make sure the reliability of future furniture;
ask what additives were used in the production of raw materials to prevent allergies to certain substances, especially when it comes to children's furniture.

Pay attention to the markings; they will help tell you a lot of information about the chosen foam rubber. You should not save on filler, because high-quality material is the key to a long service life of furniture.

PPU release form

The market offers a wide variety of forms, types, brands of polyurethane foam:

1. Leaf.

Manufacturers supply rectangular foam rubber with a thickness of 5 to 1000 mm in standard cuts, or according to individual customer requirements.

2. Rolled.

Reels of various widths are convenient to use, material thickness up to 30 mm. In addition to the usual, manufacturers offer rolled foam rubber made on a backing made of fabric or synthetic materials.

3. Block.

This type of foam rubber is distinguished by a hard, non-porous surface (before processing). In addition to cubic ones, this type of foam rubber is poured into molds of various configurations. After cooling, the crust is removed, the material acquires a homogeneous structure.

How to make a pattern for a cushion for stools and chairs

Materials, filler and small elements

Before sewing a chair cushion with your own hands, here are step-by-step instructions to help:

Make a pattern (2 parts), outlining the shape of the seat in any convenient way, or draw a template based on measurements, if the “seat” is of the correct round or square shape.

Pattern – 1 piece with a one-piece clasp bar made of the main fabric and another without a bar, a double bar of length AB for the lower part of the clasp and 4 pieces as high as the side and as long as the perimeter of the chair backrest

We quilt the bar and side with squares with padding polyester to add rigidity.

We fold the fasteners in half with the right side inward, stitch them, turn them inside out, stitch them for strength and sew on Velcro.

We grind the button strip from the short ends, turn it inside out, stitch along the edge and sew it to the bottom of the pillow

We pin and sew the side to the bottom of the pillow, stitch along the edge of the side

We sew down a one-piece bar with a seat along the short sides, turn it inside out, stitch it along all sides, punch through the loops

We tuck our foam rubber blank inside, fasten the buttons, Velcro and you can sit

As you can see, it’s nothing complicated if you have at least basic sewing skills.

Cutting polyurethane foam

A soft, elastic material with small cells, foam rubber causes certain difficulties when it is necessary to give it a given shape. In industry, until recently, cutting presses were used. The creation of a shaped matrix, necessary for this type of processing, influenced the increase in the cost of the final product.

Currently, CNC laser machines are widely used. New devices significantly expand the use of polyurethane foam due to the ability to cut products of complex configurations without a significant increase in labor intensity. Laser cutting is performed silently, quickly, and no solid waste is generated during the cutting process.

Synthetic fluff: there is no better substitute for natural fluff

Another great filler. Resembles small fluffy balls. Due to its structure, and its fibers are similar to a spring, it is able to quickly restore its shape. Unlike its natural counterpart, it has virtually no disadvantages. Synthetic down is one of the highest quality fillers in the production of upholstered furniture:

does not roll down;
breathable;
does not cause allergic reactions;
has a long service life.

Standard packaging of synthetic down is 12 kg. The minimum packaging that can be found at retail is 6 kg.

Transportation

Polyurethane foam is highly absorbent; it absorbs liquids, dust and dirt microparticles well. Packaging of polyurethane foam must ensure its quality during storage and transportation.

High porosity allows you to significantly reduce the volume of material during transportation. However, you should pay attention that after unpacking, the foam rubber partially loses its declared properties. To preserve its characteristics, it is better not to subject polyurethane foam to significant compression when packaging.

Mounting options

To prevent a hand-made seat from sliding onto a chair, it must be secured. There are several fixation options.

For square stools, it is enough to sew 4 small elastic bands at the corners to the pillow.
The round one is fixed with an elastic band around the perimeter, for which a drawstring is sewn to the product.
You can attach a seat to a chair with a back if you attach 2 ties in the corners and connect them with a knot under the seat. They are usually made from the same material as the fabric of the cover.
The simplest method of fixation is fastening using ordinary Velcro, which is attached to the edges of the pillow.

