Are you replacing an old chair cushion or building your own box cushion with Natural Upholstery Materials? This short video shows you how to cut and ‘book-wrap’ your wool batting while minimizing waste & work time.
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Note: see an updated version of this post (with additional links & resources)
New Upholstery for a Vintage Airstream (Pt. 4 – Green to the Core) – Carla was patient and thorough in answering all of my beginner’s questions, and as a follow-up, I e-mailed her some photos and measurements of the cushions we’d be replacing. After getting some additional input from my upholsterer, we came up with an idea for foam “pillows” that could be removed if and when it became necessary to wash or replace the finish fabric. To do this, Carla suggested that the latex core would be cut to size and wrapped in wool batting (padding), which protects the latex from UV rays and is also a fire-retardant material.
From the Living Home Furniture site:
Question from Terry (Mar 27, 2017) –
I thought wool batting didn’t require sewing or any type of fastener; that one simply wraps the latex with the wool and “smooshes” it to itself.
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Hi Terry,
Thanks for this great question!
You’re right – wool does stick to itself, and for those wool battings that don’t have a backing layer, I would cut the batting slightly larger than shown in the video and “smoosh” it together as you say. The only drawback to this method is that not only does the wool stick readily to the latex, but to everything else as well, making it difficult to tuck into a tight cushion cover without stretching and tearing the batting.
The particular batting shown in the video (which is available in our shop) has a thin spun (wool) backing that is strong enough to stitch, or even staple in tight upholstery applications. The result is an easy-to-handle top layer that holds together well and doesn’t stick to you as you’re working with it.
When working with non-backed wool battings I like to wrap it with a thin gauze or other fabric that allows the batting to retain its soft edges to get the same result – no sticking.
I hope this helps!
Carla