I have a Pollack chair in camel colored leather. One button on the seat has been pulled through the tired, old leather. I can see the other is destined for the same.
I will continue to use it whether I can repair it or not. I spend hours in it almost daily. But recovering something like this would be stupid. The chair isn't particularly valuable. Is there anything I can do to repair it so that I might enjoy its aesthetics a bit longer?
How is this put together? ...
How is this put together? If it's like a Plycraft lounge chair, it will have an inner shell that is screwed to the outer shell. If that's the case, you could conceivably remove the inner shell, undo the button tufting, undo the leather from the shell. Patch the underside of the leather with a heavy, non-woven underliner fabric from the fabric store (or better yet, several layers) which you can glue directly to the leather. Then reassemble everything.
Drawbacks to this method: You're going to have to be really careful in removing the leather from the shell to keep it from tearing.
You could try working from the outside to patch the tears. The leather must have torn if the button has slipped through it, right?
First, you'd have to be able to compress the padding enough to get some slack in the button cord so that you can move the button out of the way a bit. Then work the patching material into the hole, work some glue between the patch and the leather using a Qtip or something similar, and then smooth it out and let dry. For the other button that hasn't pulled through yet, see if you can make a clean slit in the leather in one of the creases, giving yourself more room to work the patch under the leather. I guess you could also do that on the first one, too, if you need more room. Once glued, the slit won't be nearly as noticeable as the original damage and should hold up fine with the right glue (something flexible, maybe Alene's Tacky Glue, a white glue available from craft stores). Just make sure that your patch is big enough to extend past the slit in the leather.
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I wouldn't underestimate the value. It has value to you and is one of
my favorites. One was up for grabs at work. 5 years ago no one would
have shown interest, but this time many wanted it. I was so surprised that
i gave it to an intern that had just moved to the city. (and i am in a chair
overload at the moment)
It did have a long crack but i fixed it for her with a scrap of leather.
Placed underneath the open crack and held together tight with rubber
cement. India ink on the small edge that still had a light coloring.
She had mentioned she would look for an ugly thrift leather coat for
re-covering. (smart kid) But the quick fix solved it. Thrift is where i found
my leather scraps to repair my eames lounge. Thousands of ugly leather
coats in NYC for cheap. But often the leather is really nice.
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