A Very Old Rocking Chair Revival

Rocking Chair After
Refinishing w New Leather

Old Broken Chair
Before Refinishing

When we get an item of furniture, it varies in degrees of just
how bad it is and how much work it requires to get it looking good again. Jim and I love a challenge. The uglier it is, the more we love restoring it, because it provides us an opportunity to make it beautiful once again, in most cases, better than new. 

This old rocking chair was exactly the type of piece that gets us both excited in anticipation of what’s inside, what we’ll find and how to best treat the piece with the care it needs. And this one needed a lot of love. The springs were literally popping through the deteriorated fabric (see photo below). The stuffing was long gone and the webbing was hanging from the underside of the seat.

The first step in this type of restoration is removing all the old materials. And this chair had a LOT of decorative (at one time) nail heads that needed to be removed. Nail heads usually get bent when they are installed because the wood is so hard, it bends the nails, so they can seldom be reused. I recommended instead of using nail heads, I’d replace them with new welting, which is also known as cording or piping. This is a cleaner, more updated look and still appropriate for this type of chair.

Once all the material was removed, Jim removed the rockers and added glue before putting them back in, which made the chair much sturdier. He added glue to the underside of the arms for the same purpose. These old chairs tend to loosen up over time and we always glue the loose joints. Once that was done, he sanded the wood until it was smooth enough for stain. He chose an Early American stain which brought out the beautiful oak grain of the chair. After many years, the stain oxidizes and the grain isn’t as visible as it was in its glory days. Once it was stained and protected with polyurethane, that grain was so beautiful! It was day and night compared to pre-refinishing.

Once the chair was completely dry (waiting a day or so after the final polyurethane), I started the tedious process of upholstery work. The first step was replacing the destroyed webbing and reattaching the springs. Jim used the bench grinder to remove the rust from the springs so they were easier to handle. Tying springs to the webbing is a time-consuming process, so patience is key. After they are tied in place, they are tied in an eight-way tie, which connects each spring so they don’t move and provide support for the seat. The next step is adding burlap, covering the springs. Then the seat is gradually padded using foam, raw cotton filling and Dacron or thick batting. The goal is the cover the springs enough so that when you sit on the chair you don’t feel springs. Once I was satisfied the seat had a nice “crown,” I added the leather material to the seat. The seat had to be completed before Jim could add a back bottom support piece of wood, which was a necessary part of finishing the back of the chair.

The back also got new webbing, raw cotton and 1” foam. After the back of the chair was properly prepared, the leather was added using my pneumatic staple gun (my favorite tool) and securely attaching the material along the sides and ultimately finishing it up at the underside of the bottom. For this chair I replaced the original rusty tacks with double welting, which I created on my sewing machine. Welting or cording is installed using a hot glue gun, but I added finishing nails for extra secure installation. The welting covers the staples using the attach the material. It’s a beautiful way to finish a chair and other furniture items. This chair was a true challenge but the finished chair is truly a dramatic change that showed off the chair’s beautiful detail, which was practically invisible before restoration.

Seat w/broken springs