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Replacing foam rubber in a sofa: instructions

The main work on upgrading a sofa can consist of reupholstering the entire sofa, or just replacing the polyurethane foam. The main thing is to visually assess the condition of the furniture and determine in which places and how much the lining has sagged. Most often this problem happens with seating areas. But, consider the option when you need to replace the foam lining completely.

First, all fasteners are removed from the furniture. It is best to photograph the process so that later you can put the sofa back together without additional problems. After this, you need to remove the upholstery and remove as much old foam rubber as possible. If there are other materials (felt, padding polyester), they will also have to be replaced.

Modern sofas are equipped with zippers to make it easier to change the filling. If your sofa is old, then carefully open the seams so that after replacing the thread, sew them back up. You will have to remove furniture staples with a special tool - an anti-stapler.

Do not rush to throw away the old foam rubber - it is needed to create patterns from new material. After cutting out all the parts, you need to check their dimensions by attaching pieces of polyurethane foam to the base. If everything is normal, you can secure the material with staples or special furniture nails.

Upholstery foam can be cleaned before replacement or completely replaced. After all the “procedures” are completed, it is returned to its original place and re-stitched for reliability. In order for the fabric to pull the foam tightly together, it must be constantly compressed while forming the seam.

Chair upholstery. Step-by-step MK.

Monday, January 27, 2014 17:35 + to quote book

Chair upholstery. Step-by-step MK.

Author

Lyubov Mitrofanova, further text by the author.

Good evening dear craftswomen! I present to you a step-by-step Master Class on upholstery using a chair as an example.

Perhaps antique dealers, having seen this MK, would not only throw slippers at me, but perhaps even crucify me))). Because In all antique chairs and armchairs, the seat is supported by springs, the filling is horsehair and sea grass. The pillow itself, before it is attached to the springs, is formed, stitched, and a rigid border is made along the edge. Well, etc., there are many nuances, even to the point that the stapler is not used, but is covered with small forged nails. This is what professional upholsterers do, but you and I need to try to reupholster our chairs at home in the most acceptable way for us girls. So.

We will need

a prepared chair, a seat (preferably made of thick plywood), foam rubber (preferably thick furniture foam) of the required height, padding polyester (preferably two types: weaving and thick furniture 200), fabric for rough upholstery, decorative fabric, a piece of thick burlap or linen, decorative cord.

And also a stapler (can be manual), staples for a stapler (8 or 10mm), glue for foam rubber, scissors, a mounting knife, fabric glue (you can use moment-crystal), PVA glue

1. Rough seat upholstery

coat the seat with foam glue

not greasy, the main thing for us is that the foam rubber does not fidget when we upholster it.

glue the foam rubber, you can press it with something for 10-15 minutes.

then use a knife to cut off all excess

You can cut it out in advance according to the pattern and glue the finished one, it’s whenever it’s more convenient. We put thin foam rubber on top (thickness 2.5-3 cm) it is larger in size. More around the entire perimeter by the thickness of the first layer of foam rubber.

Take a pre-cut piece of fabric. The fabric for rough upholstery should be thin but durable. It is best to use calico, but you can use any other material you have in your bins. I had this one. And we begin to staple, tightening the foam with fabric

The main principle of any upholstery is the drum principle. Those. We pull the fabric very tightly over the filling. We stretch equally in all directions.

How to choose a quality filler?

So, if polyurethane foam fits the parameters as a filler for a sofa, you need to know a few rules for choosing a high-quality furniture model or material for restoring an existing one.

