How To: Restore an Eames Swivel Chair in 3 Minutes

Apartment Therapy reader hoxha emailed us this step-by-step instructional of how they were able to revive an original vintage Eames Swivel chair themselves after being quoted $500 to have the upholstery restored professionally. Using a Karcher pressure hose and Vanish Oxi Action to clean specific stained spots, hoxha was able to revive the chair from an aged, drab condition back to a revived appearance on a budget...

One thing we'd add to hoxha's instructions is the possibility of either replacing or additionally using a carpet cleaning appliance to suck out the soapy water from the chair immediately instead of letting it drip dry. Water soaking upholstered furniture can damage the filling and lessen the life of the furniture in the long term, even if the exterior looks better. Applying as little liquid is key to protect the chair's overall structural quality and using a wet vac that removes the soapy cleaner immediately will expedite the drying process. We'd also note a professional job would be ultimately the superior avenue to go if you're truly concerned about keeping the value of an original piece, as this process is more of a surface touch up, but one that could easily be used on less valuable used furniture.

(Images: hoxha)

Comments (11)

A carpet/upholstery cleaner doesn't cost that much to rent...

So how did he fix the fraying fabric and missing arm?

bepsf: he didn't appear to replace the arm or the frayed fabric, as this low-cost solution is more of a touch-up cleaning restoration than a full-blown pro job. Hopefully he follows up with addressing those other important details since the chair is still quite a looker even with the damage of age.

Sorry but this is absolutely ridiculous!

I have an original aluminum group chair and I can tell you that ONLY Herman Miller has the equipment to reupholster this style of chair properly.

In fact, when I lived in GR (Grand Rapids) I spoke with the guy who handled the reupholstering of aluminum group chairs and he commented how often he'd get calls from upholsterers who had stripped a chair only to realize they can't get the upholstery back on.

Just thought I'd mention it!

I second Dustin's comment.

There's gotta be a smarter inexpensive solution to this. To me the chair would be ruined if you soaked it with a hose.

This is the upholstery cleaning version of waterboarding.

Why do I think someone's office is going to smell like mildew when that thing warms up...

all i can say is, "WOW" - and not in a good way.

Why would you post this, and then add an entire paragraph with why you would suggest alternative methods.

Why not just say this idea sucks and be done with it, or just not post the idiocy?

The title, "How to: Restore an Eames Swivel Chair in 3 Minutes" is more than a little misleading. It should be "How to: Destroy an Eames Swivel Chair in 3 Minutes".
I certainly hope this was not an authentic Eames. An inexpensive handheld steam cleaner, used for the same 3 minutes, would have actually cleaned itr (and killed all the dust mites) without inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on an innocent chair.

I just bought a mid-c chair off craigslist (an upholstered armchair) that needed a good cleaning. Since I got the chair for $50 and was on a tight budget, I bought some turtle car upholstery cleaner that came with it's own scrubby brush and scrubbed the whole thing. With a little elbow grease and no water, that whole thing dried quickly and looks new.