From Fabric to Leather - Upholstery

Upholstery involves the process of installing paddings, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers to furniture. You can do this on your own especially if it only involves small furniture or projects such as making throw pillows for your sofa. Automobile upholstery, on the other hand, involves the auto interior seat covers and molded carpets. Upholstering furniture on your own requires having the right kind of upholstery tools and materials. The most common are needles, pliers, staples, staple guns, and trimmers, among many others.

Upholstery has been used for many interior decorating projects since the 18th century.  However, before upholstery became an art for interior decorating, it was used for the fittings for funerals and cabinets. Nowadays, upholstery involves four categories:

• Frames – provides the structural support and the basic shape of the furniture to be upholstered
• Spring system – provides support for the seating area
• Cushions, pillows, pads or fills – provide comfort and design
• Fabric or leather covering – provides protection, quality and look to the upholstered furniture.

Automobile upholstery, on the other hand, is the process of upholstering the interiors of cars, trucks or other vehicles which usually involves the seats and carpeting. The most common and famous material for automobile upholstery of seats is leather which provides better comfort, protection and look to most vehicles. However, options are available for upholstering the whole interior of the car including the dashboard, the car’s ceiling, door interiors and other parts the owner prefers to be upholstered.

There are different kinds of upholstery tools and materials used for different kinds of upholstering projects. These include button press, button cutters and dies, webbing stretcher, webbing pliers, staple remover, tack remover, staple lifter, hot ring pliers, magnetic hammer, rawhide mallet, curved needles, regulators, nailers, staple guns, and trimmers, among many others.