The Upholstery Forum

I'm looking to hire an upholsterer to get our restaurant benches upholstered. Went to check references given by an upholsterer and found that in 3 months the bench was bunching on the top of the seat. It was challenger vinyl from Ennis. Heard that it is a good quality vinyl. Upholsterer says that the material might be stretching. Is that the case or it is some other issue? My guess is if the vinyl was tighter to the foam, the bunching will not happen over time. Would like some input from the pros please.

Thanks

Dave

Do you have pictures ?

This is how it looks. The picture uploaded might be an older sofa, but in 3 months, the sofas looked like this on the seat. Thank you.

So this isn't necessarily a picture of the one he did but another in the restaurant that looks similar? Or one that he did longer than 3 months ago? It does appear that it could have been pulled tighter but there probably other factors involved. Could be that it is a popular booth in the restaurant and just doesn't have time to relax back to shape before someone else sits in it. It could very well look perfect first thing in the morning and look like this after the first guest. Especially if it's a particularly stretchy vinyl (never have used the brand you mentioned). Chances are it's some combination of factors. Possibly could have been pulled a bit tighter, probably a stretchy vinyl and a popular booth. Cleaners can be a factor too. Anything besides soap and water will absolutely degrade the material. Chemicals cause shrinking in some areas and stretching in others as it breaks down the plasticizers in the vinyland eventually makes it brittle.