When most people think of upholstery they think of furniture, but in reality, there are many different aspects to the upholstery business. There’s marine upholstery – recovering boat interiors, automotive upholstery – repairing and recovering car and truck seats, commercial upholstery – replacing fabric on office chairs, and other upholstery jobs like replacing the green on pool tables.
Although furniture upholstery is the most common form of this type of work there is also a big demand for marine, automotive and commercial upholstery. The largest demand is in the furniture business whereas the highest paying is probably marine. Furniture upholstery is quite different than the other types of upholstery work. Often the work done is with soft fabrics and staples to secure the new coverings.
Staples are used for some marine work but heavier cloths, such as vinyl, are used for boat work. Vinyl is waterproof, heavy, and not easily pliable. In addition, someone who hires you to re-upholster their boat seats may also expect you to make matching curtains and even lay down waterproof carpeting.
With automotive work there are no staples involved, instead, “hog rings” are used to secure the fabrics. Hog rings are small metal pieces which resembles a “C”. The hook is pushed through holes on the frames of the seats, then a special tool is used to close the “C” so the fabric is secure. Wires, heavy welt and other special materials are used to do automotive work. In addition, maneuvering inside a small car can be very difficult. Seats have to be completely unbolted and removed from the vehicle before the upholstering.
Deciding which type of upholstery work to do can sometimes be by accident. There are many furniture factories where you can learn to upholster, teaching you a trade while earning money at the same time. The problem with learning the trade this way is that usually a factory will only train you to do one portion of a furniture piece, such as the outside back. All day long you put on outside backs of chairs and couches leaving you no time to learn the rest of the trade. Some factories, if you stay with them awhile, will eventually let you bid on other jobs where you can learn to upholster the inside back, inside and outside arms, skirts, and other portions of piece of furniture.
Even if you learn to do every piece there is to a couch or chair there is way more to learn still. First of all, as a factory upholsterer, the pieces are presented to you already cut to the proper specifications. And, any sewing is already done as well. To be a professional upholsterer, you would have to know how to measure, cut, sew, tuck, tack, stretch, staple and more. And that’s if you’re doing new upholstery jobs. If you’re re-upholstering a previously-upholstered piece there’s even more required: you must first remove the old fabric, without tearing it, so that you can use it for a pattern. You must measure the old piece and sometimes, use it as the actual pattern by placing it on the new fabric and cutting around it. This is done for tricky shapes that are impossible to measure.
Besides factory work there are a few other ways you can learn the trade. Some small upholstery shops need a helper who can learn while being of great assistance. The protege will be responsible for tearing down the original piece, disposing of old cotton and foam, making sure there are no broken springs or webbing and so forth. As the protege learns more about upholstery work the shop owner may let him or her attempt to do a small piece alone. A foot stool, bar stool, kitchen chair or another small piece are the best things to try in the beginning.
There are those who know how to upholster and are willing to train a couple of people in the trade. They will usually charge you to work for them, so that you are actually paying money to work. In this case, as you work your way up and learn more about the trade, you will eventually be paid for pieces you’ve helped with or small ones you’ve done yourself. Usually these upholsters have a shop and are in no need of an extra hand, but will train you so that they can earn a little extra cash.
If you want to learn only one aspect of the business it will suffice to put a couple of years in at a furniture upholstery shop. If you want to learn all aspects of the upholstery business, the furniture business will give you a good start, then you can move up to marine and automotive upholstery by possibly volunteering your services with a local shop owner who may allow you to help remove seats, lay carpeting in boats and cars, and other small jobs. You can also learn upholstery work at some colleges or trade schools. Go online and try to locate a school in your area that teaches the trade.
One other thing that’s very important is to know quite a bit about fabrics. There are so many different fabrics and if you or the customer chooses one that’s difficult to work with you could have bitten off more than you can chew. Some fabrics continue to unravel after you’ve cut them, making it difficult to get an exact fit/cut. Others are so stiff that it’s nearly impossible to turn corners, such as when sewing cushions. You’ll also need to have some experience with different needles and hand-stitching. Extremely long, straight needles are used for the insertion of buttons, curved needles are used to close pillows, and other needles are used for various works. Some knowledge of thread is important as well. Nylon threads are used for vinyl sewing and cotton threads are used for fabrics. Thicknesses of threads vary according to what type of fabric is being used and whether it is lightweight or very thick. Using lightweight thread on heavy fabric will cause the thread to break during usage. Using heavy thread on lightweight fabrics will cause them to “bunch up” while you’re sewing.
Some knowledge of sewing machines will be needed to prevent expensive maintenance for minor problems. Learning to thread the machine properly, clean and oil it, check for bobbin and needle problems and other small issues can be handled by yourself if you learn some things about the machine itself. If not, you’ll be faced with huge repair bills for small problems. For example, if a needle gets a small “burr” on it, it can cause all types of problems that make it appear as though something is seriously wrong with the machine. Likewise, accidentally forgetting to thread one thread guide can cause major problems as well. Knowing how to troubleshoot will save you time and money.
