Stripping and Frame Repair

Decide first

Before stripping, decide what the piece deserves:

• Antique or valuable: original upholstery can be historically significant and is often worth keeping or conserving rather than replacing. Conservators treat old stuffing and covers as part of the object ¹.
• Sound but worn: re-cover only, using the old cover as a pattern ².
• Sagging or lumpy: retie springs or renew webbing from underneath without stripping the top ².
• Failed throughout: complete reupholstery - strip to the frame, repair, and rebuild ².

Document first

Photograph every side before you start, then each layer as it comes off. Note:

• How the cover was cut, pulled, and pleated at corners.
• Where seams and welting run.
• How the springs were placed and tied.
• What stuffings were used and how thick.

Keep the old cover pieces flat and labeled; they’re patterns for the new one. The 1946 Montana bulletin calls observing how each step of the original was made “an excellent practice” ².

Stripping

Work from the outside in, in reverse order of building:

1. Dust cover off the bottom.
2. Show cover: remove gimp or welting, then tacks or staples.
3. Muslin, batting, stuffing: lift off and bag; old stuffing is dusty, so wear a dust mask and vacuum as you go. Clean curled horsehair can be washed and reused ².
4. Burlap, then cut the spring ties and remove springs.
5. Webbing last.

Removing tacks: set a ripping chisel against the tack head and tap it with a mallet, driving along the grain of the rail so you don’t split off slivers. Staples come out with a staple lifter and pliers. Remove every old tack and staple; leftovers deflect new ones and snag fabric.

Frame repair

With the frame bare, fix it now, because once it’s covered you can’t:

• Loose joints: knock them apart, clean out old glue, and reglue (hide glue is traditional and reversible). Don’t just inject glue into a loose joint; it rarely holds.
• Corner blocks: check that the glued and screwed blocks inside each corner are tight; replace missing ones. The Montana bulletin specifies corner blocks or metal plates to reinforce a footstool frame ².
• Cracked rails: glue and clamp, or splice in new wood.
• Tack-riddled rails: old holes weaken the wood, so reupholstery usually calls for smaller tacks set closer together ². Where a rail is badly riddled, glue in thin wood strips or fill holes with glued slivers and plane flush.
• Exposed wood: refinish show wood before upholstering, so finish doesn’t get on new fabric ².

What to take from this

Decide first whether to conserve, re-cover, repair from underneath, or fully reupholster. Photograph and keep every layer as you strip in reverse order, and save the old cover as a pattern. Rip tacks out along the grain, remove them all, and repair the frame while it’s bare: reglue loose joints, tighten corner blocks, fix cracks, fill riddled rails, and refinish show wood before any new upholstery goes on.