What do you call someone who does upholstery?
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. A person who works with upholstery is called an upholsterer; an apprentice upholsterer is sometimes called an outsider or trimmer.
Upholsterers’ Characteristics
Upholsterers tend to be predominantly realistic individuals, enjoying working outdoors or applying themselves to a hands-on project. They also tend to be enterprising, natural leaders who thrive at influencing others.
Upholstery Techniques
You don’t need to replace an aging couch in order to redecorate. Upholsterers typically use a type of glue called contact cement. This glue is applied to both the surface that will be glued and the item that will be glued to it.
Modern Upholstery uses mainly synthetic materials such as foam, elasticated webbing, polyester wadding, and staples. Early armchairs often had loose seat cushions stuffed with feathers.
After the 1830s, designs incorporated springs, padding, and webbing. 19th-century chairs incorporated synthetic materials such as upholstery foam and fiberfill.