After you feel like you have enough training in the upholstery business it’s still important that you have some training in business. You’ll be responsible, should you one day own your own business, for ordering fabrics by the yardage, deciding how many days it will take you to do a particular job, how much to charge per hour, how many/what type of supplies are needed, how many employees you’ll need and what type of taxes you’re responsible for paying. It’s advisable to take a course in business before attempting to open your own shop. And, be sure to check with the local courthouse to get the proper business licenses as well as a wholesale license so you can save money on fabrics and other purchases.
If you’re trained in business, you have learned the upholstery trade, and you’re ready to start out on your own it’s important to choose just the right location. If you’re doing marine upholstery, for example, you should rent or purchase a building close to the nearest lake or marina. If you’re doing car upholstery you might consider locating near many car lots. Furniture upholstery can often be done in the basement or garage of your home. The difference between the various aspects of this career is the amount of space you’ll need and how responsible you are for other people’s belongings.
If someone is having boat work done you have two options. You can go to the marina, remove the seats and cart it all back to your shop. Or, you can have a large garage where the boat owner can deposit his boat until you are finished re-upholstering it. The same thing is true with vehicles. You can remove the seats at the location then take them to your shop or have them bring the vehicle to you. When working with car lots and car dealerships they often prefer for you to come and get the seats rather than taking possession of the entire vehicle.
Furniture is quite different. There is usually enough room in your basement or garage to accommodate the furniture and other machinery needed to do the job. No matter which type of upholstery you do there are certain things you’ll need. A commercial sewing machine, with a very large table built around it, is a must for any type of upholstery work. An air compressor with air staple guns attached is a necessity for marine and furniture upholstery. Below is a list of items needed for each type of upholstery shop:
Marine: A van or truck, sewing machine, cutting table where fabric is measured and cut, long metal dowels which hold the fabric above the cutting table, books of fabric and carpet samples, saw bucks for working the new fabric onto the original seat, foam, button-maker, supply of threads and needles, plastic welt, zippers, snaps, tacking strip, good scissors, lots of tools.
Furniture: A van or truck, sewing machine, cutting table, metal dowels to hold fabric above the table, books of fabric samples, saw bucks for holding the furniture up where it’ll be easier to work, good scissors, button-maker, cloth welt, foam, cotton, dacron (pillow-stuffing), zippers, snaps, stains (for touching up scarred legs), springs, supply of needles and threads, webbing, tacking strip, lots of tools.
Automotive: A van or truck, sewing machine, cutting table, dowels for holding fabric, book of fabric and carpet samples, saw bucks, scissors, button-maker, plastic welt, foam, cotton, supply of needles and threads, dacron, zippers, snaps, hog rings and lots of tools.
Some of the tools needed are pliers, hammer, tack hammer, rubber mallet, circular saw, jigsaw, variety of screwdrivers, variety of wrenches, web puller, yard stick, chalk, disappearing ink markers, and staplers. Some hardware you’ll definitely need are screws of various sizes, nuts and bolts of different sizes, washers, tacks, nails, decorative tacks and decorative corkscrew screws.
To get started you’ll need to have your shop set up, business cards made, and advertisements put out in local phone books, newspapers and magazines. Pass out business cards around the marina, car lots, dealerships and offices. Ask related-business places to allow you to place a card holder with your cards on their counters. Some of these related businesses may be a shop that sells upholstery materials, a car lot, a boat-detail shop, a store that sells car accessories, or even some offices.
Be reasonable about how much work you are able to do at one time. It would be great to get all the office chairs in a huge conglomeration but they will want the furniture returned quickly. Sometimes they will allow you to remove only a few pieces at a time, then pick up a few more when you drop the finished pieces off. Be sure you each understand each other before accepting the job.
Most upholsterers require the customer to leave a deposit which will cover the price of the materials. The balance is paid upon the completion of the work. If your work is good you will get calls from people who have used your services before. Try hard to make sure every customer is happy, even if means dealing with a difficult customer.
Set your standards. If you agree to do work for someone who only wants their cushion covered in a chair, keep in mind that when others ask who did the work, they will mention your name. The person may get the idea that you do poor work because the cushion looks great but the rest of the chair doesn’t. It’s best to only take jobs where you can do the complete job, but in some cases, such as marine or automotive, you’re only hired to do a portion of the job. For example, a car dealership may only want you to fix the upholstery on the back seat rather than do the entire job. This is slightly more satisfactory than only covering a cushion on a chair rather than the entire chair. You decide what you will and won’t allow, to save the reputation of your business.
Small touches, sometimes even hassles, can really impress the customer. Covering newly recovered chairs with plastic to prevent them getting dirty on route to take them to the customer, is a hassle but shows the customer how much you care about their furniture. Remember to add little personal touches like sending out Christmas cards to your loyal customers, or even one-time customers, to let them know you wish them well. This might serve as a reminder to some people that they need to have some work done in the near future.
Reference:
- The Complete Upholsterer: A Practical Guide to Upholstering Traditional Furniture – by Carole Thomerson Upholstery Techniques Illustrated – by W. Lloyd Gheen