To guarantee a quality purchase, you must contact only accredited dealership centers that work with well-known furniture brands. Or to trusted online stores of well-known factories.
It is important to read the documents for the sofa, which indicate the markings of the polyurethane foam used. Depending on the purpose of use, moderately hard or hard options are suitable for home furniture.
Decide on the intensity of use of the sofa. If it will be used not only for relaxation, but also for sleeping, as well as in children's rooms where children play on a soft surface, then the hardness of the filler must be appropriate.
You need to carefully check the quality of the upholstery. It should not let the sun's rays through to the polyurethane foam structure, or the sofa should not be placed near the window, where their entry is inevitable.
The elasticity and elasticity of the filler is checked at the time of purchase. If the pressure within a few minutes did not have much effect on the sofa, and its surface returned to its standard state, then these parameters are normal.
A sofa filled with polyurethane foam should not have any bumps, unevenness, bad or unstitched seams.

Before going to the store, it would be a good idea to make a list of questions for the consultant. Otherwise, there is a risk of missing important details. In addition, it is important to listen to his advice, because the specialists have a lot of experience working with furniture. We present to your attention a sale of corner sofas.

Materials and tools:

Upholstery fabric

Usually, upholstery fabric, leatherette or leather is used for upholstery of upholstered furniture, however, no one prohibits the use of any sufficiently dense fabric for this purpose. In my youth, I once had to upholster chairs with drapes (or curtains, I’m not an expert in this area) discarded from a government agency. The curtains were quite flimsy, but they still served as upholstery for about 20 years.

It is not advisable to use leatherette for upholstering chairs; this material is cheap and not reliable; after six months or a year of active use of the chairs, the leatherette will begin to come apart. But when I worked in a nightclub and had to repair 3-5 chairs every day, then, of course, leatherette was used; upholstering chairs with fabric in such a hectic establishment as a nightclub was pointless - there were too many liquids of organic and inorganic origin spills on chairs, and upholstering cheap chairs and armchairs with leather is bad manners. In addition, the skin may not be suitable if you are used to sitting on a chair with your bare butt; in the summer, your butt will sweat and become covered with acne.

Softener

Sometimes the choice of upholstery material is not limited to. You want to sit on something soft, but the seat and back of a chair being repaired can be quite rigid, for example, made of plywood or chipboard. Of course, the best way is to place a down pillow under your butt after reupholstering a chair, but recently, foam rubber is increasingly being used to comfort the seat when reupholstering furniture - the material is cheap, accessible, but also not without its drawbacks. The main disadvantage of foam rubber is that this synthetic material, made from polyurethane foam, decomposes over time and becomes not thick and soft, but thin, hard and sticky, like polyurethane foam. The only thing that somehow brightens up this drawback is that by the time the foam rubber decomposes, the upholstery will also wear out and will have to be replaced. For chairs, foam rubber with a thickness of 2-6 cm is usually used. The thicker the foam rubber, the softer it is, but the more difficult it is to stretch the upholstery fabric.

Stabilizer

To make it easier to stretch the upholstery, padding polyester can be placed between the foam rubber and the upholstery fabric. Upholstery fabric, leatherette and leather glide well on padding polyester, and this makes it easy and quick to stretch the upholstery fabric without folds or wrinkles. Instead of padding polyester, you can use batting. The use of padding polyester or batting is optional.

Features of upholstery of upholstered furniture

The internal filling of upholstered furniture is chosen taking into account the main purpose of the sofa. So, to use a sofa as a permanent sleeping place, choose a harder filling, and vice versa, for furniture used for sitting, choose more comfortable soft fillings.

To achieve optimal product comfort, furniture manufacturers often use multi-layer filling for sofas and mattresses. In this case, the bottom layer is foam rubber with a high support coefficient, and the top layer has a high comfort coefficient.

How to reupholster chairs at home with your own hands

If you decide to upholster the chairs yourself, then be prepared for the fact that in addition to the planned work, additional measures will be required. Often there are breakdowns under the upholstery or there is a need to replace the filling. Therefore, taking this opportunity, you can not only reupholster the chairs, but also repair them. If necessary, make changes to the design or construction.

If the upholstery looks faded or is torn in some places, reupholstering will save the situation.

