What Do I Need to Reupholster a Dining Chair?

To reupholster a dining chair you need six essentials: upholstery weight fabric, high density foam, polyester wadding, a heavy duty staple gun with staples, a staple remover, and a screwdriver. Add upholstery scissors, a tack hammer and a marker pen and you have everything required for a standard drop in seat. For chairs with fixed upholstered backs, you also want back tacking strip, piping or gimp trim, and fabric adhesive.

The total outlay is modest, and most of the tools last for years across multiple projects. What follows is a full list of what to buy, what quantities to order, and what you can reasonably skip if you are only doing one chair.

Fabric: How Much and What Type

Buy upholstery weight fabric rather than dress or curtain fabric. Upholstery fabric is woven densely enough to be tensioned over foam without distorting, and it carries an abrasion rating that tells you how it will wear.

For quantities, allow around 0.5 metres per drop in seat and 0.75 to 1 metre for a chair with an upholstered back. Standard upholstery fabric comes in 140cm widths, so you can often cut two seats from half a metre if the seats are small.

Add extra for patterns. A large repeat needs centring on every seat, which can push consumption up by a third or more. Plain fabrics and small textures are cheaper in both fabric and frustration.

Buy all the fabric for a set in one go, from the same roll if possible. Dye lots vary, and two chairs from different batches can look subtly mismatched under daylight.

Foam and Wadding

Foam density matters more than thickness. High density upholstery foam holds its shape for years, while cheap low density foam flattens within months and leaves you doing the job again.

Most dining seats use 25mm to 50mm of foam. Match the thickness of what you remove, unless the original was clearly inadequate. Foam suppliers will cut to your dimensions if you send measurements, which saves wrestling with a bread knife.

Polyester wadding goes over the foam and is not optional if you want a good finish. It softens the hard edge of cut foam, prevents the foam profile showing as a ridge through the fabric, and stops the fabric abrading directly against the foam surface. A 100g or 150g weight is fine for dining seats. Buy enough to wrap over the top and down the sides of each pad.

The Staple Gun and Staples

This is the tool that determines how pleasant the job is.

A manual heavy duty staple gun works on softwood frames and plywood seat bases, and it is inexpensive. On hardwood frames such as beech or oak, manual guns struggle and leave staples standing proud, which you then have to hammer flush one at a time.

An electric staple gun costs more but drives consistently into hardwood and reduces hand fatigue considerably. If you are doing a set of six chairs, it repays itself in comfort alone.

Use 8mm to 10mm staples for most dining chair work. Shorter staples pull out under tension, longer ones can punch through thin plywood bases. Buy several boxes, since a single seat can take fifty staples or more.

Removal and Cutting Tools

A staple remover makes stripping the old cover far quicker than a screwdriver and pliers, and it damages the frame less. A dedicated upholstery staple lifter costs very little.

Long bladed upholstery scissors give cleaner cuts than household scissors and cope with thick fabric. Keep them for fabric only, since cutting foam or card blunts them quickly.

A tack hammer with a magnetic end is useful for tapping proud staples flush and for any decorative nailing. A standard claw hammer works if you are careful.

You also want a screwdriver matched to your seat screws, a tape measure, and a marker or tailor chalk for marking centre lines on the fabric reverse.

Materials for Chairs with Upholstered Backs

If your chair back is upholstered rather than open timber, three extras make the difference between an amateur and a tidy finish.

Back tacking strip is a thin card or plastic strip. You staple it along the top edge with the fabric face down, then fold the fabric over it, producing a perfectly straight edge with no visible fixings. It costs very little and transforms the top of an outer back panel.

Piping or gimp trim conceals the staple line around the perimeter. Piping is a fabric covered cord sewn into a seam, and gimp is a decorative braid glued over staples. Gimp is easier for beginners since it needs no sewing.

Fabric adhesive, ideally a spray or a trim specific glue, holds gimp in place. Apply it sparingly, since excess bleeds through the braid and marks it.

Optional but Useful

Webbing and a webbing stretcher become necessary if the seat base uses straps rather than solid ply and those straps have sagged. Jute or elasticated webbing both work, and a stretcher lets you tension it properly.

Bottoming cloth, a thin black fabric stapled across the underside, hides the raw edges and staples. Nobody sees it unless the chair is upturned, but it is the detail that makes a home job look professional.

Hessian is used over webbing to support the foam and stop it sagging between straps.

A staple lifter with a replaceable tip is worth it if you are doing a whole set, as the tip blunts.

What You Can Skip

If you are recovering one simple drop in seat with sound foam, you can do the job with fabric, a staple gun, a screwdriver and scissors. Everything else improves the result but is not strictly required.

You do not need a sewing machine for a basic seat, since the cover is a single flat piece stapled underneath. Sewing only becomes necessary if you want piping or a fitted cover with seams.

You do not need to replace foam if the existing pad is still firm and holds its shape. Press it hard with your thumb: if it springs back fully, it has life left.

Deciding Whether the Project Is Worth It

Total up honestly. Fabric, foam, wadding, staples and a staple gun for a set of six chairs adds up, and the labour runs to a full weekend for a beginner.

The project makes sense when the frames are solid, the design still suits your room, and you enjoy the process. It makes less sense when the frames are loose, the chairs are uncomfortable, or the style has simply dated.

If you find yourself calculating whether it is worth it, that is usually a sign it is time to look at replacements. Our dining chairs UK sale covers fabric, leather and timber designs, and everything at Furniture in Fashion comes with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.

Preparing Your Work Space

Clear a table or bench at waist height. Working on the floor is uncomfortable and makes even tensioning difficult.

Lay down a dust sheet, since stripping old upholstery releases a surprising amount of dust and old foam crumbs. Wear a mask if the chairs are old, as degraded foam breaks down into fine particles.

Keep a small container for screws and any hardware you remove. Work on one chair completely before starting the next, so you always have an original to reference if you lose your way.

If your chairs are part of a wider dining refresh, it is worth thinking about the table at the same time. Our modern wooden dining tables UK sale pair well with hand covered chairs in natural fabrics.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much fabric do I need per dining chair?
Around 0.5 metres for a drop in seat and 0.75 to 1 metre for a chair with an upholstered back. Add more for large patterns that need centring.

What staple size should I use?
Use 8mm to 10mm staples. Shorter staples work loose under tension and longer ones risk punching through thin plywood bases.

Do I need an electric staple gun?
Not for softwood or plywood, where a manual heavy duty gun is sufficient. For hardwood frames or a full set of chairs, an electric gun saves considerable effort.

What foam density should I buy?
High density upholstery foam, matched to the thickness of the original pad, usually 25mm to 50mm for dining seats.

Can I reupholster without removing the old fabric?
You can on a simple drop in pad if the old cover is thin and flat, but the pad becomes bulkier and may no longer fit its frame. Stripping back gives a better result.