Aqua Sky Armchair with Eiffel Legs

The Eames molded plastic chairs were first introduced in 1948. They were the first industrially mass produced one-piece plastic chairs. Originally, the shells were made with fiberglass-infused plastic. Today’s Eames molded plastic chairs are manufactured with more environmentally friendly materials, 100% recyclable polypropylene. The chairs are even more environmentally friendly now that they are made in the United States to reduce their manufacturing carbon footprint.

Java Shell Chair with Dowel Legs

Charles and Ray Eames’ clean, simple, and enduring design have been loved by many since they were first introduced more than 60 years ago. Good design is timeless – The Eames molded plastic chairs perfectly fit in the category.

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My First Eames Fiberglass Chair

Now that I learned how to restore the Eames fiberglass shell chairs, I decided to tackle another project. I was going to restore one of the two orange arm shells I purchased online a few years ago. I have been using one with a rocker base and the other with an Eiffel base. After the purchase, I used a fiberglass cleaner designed for boats to clean and polish them. They were not as shiny as I wanted them to be, so I decided to try the restoration method I learned from a website called “chairfag.com” to restore the fiberglass back to its original luster. It’s a really good website that walks you through an arm shell shock mount removal and fiberglass restoration with a lot of pictures. If you are planning to restore your shell chair, you should definitely check it out.

Sanding the Chair

I set up a working area outside, since it requires a wet sanding. I pulled a garden hose and filled the bottom of my chair with water. Gearing up with a safety glasses, a mask and a pair of thick vinyl gloves, I started to sand the chair with a fine sanding block. With the garden hose, I wet the area as I sanded to prevent fiberglass dust from getting all over the place. There were some tiny paint spots on my chair I didn’t notice before. I got rid of them by sanding the chair as well.

Cleaning the Chair

Once I sanded the entire chair, I rinsed it with water and gave it a sponge bath with Oxyclean to remove the embedded dirt as much as possible. Then I let it air dry.

Applying Penetrol

The next step was to coat the chair with a product called “Penetrol” that I picked up at Home Depot. To do this, I moved the working area to my porch. The porch was a perfect spot as it was well ventilated and had a minimum effect from the wind and dust. Penetrol is an oil paint conditioner that is also used to restore fiberglass. I first applied the coat to the bottom of the chair and let it set for a few hours. I then attached the base, flipped the chair over and applied Penetrol to the rest of the chair.

Before

The chair is now shiny and looks much better than it was.

After

Disclaimer – this post is just to share my experience and not intended as a tutorial to restore your chair. If you are restoring your chair, I would recommend you research well before tackling your restoration project.

Free To a Good Home

The chairs were in pretty bad shape. The upholsteries were ripped at the bottom exposing the faded fiberglass shells. I could tell that the back of the chairs were once red, but they were also faded. I had seen people restoring these chairs, so I thought I could give them a try. I had a three day Memorial Day weekend ahead of me with no plans anyway, so this would be my good weekend project. I found a good website called “chairfag.com.” Although their step-by-step restoration tutorial was not for a padded chair, they offered a lot of useful information. I used it as my guidance. 

Can I Save It?

First, the chairs were removed from the base. The screws were so rusted and two of them broke off and stuck in the screw holes on one chair. It seemed that two of the chairs were in slightly better condition. The third chair had more rips on the upholstery than the other two. I decided to work on one of the better condition chairs. One of the chairs had a sticker still attached that read “Date of Delivery…117-75.” So these chairs are 34 years old.

Herman Miller Tags

I started the restoration process by removing the naugahyde vinyl upholstery. Some websites said to remove it carefully so that you could use it to make a pattern to reupholster later, but since the fabric was torn so badly I didn’t think reupholstering it was my option. I thought of saving the fabric to make my own naugahyde monster though. Under the vinyl was the sponge pad, which was glued onto the chair. Glue was dried out in some areas and the pad came off easily. Glue was stuck to the pad in the other areas. I tried to avoid using any chemicals, so I first tried to peel the glue residue by rubbing it with a wet towel. To my surprise, a lot of them came off that way. The really gunky area, I saturated the area with non-toxic, citrus based glue remover. It also worked well.

The Naked Shell

After getting all the gunky stuff removed, I gave the chair a sponge bath with baking soda. I could not get the embedded dirt out of the fiberglass. I also tried Oxiclean spray and it lifted a little bit of dirt out of the fiberglass, but not all. A good sponge bath revealed the original color and shine of the chair except the bottom part. The bottom part that was exposed to the weather for who knows how long was totally faded. I worked on the remaining two chairs and the results were the same. Now I have three red and white two-toned Eames chairs!

Before and After

I already have three Eames shell chairs in my house and don’t really have a room for another three chairs. I decided these chairs would look nice on my porch. I even have three extra H-bases sitting in my shed – PERFECT!!! I spent about four hours on each chair cleaning it up. My neighbors watched me fighting with these two-toned chairs all weekend probably thought I was a nut. Who cares? I am very happy with the result and the fact that I saved these chairs from the junk yard and gave them a good home. They are sitting on my porch now awaiting for some cushions to cover the faded bottoms.

Restored Eames Chairs

Eames Hang-It-All

A husband and wife team, Charles (1907 – 1978) and Ray (1912 – 1988) Eames are among the most influential designers of American design history. Together, they contributed in furniture design, architecture, film, art, exhibits, and graphic design.

Charles Eames studied architecture at Washington University for two years. Many sources claim that he was dismissed from the University for supporting Frank Lloyd Wright and modern architecture. In 1930, he started his own architectural office in his hometown St. Louis, Missouri. In 1938, he and his family (wife Catherine and daughter Lucia, they divorced in 1941) moved to Michigan, to study at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he later became head of the industrial design department. Ray studied abstract painting with Hanns Hofmann in New York before beginning her studies at Cranbrook Academy of Art. At Cranbrook, Ray assisted Charles and Eero Saarinen’s design project for “Organic Design in Home Furnishings” competition at the Museum of Modern Art.

Eames Fiberglass Chair

Charles and Ray married in 1941 and settled in California where they continued to develop many innovative products using molding plywood. During World War II, they developed designs for splints and stretchers for the U.S. Navy. The production of their molded plywood furniture collection, featuring dining tables, dining chairs, lounge chairs, occasional tables, and a screen began shortly after the war ended in 1946, first by Evans Products Company and then by Herman Miller, Inc.. Various designs of their molded plywood furniture have remained in production to this day. They also designed furniture with other materials such as chairs using molded fiberglass, cast aluminum, and bent/welded wire mesh. Regardless of the style and material, their furniture was always sophisticated, yet simple and functional. Their design focused on improving ordinary people’s quality of life by fulfilling their needs.

Eames Plywood Elephant

Though Charles and Ray Eames are well known for their furniture design, they also devoted their time in other areas such as architecture, films, and exhibits. In 1949, they participated in the Case Study House Program sponsored by a magazine called “Arts and Architecture” and designed and built their own house known as the “Eames House.” They have also produced more than 100 short films, such as “Powers of Ten.” They also designed showrooms and toys for children. Regardless the form of design, Charles and Ray Eames successfully proved that good design can make the world more interesting and improve people’s quality of life as well.