How to Make a Foam Chair
Foam is an incredibly versatile substance. Often used for packaging and creating a soft landing during gymnastics, foam is now being put to grander uses. NASA has used foam in its projects and the material has since been released as a mattress material that is both soft and supporting. Foam makes excellent furniture due to its soft texture and ability to mold to the shape of the user. Making a foam chair is a lot cheaper than you might think and can be very simple. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Plan and design your chair. You should write down any ideas you have and sketch them out. Decide what shape you want your chair, traditional or modern and swooping. Once you have the design, you can think about the size that you want to have.
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Locate foam. You can either use your own foam that you have from a delivery, if you have enough, or you can purchase from an online source. Hardware stores and home decorating stores often stock foam.
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Contact a foam cutting company, and send them your chair designs. They will be able to quote you a price and whether or not they would be able to cut your foam for you. To find a foam cutting company you can search online directories, for "Foam Cutters" or look up the phone book, under "Industrial Cutters." If they are unable to cut your foam for you, you can always build your own cutter.
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Build your own foam cutter if you would rather cut your furniture yourself or cannot get a company to do it. Directions are available online, or you can also buy your own cutter from several retailers.
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Cover your chair with material or paint it using foam paint. Normal paint will be soaked into the foam, so it is best to ask the retailer of your foam which paint is best. There are different types of foam, so not all paint will work with all types of foam. Examples: Exs, Xps, Epp and Polyethylene. To attach material, use staples. Wrap the material around the chair, ensuring it is tight-fitting. Staple underneath so they will not be noticeable.
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Tips & Warnings
Foam that comes in packaging, will usually have either a tag, or an imprint telling you what make it is. If you cannot find this on your foam, contact the company that delivered the foam and ask them. You can always use a patch test on a piece of foam to see how it will react to the paint if you cannot track down the make.
Allow any paint or glue to dry before handling the chair.
It is not recommended to use normal saws to cut foam as they can jam automatic saws and hand-held saws typically tear the foam rather than cut it.
