Furniture Question - Arm Covers

[baileyuph]

Newer furniture, from observation. does not include arm covers.  This does contrast with furniture going back a number of years.  That is, at the custom and manufacturing level they were usually provided. 

In that perspective, do you as a custom shop still provice custom arm covers, as a standard item?  Or does it depend on the piece and the request of the customer?

Like I said, some time back, arm covers were important, some were even lined and nicely fitted.  Time is money, it takes time to prepare the covers.

Time may be changing....

Doyle

[kodydog]

We recently picked up a chair for a customer. She also had a new chair and told us when she bought it the arms covers were extra. $60 extra. We did them in her fabric for $30.

We have never made arm covers or toss pillows for free. I don't see making arm covers when most people just stick them in a drawer and never use them. After all arm covers aren't really free. There a cost of doing business, just like overhead. If I can help keep the labor cost down by offering arm covers as an added option, then the people who don't use them can save a few bucks.

When I offer to make arm covers, I can see the customer thinking, trying to decide. When I say it'll be $30 they quickly say no, I never use them. Generally if there are covers on the arms when we get there, they will want them.

I don't think people use arm covers these days like they did in years past.

[gene]

I can't remember the last time I saw someone actually using arm guards. Most arm guards are lost or stuck under the seat cushion.

The only folks who do use them are really really old people.

I think most folks wash their hands occasionally today so the need for arm guards is not as necessary. I do think it also has an 'old person' aura to it.

I will do arm guards if asked and I charge an additional fee for them. If the customer is an old person, I will ask just so there is no misunderstanding. I just read kody's reply and I too find that when I mention the additional cost for arm guards folks will say 'no'.

I read somewhere, maybe on this site, that doilies were used on the back of chairs and sofas to keep the grease from peoples hair from getting on the sofa. Again, we tend to wash our hair more often that folks in the past used to.

I've never had a request for doilies.

gene

[mike802]

About 90% of my customers want arm covers, I haven't done dolly's in years.  I just have the cost of arm covers figured into the price.  I get the impression people think they keep the fabric from wearing, not so much for keeping it clean.  If you want a product that screams I AM OLD, how about clear plastic seat covers for cars!

[Lynn]

I recently finished two wingchairs and was asked for arm covers and antimacasars. You are right, only old people ask for them. I don't generally upcharge for them as it is only the occasional customer who asks.
For those of you unfamiliar with the word 'antimacasar' it is the 'doilie' or piece of fabric that goes on the back to protect from head oils. It is derived fron the macasar oil that people used on their hair in the Victorian times. Over time they became fancier - lace, embroidered etc.

A bit of useless info to start your day!

Lynn

[sofadoc]

My stance on arm covers is "Clean people don't need them".
If the customer provides the material, I make sure that there isn't enough left for arm covers. ;)
When they insist on them, I do them for free, but I don't spend a lot of time on them (no lining).

It's mostly recliner customers that want them now (and a headpiece too).
Most people only THINK they want them. They soon tire of pulling wadded up covers from the crevice between the cushions.

I don't know how many times I've disassembled a La-Z-Boy recliner only to find the original arm covers still stapled in a plastic bag on the underneath side of the seat frame.

[kodydog]

For those of you unfamiliar with the word 'antimacasar' it is the 'doilie' or piece of fabric that goes on the back to protect from head oils. It is derived fron the macasar oil that people used on their hair in the Victorian times. Over time they became fancier - lace, embroidered etc.

Lynn

The first time I heard that was about 6 months ago. A little old lady customer of ours was felling nostalgic and relayed that bit of info to us.

If a customer asks, do you think I need them? I reply, the arms are usually the first thing to wear out. Am I wrong?

[MinUph]

In my own work I throw in arm caps if there is fabric left. Just always did it as a service. I tell customers to use them when the arm shows soil or wear. I don't personally like the looks of them so that's what I tell them. Of course they are well fitted and only lined if velvet.

[fingers]

Kody, it's a funny thing you mention you heard the term antimacasar about six months ago.....a customer brought the term up to one of our sales ladies around that time. She was throwing the word around like she had just graduated Harvard or something. The first thing that comes to my mind is Readers Digest 'increase your word power'.

[Joys Shop]

Well I guess that shows my age

I grew up with the term "antimacasar"    :D

[bobbin]

I finally read this thread all the way through.  And I did l so because the quote I submitted for 3 slipcovers included arm protectors.  The customer is older, lol.  But, like Paul, I tend to simply include them since there is usually adequate fabric left over to make them and they don't take much time.  (Gene will like this:  it's part of the "studio" experience, lol).

Antimacasars... I knew there was a special word for "doilie" (note spelling, and doilies are for table tops, not furniture... I inherited a ton of them from elderly family members who loved to crochet and tat... make lace).  Joy, thank you for the refresher! you must've had family members like mine, too.  ;)

About "clean people"... .  We're pretty clean although we work jobs that can be pretty groady.  The husband frequently comes home hot and sweaty, slathered in sunscreen.  He rarely make the shower the first stop, sadly.  The "slick" on the arms of his favorite chair, along with the top of the back and the front of the seat cushion stand in mute testimony to the rigors of work in a nursery setting... .  I have threatened to cover his chair in a 16 guage plastic slipcover, to no avail. 

Thanks for the chuckles.