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They look amazing. Been meaning to do something similar to a couple of our chairs.
One tip I’ve read for getting cushions back in is to put them in a bin bag, the use a vacuum cleaner to basically shrink wrap them.
They slide in because they’re smaller and wrapped in plastic - then once in, you remove the bin liner by tearing it out.
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That is such a good idea! Almost as revolutionary as the Hoffman wet teaspoon trick.
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Thanks for the comments internet strangers, I believe the write up was needed as a catharsis because fuck me is it a lot of work. But I kept sane by imagining the satisfaction when it's all done. It sure is worth it, one of the most beautiful designs from that era imo. And this is an investment for a long time to come, it should hopefully hold another 30 years in its renovated state. Also, yes, keeping it original was the plan all along; the original cover colour is what sold it to us. Works well with the plants and all the other wood furniture we have and is not as prone to soilage as the original imagined creme/beige coloured sets.
The bin bag vacuum is a clever trick, although I am not sure it'll work in this case. The spring coil construction is already almost as thick as the covers, I doubt the vacuum will create enough force to compress that but it's worth a shot. Have been pumping enough new plastic and glue solvents into the air that those 10 bin bags aren't going to make much of an environmental difference anyway.
Still keeping my fingers crossed everything will work out fine with the covers. Ideally we won't sew them back together like they were originally to be able to give the covers a gentle rinse now and then. But that's the textile department (gf)'s job, we might need to get the sewing machine out and that delicate work is beyond my capabilities. Give me power tools, nasty chemicals and muscle power kinda jobs.
wools
Rodolfo
Also repaired all the holes with quick fix iron on backing. Works great and we don't mind the patina.
Now still another wash with lavender oil to go for the woollen covers to make em soft and shiny again (works apparent wonders for wool) by my gf and 6 cushions to glue together for me. I (effin) hope the last works are done by the weekend..
Had a testfit of covers yday to see if I hadn't doodood and the covers are so tight, you need two people to close the zippers. One pushes the cushions foam and coils in so the other one can pull. So that'll wait for the weekend when my gf comes back. Just for now, a picture that doesn't look like the amount of work was worth it, but be-liiiieeve me..