A screwdriver and round headed cutting pliers...you can use the screwdriver to lift the staple....most likely you'll get one side out and not the other. Then grab the staple close to the wood with the cutting pliers and rock the head back and it'll pull the staple right out.

Good luck with your project!

lazygardens - I am excited for you! Take lots of pictures along the way. Post your progress for all of us to see.

I like your description of the original upholsterer going crazy with the stapler!
Removing all the staples takes a very long time and is tedious work.

I bought a special tool for removing staples that looks like a screwdriver with a very sharp and slightly bent tip. I got it from a local upholstery supply store, but they are available online.
In addition, I used needle nose pliers. Don't forget to wear gloves!

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: Upholstery Staple Lifter

i agree with laurie - the staple lifter is a game changer!

mine looks like this:

joann's also has a similar one. i called my local upholstery supply place to ask if she sells them, and in very broken english she told me she doesn't need fancy tools - she uses an ice pick. lol

good luck!!! can't wait to see what you come up with!

i agree with laurie - the staple lifter is a game changer!

mine looks like this:

joann's also has a similar one. i called my local upholstery supply place to ask if she sells them, and in very broken english she told me she doesn't need fancy tools - she uses an ice pick. lol

good luck!!! can't wait to see what you come up with!

Trim the old fabric along the staple run. Sometimes pulling staples behind the fabric will work faster for a good number of them. It is worth a try. You have brought up a good topic as most who have not upholstered before are unaware that sometimes getting through the old for new takes longer...and it is boring.

I do a lot of reupholstering, and along with the staple lifters shown above (Osborne makes nice sturdy ones), the tool you really REALLY need is this. I could never do most of my DIY home projects without it. Despite owning dozens of tools, this is probably hands down the best $30 I ever spent:

Along with reupholstery, if you ever need to take up old flooring or carpet, you will fall on your knees and bless me. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Jefferson Nail Extractor

ps: I wouldn't recommend cutting any of the staples or tacks, since this will invariably leave a sharp little nub to rip your new burlap or cover fabric right where you don't want it to. If you really can't get a fastener out, pound it in with a small hammer.

Also, yet another tip: make sure that the frame can support the serpentine springs before investing in them, the clips, the tensioner, etc. You might need to add additional cross-pieces of wood for support; frames intended for strapping are not always put together as strongly as frames for zigzags.

Have fun! Nothing is as satisfying as reupholstering. Love to see some pictures as the project progresses.

Thanks for this great thread. My sister is getting ready to relocate and is not going to take her very worn club chairs with her. They are the most comfortable chairs ever and I have coveted them for years! She said she was going to take them straight to the dump and I said NO!!!!!! Now she is going to let me have them and I am going to attempt to reupholster them. No experience at all so I'm a little nervous but anxious to get started. I've got a month or so before I get them. I will be getting the tools recommended on this thread. Thanks!

Patty

I have a panoply of fastener removal tools ... and the SO filed down a very small pry bar so it's narrow enough to tap under the staples. It's tedious as all get out, but do-able.

Here's the chair, the way I bought it from the hotel liquidation place. It came out of a posh local resort that was redecorating. The paint color is disgusting, but the fabric is not bad for our house and it's really great shape and deep enough for the tall one to actually sit back in. Unfortunately, I'm not 6'3" and 250+ pounds, so I didn't pick up on the saggy webbing issue.

And after ripping off the glue-gunned trim edging and the fabric, here's the first layer of "stuff". Some loose-laid cotton (?) over a stapled-on foam edge roll.

Surgery has begun!

It's fun to discover what's underneath : )
Keep the pictures coming. It will be interesting to see the webbing
& springs, too. I call this part of the chair (underneath the seat cushion) the "deck".

It looks like a comfortable chair.

"I imagine some guy with a pneumatic staple gun, cackling insanely "They'll never be able to reupholster THIS!" "

... or his 11 year old kid. A friend was over last weekend, talking about his childhood with his upholsterer dad and how they earned their allowance with those pneumatic tools ;)

" they earned their allowance with those pneumatic tools"

Must have been paid by the number of staples used.

After over a year, the project has been moved to the new house!

When last we talked, I was removing staples and innards - this is the last layer before the webbing.

Underside of the chair, minus the dustcover, showing the "Pirelli straps" or "Pirelli webbing" ... used when you want a flat profile and good support. But they do lose their spring.

How they are fastened to the chair - MOAR STAPLES!!!!

I know how you are feeling about MORE staples! It is very time consuming to remove them all...I remember.

Thanks for posting this update & photos : )

Keep up the good work!!

I'm trying to strip it ... between rainstorms and other things. It's almost completely stripped.

Then I sand and stain

Then I get to start putting it back together WITH STAPLES!!!!