3 Easy Ways To Fix A Flat Office Chair Cushion

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It’s pretty surprising how many health issues an uncomfortable office chair may create. Did you know there is a disease called gluteal amenia, gluteus medius tendinosis, or lower cross syndrome?

Maybe when termed as “dead butt” disease, you can easily relate to the troubles your flat office chair may or is subjecting you to. Luckily, bringing back life to your office chair seat is simple.

Determine below how to fix a flat office chair cushion in easy steps.

If seeking simplicity, you fix a flat office chair cushion using a detachable seat cushion. However, you revive flattened foam by sticking extra padding to your chair for a neat look. In other words, you fix a deflated chair by disassembling, adding cushioning, then putting it together.

Table of Contents

Why Is My Chair Cushion Flat?

Office chair cushions, particularly on cheap models, tend to degrade pretty quickly. Still, a chair cushion, irrespective of how sturdy it is, and no matter the contoured cut it has, deflates with time.

However, factors like improper care may hasten the degradation. For instance, accidentally soaking up the padding or using your chair to store heavy equipment when not sitting on it quickens degradation.

How To Fix a Flat Office Chair Cushion

While you may place detachable cushions on top of the chair, the padding keeps moving around since it’s not tightly in place. Besides, your desk chair still appears unclassy underneath the new cushion and may not give your office a look you desire.

Adding padding material is the best way to get your flat office chair to offer adequate cushioning and retain its attractiveness.

So, you’ll need these materials to attach more cushion to your seat:

Screwdriver
Staple puller
Pliers
L-wrench
Scissors
Foam sheet padding
Dacron (optional)
Adhesive spray
Staple gun
Blade
Chalk (or another temporary maker)
Protective gloves
Protective goggles

The last two are optional, though beneficial. You may accidentally cut yourself or get dirt and crumbing cushion in your eyes.

The padding comes in various thicknesses and dimensions. Get enough to cover your entire office chair seat and provide you with the thickness you need.

#Step 1: How Do You Fix a Flat Office Chair Cushion? Disassembly

You have to open up the seat to add the cushioning for a neat finish.

Wear your protective gear if you have it.
Pop out the screws that secure your armrest and seat to the rest of the chair with a screwdriver. Use your L-wrench to loosen the screws.
Detach the backrest and the armrests to remain with the seat and the lower assembly.
Mark the front of the cushion cover with chalk or another maker. This eases reinstallation in case your seat’s front and back look dissimilar.
Overturn your seat.
Unscrew the seat’s underside to release the seat from the lift mechanism and base or the legs.
Remove all the staples securing the dust cover of the seat’s underside with your staple puller. Be cautious if new to upholstery to avoid cutting yourself with the staple puller. Push it away from your hand as you remove the staples. There’s no need to remove the stickers and the items attached to the dust cover.
Get any challenging staples with your pliers.
You don’t need to pull out the dust cover entirely. Just unstaple it to expose the staples and edge of the seat cushion.
Now, pull out the cushion cover slowly from one side to the next. Be careful not to rip the cover as you remove it.

#Step 2: How Do You Fix a Deflated Chair? Adding Padding

Lay your exposed seat on top of your new foam padding. Ensure the new padding extends adequately on all sides. It should allow you to encase the old padding all the way around and reach the seat’s underside.
Mark the amount of foam needed (while folded around the seat).
Cut out the shape from the new foam padding with your scissors.
Cut out a piece of dacron and attach it over the old padding with the adhesive spray. Doing this improves the seat’s comfort.
Next, add the padding you cut over the dacron, setting it in place with the adhesive spray. Ensure you apply enough adhesive, especially on the front part, as that’s where most movements occur.
With the new padding attached to the old material, you’ll notice it’s still detached from the seat base. Use your staple gun to secure the new padding’s allowances to the wood all around. Get your foam to curve around in the shape of your seat.
Next is to cut the excess padding right after the staples with your blade.
Afterward, reinstall the cushion cover based on how you marked it. Flip the material out and snugly pull it around the padding.
Staple the cover onto the wood base all around.
Then, staple back the dust cover ensuring the wood isn’t visible.

Now, you should be ready to assemble your office chair.

#Step 3: How Do You Revive Flattened Foam? Assembling Everything

Screw back the first arm onto your seat with a screwdriver.
Next, affix the backrest to your seat and the attached arm.
Once the first arm is on, connecting the second one is a cinch. Do so with your screwdriver.
Overturn your chair and screw the base back into position.
Place the chair upright, and that’s it.

Further Reading:

12 Best Office Chairs under $500 To Buy in 2022
10 Best Mid Century Modern Office Chairs

FAQs

Can You Restuff a Chair Cushion?

You can restuff a chair cushion if the padding is inadequate. Simply cut new padding of desired thickness into shape and attach it to the old one with adhesive. You need to disassemble then place your chair back to do this. So, it takes some time, though it isn’t complex.

How Do You Recover Cushions Without Sewing?

You recover cushions without sewing using staples. Once you attach the new padding to your seat’s flattened cushioning, staple it to the wood all around. Do the same with the cushion cover and the dust cover.

What is the Best Cushion Filling?

Foam is the best cushion filling; no wonder it’s the most prevalent. It comes in various densities to select from, depending on how hard you want your furniture to feel. While some may find high-density foam pretty hard, soft, low-density foam degrades faster.

Memory foam assumes the user’s shape, ensuring you get ergonomic support. If seeking the sturdiest foam material, get a “high-resilient” density.

Conclusion

While thinning is common in aging chairs, steps on how to fix a flat office chair cushion are relatively simple. Ensure you get high-density foam for this project so that you won’t need to plump up your seat sooner.

Also, ensure you staple and apply adhesive properly, as you don’t want your fixed chair to have a sagging cushion.

Author

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is the founder of CozySeating, is a father of 2, and an engineer from one of the leading furniture stores in the country. Due to his 10 years of experience, he has proved to be the best person to offer advice to clients regarding different seating furniture based on their needs and performance. Besides, he is a specialist in product reviews and always keeps up with the current trends in the market.

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