restoration project
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Picture the scene .... we're on that well known auction website, minding our own business, when this baby starts calling out our name. How could we refuse ..... look at the poor thing! Help was sent in the form of a hasty email to the seller - we had to act fast. One quick and illegal transaction later - yes, we did the deal outside of eBay and we're not ashamed to say so - and the shell was ours. We're mighty pleased, but now for the hard part - the dreaded and laborious task of restoration!
Oh, my. I'm thinking this will require heroic measures. I can't wait to see the end result.
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about this product called SOY-IT to strip the adhesive off... apparently you can buy a few samples online and leave it on for a while, preferably in a heated environment (or maybe with a hairdryer blowing on it?) and apparently it makes things MUCH MUCH MUCH easier!
ReplyDeleteIs that a brown chair with white paint on it or a white chair with brown goo on it? Aside from the dirt on the bottom it actually looks kind of cool as is - like a cowhide rug. Good luck with the restoration!
ReplyDeleteDana: Neither can we!
ReplyDeleteDan: OK, so we're secretly WOWED that you left a comment, but that aside, thanks for the tip-off!
Vintage Hunter: It is an off-white shell showing the remnants of adhesive which would once have held the long since gone upholstery in situ. Oh, and it doesn't look cool in real life, just plain grubby!
Oh boy! I've currently got 4 armchairs in this very same predicament! All a matching "BRICK" red color as I like to call them. I will send some pictures of my own hardship thus far...good luck from a fellow industrial-strength-glue-hater.
ReplyDeleteCast and Crew: We'll let you in to a little secret - we completed the scrapping stage today .... we're SO over adhesive!
ReplyDeletelucky ducks!
ReplyDeleteI too am working on restoring a few Eames shells, both charcoal fiberglass. One still has the original upholstery but it's suffered a bit of water damage, leaving white cloudy stains on the inside arm.
ReplyDeleteI've been researching online, but wondered if you have any additional tips? The best outline I've come across so far is posted at ChairFag http://chairfag.com/?p=3
We deferred to chairfag in the first instance, but Dan from Manhattan Nest (see above) also has some good tips and insights when it comes to tackling this sort of thing. We've not had to deal with water-damaged upholstery, so have no words of wisdom to share with you - sorry. We'd suggest searching the forums on Design Addict (http://www.designaddict.com) to see if anyone else has posted about a similar problem. Good luck!
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