I recently attempted some natural upholstery and because it was very simple it was successful. Perhaps this is the best place to start; I had old style divans, a simple wooden (existing) bed-like base to work with, and they had foam mattresses on top with cushions that lent up against the wall in a corner creating a L-shaped sofa snug. I simply removed the old cushions and pads and started from scratch. I used a company here in Turkey called Wellmatt because we have bought mattresses and mattress toppers from them in the recent past and they are very nice. I have tried a latex and coconut fibre mattress and a horse hair mattress topper, as well as a rather heavy and firm futon style mattress made up of layers of all these plus cotton and wool batting. These are some of the basic materials used in natural upholstery.
Here are some links listing other possibilities.
I find this one to be an invaluable source of information; on this page there is a list of ways to use the natural materials in lieu of the existing toxic materials.
My choice of wool mattress topper turned out to be a fairly thick layer of cotton sub – they call it – a sort of compacted layer of cotton fibres a couple of centimetres thick with a thin layer of wool on either side. Expecting a 4cm thick wool mattress as described I was disappointed, but they claim that the wool compacts over time and customers complain. This is true I think – traditionally when people slept on wool mattresses they would periodically be opened, the wool removed and washed and then re-stuffed, to make them plump again. This was a service that would have been provided door to door.
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I also asked a local traditional quilt maker, whose shop close to my house is an Aladdin’s cave of old kilims and animal hides and quilts and pillows all piled up inside and out, to make me a couple of pure wool mattresses so I could make a comparison. He didn’t quite understand what I wanted – he had offered to make me a 10cm thick French mattress for a very reasonable price and given that I’m a foreigner I’m sure that price would have been exaggerated. (400 lira, which at the time was around 50GBP. 200cmx80cmx10cm). I requested two 5cm thick mattress instead – which cost me a little more; but they were a little uneven, one slightly thicker and longer that the other. I had wanted to layer them Caravanne style.
Anyway it wasn’t terribly important, and they were so cheap; however, I think that the (much) more expensive ones ordered from the mattress company looked better in the end, sleeker; though they are a little firm. I took them to my upholsterer, again on the same road as my house, so convenient! And he covered them in a plain Indian linen that I bought in Istanbul.
There was some fabric left over so I thought I would make two of those cylindrical bolsters you often see on pictures of really beautiful midcentury daybeds, (I seriously recommend 1stdibs for fabulous daybed fantasising), and a back rest which would be attached to the wall. Of course after going to so much trouble to source and experiment with wool (and it was august in the centre of Bodrum! Even just walking across the road feels like an effort in that heat!) I couldn’t accept that they would be filled/padded out with foam.
So I asked him to think of something else – I suggested folding and rolling up bath towels, which I still think was a pretty darn good suggestion; but he came up with the much more professional idea of felt.
Now, this deserves a subtext. I don’t know which country you are reading this in, but Turkey is still pretty hung up on foam. It’s readily available, cheap, light, versatile and easy to work with. So, I’ve had this conversation with upholsters before when I wanted to make a sofa for our newly non-toxically decorated flat in Istanbul. They generally raise their eyebrows and then do that sucking-in-air through-the-teeth thing that means, ‘nah, not a good idea, love’. You know the one, used universally by all British builders – (and painters who have been asked to use Farrow and Ball estate emulsion!) – when you have asked them to do something out of the ordinary. Well, Turkish upholsterers do it when you say I want to use cotton or wool or latex instead of foam. The trick seems to be, based on this last experience, to ask them what they suggest. I’m sure the NLP people and the people who write those eminently sensible but-quite-hard-to-follow-after-another-sleepless-night books on how to talk to your kids (i.e. not scream at them like an evil queen, I am the boss of you I am I am, whilst threatening and bribing in the same breath), would know exactly why that worked. Try it.
So he offered to take a road trip up to his hometown, a village near Izmir, where they make felt, and create the bolsters and backrest from that. It was, obviously, more expensive. And there’s the rub. In general any natural upholstery project will end up more expensive than the cheapest foam option. But when you consider that your Patricia Urquiola sofa contains bog standard foam, well.
And if you can find a traditional quilt and mattress maker, and are willing to put in the time and work closely with them you can get a very reasonably priced product indeed. You can then have them make wool filled pillows too. This works well if you are happy to do a daybed/divan style project. If you are after something a little chic-er then be prepared to do some searching, or encounter some resistance and a bigger price tag.
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