Conventionally, the process can be divided into several successive stages:

Before starting work, you should decide on the future design and construction, assess the condition of the chair and the amount of work to be done.
Based on the planned activities, prepare the necessary materials and parts for replacement, as well as tools.
Direct reupholstery and reconstruction.

If some parts are badly damaged, you will have to make new ones according to the previous samples.

Preparing materials and chairs

The list of materials for each specific case will be different. But there is a basic list of raw materials that will be needed in any case:

upper fabric, upholstery - selected by color and quality in accordance with your desires and apartment design;
filler - this can be an independent spring block or soft padding;
sheet of cardboard for patterns;
BF or PVA glue.

If you have already decided what color the upholstery will be, you can paint the frame to match it.
Preliminary preparation of the chair itself is also necessary:

Dismantling - carefully open and remove the old staples that secure the upholstery.
We check the integrity of the frame, tighten loose connections, and glue cracks.
Based on the configuration of the seat (back), we cut out a pattern from cardboard and cut out the upholstery material for covering.

To reupholster a chair efficiently and then use it for a long time, you need to take all the measurements correctly, choose the right fabric, and decide how thick the filling layer should be.

Filler selection

The padding for the seats of an upholstered chair is divided into two types according to its characteristics:

Spring - consists of independent spring blocks with layers of soft raw materials. The blocks help maintain the shape of the seat.
Springless - does not contain additional metal elements.

Another important detail is the choice of filler.
Sintepon, latex, batting are suitable, but the best option is sheet foam rubber. The most popular materials for packing today are:

polyurethane foam;
natural latex;
holofiber;
expanded polystyrene;
Periotec;
felt;
padding polyester

When choosing a filler, you should not focus solely on the cost of the material, if you do not want to end up with dented chairs that have lost their attractiveness in the near future.

The most common upholstery is made of textiles, and there is a wide choice here: chenille, flock, jacquard, microfiber, tapestry.

Re-upholstery process

All preparatory stages have been completed, you can start reupholstering. Let's start with the seat. We glue the filler to its upper side. After the glue has dried, cover the upholstery material with the wrong side up and cover it with the seat, padding down. Align with the drawing or pattern.

It is better to cut the fabric with a margin; if the piece turns out to be smaller than needed, it will not be possible to correct the situation.

Consistently fold the edges of the upholstery onto the back side of the seat and staple it in increments of 1-2 cm. The fabric must be stretched evenly, avoiding folds. The tightness of the tension should not cause deformation of the filler. We trim off the excess upholstery. The back, if it is soft, needs to be tightened in the same way. After this, all that remains is to assemble the chair and make the decor. The bottom of the seat and the back side of the back can be covered with fabric by sewing it along the edge.

The seams can be decorated with braid, lace, beads or furniture nails with decorative caps.

As you can see, with a little diligence, imagination, desire, even the most ordinary chair can turn from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. The main thing is to approach the selection of the necessary materials correctly, think through everything in advance and without fuss, slowly turn what you want into reality.

You can come up with your own original and beautiful way to change the design of the chairs.

Suitable type of upholstery fabric for the chair

The type of upholstery fabric depends on where the chair is located and for what purpose.

If chairs are in the kitchen or kitchen stools need to be upholstered, using natural upholstery materials is probably not practical, especially if there are children or pets in the house. All kitchen surfaces and objects are more sensitive to severe dirt, which cannot be withstood by either wet or dry cleaning.

Some products can permanently ruin upholstery, as well as the art of training family members, not to mention dog teeth and cat claws.

The following requirements apply to fabrics for upholstery of kitchen chairs and stools:

Waterproof;
Resistance to mechanical stress;
Inability to fold cards
Power;
Fire safety;
Ease of maintenance.

Synthetic materials have all of the above characteristics. May be:

Leatherette, for example Arpatek, is the economical “king” of furniture upholstery;
Leather;
Faux leather.

Chair cushions – choosing the right material and filling