New cover for the Esprit Wave swivel chair
The Esprit Wave is a beautiful design classic from the 80s. A comfortable and timeless armchair. But even a chair of this quality may need a new cover after many years. That could be because the old upholstery is worn or damaged, or simply because your interior calls for a new color or fabric.
One of the great things about the Esprit Wave is that the chair's upholstery consists of a single-piece cover. So, it doesn’t need to be reupholstered by a professional. You can simply replace the old cover with a new one. You can order a new cover from me in any color and fabric you like, entirely according to your taste. See the link to this manual for more information.
Replacing the cover is easy to do yourself, saving you the hassle of moving the chair around! Would you prefer that I replace the cover for you? Feel free to contact me.
In this manual, I’ll guide you step by step through how to remove the old cover from the Esprit Wave and how to apply the new cover from ManonRuijgrokDesign.
Don’t have an Esprit Wave yet? Take a look at online marketplaces—they’re regularly available there. And if the fabric isn’t to your liking, just order a new one from me!
Supply needed
All you need is a new cover for the Esprit Wave. You can order one according to your own preference at ManonRuijgrokDesign. See the link next to the manual.
Besides that, you don’t need much more than some muscle power, a small knife or awl, and a bit of patience!
Replacing the cover is done at your own risk.
To begin, unzip the old cover. The zipper closures are located at the bottom of the chair near the metal leg. Having trouble reaching them? You can tilt the chair forward to get a better view and easier access.
The zipper of the old cover is secured to a cardboard ring with a few staples. Before you can open the zippers, you'll need to remove these staples. It's a simple task. Use a small knife or, if you have one, an awl to lift the staples out.
Once you've removed the staples, you can unzip the three zippers.
The Esprit Wave has six straps that run through the seat of the chair, keeping the fabric at the front of the seat in place. In this step, you’ll detach these.
Once you’ve unzipped the cover, you’ll see a sort of glued patch at the bottom of the backrest. Peel this off to reveal three knotted straps behind it. Untie the knots to release the straps.
You don’t need to keep the patch, and it’s not necessary to reattach it later when fitting the new cover.
The six straps you just detached hold the fabric in place at the front of the seat. Now that they’re loose, the cover can be fully removed.
Start by pulling the fabric off the backrest. First the higher section, then the lower part. The rounded tops of the backrest are flexible, so gently press the foam forward as you slide the fabric off. As long as you do this carefully, it won’t cause any damage. Important: do not apply force to the zipper attachment points!
Next, pull the fabric off the seat. The straps that went through the seat will come out along with the cover. Inside the cover, you’ll find a thin metal rod to which the six straps were attached. Remove this rod and set it aside—you’ll need it for the new cover. In the photo for this step, you’ll see we used a plastic rod because the original steel one was missing.
You may notice some cracks in the foam of the chair. This is normal and won’t affect the shape or seating comfort. It just means the foam has dried out a bit. If you like (though it's usually unnecessary unless a piece is at risk of tearing off), you can reinforce the cracks with some duct tape or fill them using a rubber adhesive.
You start by fitting the new cover at the seat area. Make sure all the zippers are open before you begin. Take your time and be patient for this demanding task!
Here are a few tips to start.
Putting on the new cover can be quite stiff. So be careful not to pull too hard on the fabric, as you might tear the inner lining. Also, be careful not to put too much pressure on the seams or zippers.
Grab the fabric and lining firmly together, fold the fabric a bit inside out, and 'roll' the fabric over the foam.
What can help is to slide your hand well between the fabric and the foam, guiding the fabric over the foam this way.
To make it easier to pull the cover smoothly over the chair, you can put a tricot stocking over the seat, as shown in the first photo. The stocking is so thin that it doesn’t have to be super tight under the new cover.
Make sure the front part of the seat—the part shaped like a mouth—is fitted tightly and that the seams of the cover align well with the shape of the chair. Otherwise, the cover won’t look good and you won’t be able to close the zippers. Make sure the zipper is at the bottom, otherwise you won’t be able to pull the fabric towards the back.
Putting on the cover goes little by little!
When the cover is neatly fitted around the seat of the chair, slide the metal rod back into the fabric tunnel designed for it.
Now take a crochet hook and, from the back, push it through the six designated holes to the front of the chair. In the photo, these holes are outlined in red. Wrap the straps one by one around the crochet hook and pull the six straps through the seat this way.
Leave the straps hanging freely; we will tie them in the next step.
Now you can put the cover over the back of the chair. Start with the lower part of the backrest, then the upper part. Here too, you can bend the foam of the chair a little to get the fabric around it. This also prevents unnecessary tension on the zipper.
Make sure the fabric fits nicely around the shape of the Wave. Pay attention that the inner lining is also nicely tight.
After this step, the cover won’t yet be perfectly tight and smooth around the chair. But don’t worry, in the next steps we’ll fine-tune it.
Now it’s time to tie the straps that stick out at the back of the chair. This will help the cover fit more neatly around the chair again.
It’s easiest to do this step with two people: one person firmly pushes the metal or plastic rod into the seam of the chair, while the other person ties the straps as tightly as possible.
You do this by tying two straps together at a time, so you’ll make three knots in total. You can use a regular double knot. Pay close attention to ensure all seams are nicely aligned. The fabric of the seat and backrest will now be much tighter.
If you still have the original “patch” that covered the knots of the straps and it’s still usable, apply it again. However, if the patch is no longer usable, don’t worry—everything will be fine without it.
Tilt the chair forward once more and close the zippers under the seat. Make sure to pull the two sides firmly together. Here too, having a second person help is useful. Zip the zippers little by little. Do the same with the zippers at the front.
Tuck the fabric around the leg inward, and voilà! Your Esprit Wave looks like new again!
If you take a photo of your refreshed armchair, would you please email it to me?
And done! What a feeling!
Did you manage to fix it?
Yes!
