Ethan Clarke
Reupholstering dining chairs with plastic is a great way to baby-proof your furniture without compromising on style. It is a simple DIY project that can give your dining chairs a new look and make them stain-resistant and easy to wipe clean. This guide will take you through the process of reupholstering your dining chairs with plastic, including the tools and materials you will need and step-by-step instructions to ensure a professional finish.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Easy for beginners |
| Tools | Fabric, plastic, plywood board, foam, batting, basting adhesive, screwdriver, jigsaw, upholstery staple gun, hammer |
| Steps | 1. Remove old fabric and padding. 2. Replace seat board if broken or cracked. 3. Cut new foam to size and attach to seat board. 4. Cut batting 3 inches wider than the seat on all sides and attach. 5. Cut fabric and plastic to size, allowing extra fabric to wrap around the edges. 6. Staple fabric and plastic to the chair, pulling tight and stapling every couple of inches. 7. Re-attach the seat to the chair. |
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What You'll Learn
Reupholstering dining chairs with plastic
First, you will need to source your plastic. Clear plastic vinyl can be purchased online and in stores. You will want to ensure you have enough to cover your desired number of chairs. For example, for eight chairs, 3.5 yards of plastic was used.
Next, you will want to prepare the chair. If the chair has been previously upholstered, you will need to remove the old fabric. If the chair has tacks, these can be pried loose with a screwdriver. If the seat board is broken or cracked, it will need to be replaced. Cut a new seat board from a 1/2" plywood board, using the old seat as a template. If you are adding new foam, place it over the seat board and cut it down to size. You can use basting adhesive to hold these layers in place.
Now you are ready to attach the plastic. Cut the plastic to size, ensuring you have enough to wrap around the edges and staple. Pull the plastic tight and staple every couple of inches, ensuring you pull tightly with each staple. The corners will be the most challenging part. Staple the sides as close to the corner as possible without going over to the next side. Take the two pieces of the sides and fold in each side to make two folds on the corners.
Finally, re-attach the seat to the chair and admire your handiwork!
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Stapling plastic fabric to dining chairs
To begin stapling plastic fabric to your dining chairs, first, turn the chair upside down and remove the screws holding the cushion to the seat. Remove any existing staples from the underside of the cushion using a flat-head screwdriver. You can also use a hammer to pull up old staples, and pliers if you have trouble with this step.
Next, cut your plastic fabric to size, using the existing fabric as a pattern. Place the plastic, fabric, and cushion in that order on your work surface. Starting on one side, fold the fabric and plastic around the cushion, ensuring there is enough slack for the other sides. Staple into place, pulling the fabric tight and adding pressure so the staples attach fully. Repeat this process for the opposite side, then the remaining two sides.
Once the sides are complete, move on to the corners. Experiment with folding the corners until you find a neat fold, then staple into place. Repeat for the remaining corners.
Finally, examine your work. If there are any mistakes or the fabric is not tight enough, remove the staples and repeat the process.
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Using vinyl plastic to cover dining chairs
To cover your dining chairs with vinyl, you will first need to purchase the vinyl. You can find vinyl in fabric stores or online. Clear vinyl is a popular choice as it allows you to still see and admire the existing seat covers underneath. When selecting vinyl, you should opt for vinyl with a gauge of between 8 and 12, as this will be the right thickness for ease of application and durability, as well as allowing the vinyl to mould easily to the shape of the chair cushion.
Once you have your vinyl, you will need to cut it to size. Turn your chair upside down and remove the seat by unscrewing it from the chair frame. Do the same with the existing seat cover, removing any staples and pulling off the fabric. You can then lay the seat cushion upside down onto the vinyl and cut around it, leaving an extra 2 to 4 inches of vinyl so that you can wrap the fabric around the padding and staple it to the back of the seat cushion.
Finally, replace the seat cushion in the chair frame and add a vinyl cover layer to the seat. You can staple the vinyl in place, either outside of or between the staples securing the fabric beneath. And there you have it—a dining chair covered in vinyl, which is both functional and stylish!
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Baby-proofing dining chairs with plastic
Baby-proofing dining chairs can be done in several ways. One common method is to use plastic to cover the chairs, protecting them from stains and spills. This can be done by reupholstering the chairs with clear plastic vinyl, which can be sourced from online fabric stores. This method is detailed by a user on realitydaydream.com, who cut 28-inch squares of fabric, stapling them to the chair with a staple gun, and then covering them with vinyl. This user notes that this method is time-consuming and challenging to get smooth, tight corners without wrinkles. However, the result is baby-proofed chairs with a unique pattern that are wipeable and stain-resistant.
Another method is to tie the chairs together with belts or straps when they are not in use. This prevents toddlers from climbing on them and potentially falling off. This method can be annoying as it requires the chairs to be untied every time someone wants to sit down, but it is a quick and inexpensive solution.
Other suggestions include pushing chairs fully into the table so toddlers cannot pull them away and climb on them, and removing any items from the table that might tempt toddlers to climb onto the chairs to reach them.
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DIY dining chair plastic slipcovers
Reupholstering dining chair seat covers with plastic is a simple DIY project that can give your chair a new look and make it stain-resistant and easy to wipe clean. You can use clear plastic vinyl, which can be purchased from stores like Walmart or online at HGTV Fabric.
First, ensure that you have enough plastic vinyl fabric to wrap around the edges of the chair seat and staple it in place. Cut the fabric into squares that are large enough to cover the entire seat with a few extra inches on each side. Then, using an upholstery staple gun, put a staple every couple of inches, pulling the fabric tight with each staple.
When you get to the corners, staple the sides as close to the corner as possible without going over to the next side. Take the two pieces of the sides and fold in each side to make two folds on the corners. You can practice on the back corners of the chair seat first, as these will be covered by the back of the chair.
Finally, once everything is stapled, re-attach the seat to the chair. You can also use plastic slipcovers for your dining chairs, which can be purchased online.
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Frequently asked questions
To cover your dining chair with plastic, you will need to purchase a plastic sheet or plastic fabric. Cut the plastic into squares that are slightly larger than the surface area of the chair, so that you have enough fabric to wrap around the edges and staple. Then, use a staple gun to attach the plastic to the chair, pulling the plastic tight with each staple that you apply.
Clear plastic vinyl is a good option for covering dining chairs as it is wipeable and stain-resistant. You can purchase this from HGTV Fabric or Amazon.
You will need a staple gun, staples, a screwdriver, and scissors to cut the plastic.
Covering the corners of the chair with plastic can be tricky. Make sure to staple the sides as close to the corner as possible, without going over to the next side. Then, fold in each side to make two folds on the corners.
