This article is about chairs only. To find out how to ensure that your retractable platforms have a long life, please see our article here.
Specify for a Long Life
The biggest wear points on chairs are on the front edge of the seat, and the top edge of the backrest. The edges of upholstered armrests can be vulnerable too. These are the points where fabric is tensioned around an angle. They’re also the points which are most regularly brushed against by people passing.
To protect these areas, you could consider plastic wraparound panels (available for our Espace, Accolade and Scholar seats). The great advantage of these is that they wrap right around the most vulnerable edges of the fabric. If plastic’s not the right choice for your venue, you could look at wooden panels. You could also think about upholstering in a very durable fabric – choose a faux leather perhaps, or a fabric with a “Martindale” abrasion test score of 100,000 rubs plus.
Carry out Regular Checks and Cleaning
As you can imagine, dust, crumbs or grit between the body of the sitter and the chair fabric can act like sandpaper, quickly wearing and tearing fibres. But stains and spillages can also be damaging to fabric, chemically wearing the fabric’s structure. Regular cleaning is therefore essential. Check the fabric manufacturer’s guidance for specifics.
It’s also of course important to regularly check fixings and linkages on your seats. Our aftersales team can advise you on recommended intervals for these checks.
Ensure Your Seats are Regularly Serviced
If you have retractable seating, it’s clearly essential to have it serviced annually. This not only extends its life and keeps it working smoothly, it ensures (in the UK at least) that you fulfil your requirements unrer the Provision and Use of Working Equipment (PUWER) Regulations.
However, if you have fixed or removable chairs only, it’s tempting to assume that servicing is not required. However, a thorough and professional check and tune up of your seating by one of our site engineers will ensure that every seat is safe, and save you from future issues. We replace small parts and fixings as part of your service and we service other manufacturers’ seats as well as our own. Get in touch if you’d like to arrange a visit.
And When the Time Comes… Refurbishment
Inevitably, chairs will eventually start to look tired. If you’d rather refurbish than replace, Audience Systems’ aftersales team are here to help. The most common update is to replace the seats and backs, whilst keeping the original framework of the chairs. This can be done in phases if required, to fit in with your programming.
You might imagine that stripping and replacing just the fabric would be the cheapest and most sustainable option. However, foam wears significantly too. By the time it’s time to replace the fabric, re-using the worn foam could give you a very lumpy and uncomfortable result!
If your chairs need a freshen up, please get in touch, and we’ll put together a bespoke refurbishment package to suit your venue. It goes without saying that we can also refurbish retractable seating systems.
