How to Fix the Straps on a Patio Chair
You live on your patio in the summer, eating meals with your family and soaking up the sunshine. You joke you'll wear a hole in that patio chair, then one day, you discover a hole. Take quick action to fix your damaged chair. When wear and tear break a strap or cause a hole, you can fix the damage yourself, so you don't have to spend money on new patio furniture. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Match
- Shim
- Measuring tape
- Replacement chair pins
- Replacement straps
- Pot
- Kitchen tongs
Instructions
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1
Use a match to fix minor rips in delicate plastic webbing. Light the match, then hold it close to the chair without touching it to the fabric. You want the plastic webbing to melt (this will stop the rip) without burning or catching fire. Hold the match there until the edges of the webbing meld together, then remove and extinguish the match.
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2
Remove broken straps from a patio chair. Look at the back or bottom of the chair for pins that hold each vinyl strap in place. Using a shim, pry out the pins for broken straps. If your pins have broken or fallen out, you may need to just replace them to fix the chair.
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3
Measure the dimension of the strap you removed so you can ensure the replacement strap fits. Also inspect the pin you just removed. There are many types of pins or rivets used to hold a strap to a chair. Rivets may have grooves, holes or flat sides.
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4
Heat a pot of water to just under a boil. Drop the replacement strap into the pot, and let it steam in the heat for two minutes. Use tongs to fish out the strap.
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5
Wrap the strap around your chair. If the straps are set in a weave pattern, weave the replacement strap over and under the other straps.
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6
Push one pin through the strap, then into the hole in the back of the chair.
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7
Pull on the strap to stretch it so it reaches the second peg. Use the second pin to hold the strap in place.
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Tips & Warnings
Some straps are double wrapped to obscure the pin holding the strap to the chair. If you need to install a double-wrapped strap, fit the pin through the strap as before. Then wrap the strap around the frame one full time to cover the pin. Run the strap over the frame to the other side, then repeat this step. On the second side, wrap the strap around once above the hole, then wrap it a second time, and secure the pin. Roll the higher strap down so it covers the pin.
