| The question of whether traditional upholsterers | | | | of 'borrowing' materials from other trades. For |
| should use tacks or staples when re-upholstering | | | | example Calico, which is a bleached cloth used |
| antique furniture is frequently and, often, fiercely | | | | frequently in upholstery. Originally this was a fabric |
| debated. So what are the two sides of this | | | | brought to the UK from Calicut, India by the East |
| argument? | | | | India Trading Company for use in the clothing trade. |
| Those who are solidly in the Tack Camp argue that | | | | Very quickly upholsterers saw the benefit of this |
| all re-upholstery should be authentic and true to the | | | | cloth to their trade and so Calico became a |
| history of the piece of furniture. They argue that | | | | fundamental part of upholstery. |
| staples are a modern invention and should not be | | | | In practical terms often a long-nosed staple gun will |
| used on old pieces of furniture, as to do so results in | | | | successfully place a staple in a very tight area where |
| an unhappy blend of different eras. Some even | | | | a tack and hammer just won't work. Recently I was |
| maintain that using staples will ruin the furniture. To | | | | asked to re-upholster a Victorian chair whose tacking |
| them staples are seen at best as unthinkable, at | | | | rail was in such poor condition that the only answer |
| worst as almost sacrilegious. | | | | was to use staples or else have the tacking rail |
| Those upholsterers who are in the Staple Camp | | | | rebuilt. |
| maintain that one of the foremost reasons for using | | | | One drawback of staples is that they tend to be a |
| staples is to protect the wooden frames of the | | | | nuisance to remove when stripping off a piece of |
| furniture, as staples cause much less damage to the | | | | furniture. They often snap leaving a small piece of |
| frames. Without a doubt tacks create a much larger | | | | staple left in the furniture. This though can be |
| hole in the wood than do staples. Staples make two | | | | hammered flat which will cause no ill effect. Usually |
| little holes. The pro staplers also maintain that putting | | | | the staples can be removed by hand with a staple |
| in a staple is one hit to the furniture and the staple is | | | | remover and a pair of pliers. This is beneficial to the |
| home, where a tack require several hammer hits to | | | | frame since there is no banging as there is when |
| knock it home. For fragile pieces of furniture the less | | | | using a ripping chisel and mallet to remove old tacks. |
| hitting the better. It is also claimed that because the | | | | If you are careful about the placement of the staples |
| staple gun is placed in position before the staple is | | | | then is possible to remove them without causing any |
| fired, there is no damage to the show wood. | | | | damage to the show wood. |
| I think that both sides of this argument have merit | | | | Tacks still have a very worthwhile place in the |
| and that the ideal situation is a happy blending of | | | | upholstery trade. I think that it is right to try to use |
| both tacks and staples. In my work I do use both; | | | | tacks on very old and / significant pieces of furniture. |
| though not always on the same piece of furniture. | | | | From a commercial point of view though staples |
| Staples are in fact not all that modern. The first | | | | greatly speed up an upholsterer's job and at the end |
| patent for a stapler was granted on August 7, 1866 | | | | of the day we are running a business. If it came |
| for a device called the Novelty Paper Fastner. This | | | | down to making a choice, I would rather use staples |
| device allowed a single staple to be loaded and it was | | | | than reduce the quality of my stuffing or webbing. |
| used mainly to bind papers or books, but was also | | | | One final point to consider is that when |
| used on carpet, furniture and boxes. However, the | | | | re-upholstering any piece of furniture we should not |
| earliest record of staples is from France in the 18th | | | | try to hide the fact that the work has been done in |
| century. They were developed for the use of King | | | | the 21st century. After all this is another phase of |
| Louis XIV of France and each staple bore his name! | | | | the furniture's life and in time it will also become part |
| Staples were not originally created specifically for use | | | | of its history. |
| in upholstery, but the upholstery trade has a tradition | | | | |