The Upholstery Forum

I am reupholstering the arms of my Eames lounge chair. The rubber tubular cord/piping/welt needs replacing because it is broken. I can’t find anything like this. What should I replace it with that would be firm like the original. The rest of the upholstery that I’m not replacing has the same cord/piping/welt and it is in good condition. The tubular cord is 1/4” diameter.

In the things that I make I use a piping to stiffen up things so they will hold their shape. I use a smaller, 1/8" material that is a stiff foam. It works well for my purposes. It is available in 1/4" diameter.

There are hollow foam welting cords available, but I have not seen it in 1/4". That certainly doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

(Some time elapses)... Well, I looked around quickly. Not the place I'd usually recommend for upholstery supplies, but here is a source of 1/4" welting cord:

https://www.sailrite.com/Foam-Piping-We ... kcQAvD_BwE

@Donalie ,

I had the exact same problem and looked round and round and just received 50 ft of that 1/4" cord from Sailrite. It is all your are going to find and the firmness is really good as well as the flexiblility.

I found a couple more suppliers.

https://www.wsusol.com/p-7389-welt-cord ... -roll.aspx

https://www.galaxysupplyinc.com/product ... per-spool/

https://www.uphsup.com/p-2521-fwc085cr- ... -roll.aspx (enough for the whole village)

I still can't find any hollow.

@souperdoo . they probably made the hollow to allow it to flex.

Thank you @souperdoo &@BigRig , this is so helpful! I will get some ordered and wait.

BigRig wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:34 am @souperdoo . they probably made the hollow to allow it to flex.

I am sure you are right, and I suspect that I can't find 8/32' hollow foam because there's no need for it and it would collapse if you bent it around a sharp corner.