| Home | Furniture ID | Fabric Choices | Sling Pricing | Replacement Parts | Installation |
|
For Furniture Repair and Touch Up Please Click Here PLEASE VISIT NEW UPDATED INSTALLATION HERE Should you replace your slings on your Samsonite Furniture or go buy new furniture ? A legitimate question that needs review - Consider these things to make an educated decision: Your Samsonite Furniture has lasted a long time. There is nothing comparable to it on the market place. We often see customers still replacing their Samsonite Slings even 30 to 40 years after purchase. The Samsonite sling is very strong and its two-ply or body-glove sling is much stronger and more durable than those single-ply Aluminum slings found in the big box stores. Aluminum furniture slings will last on average 2 to 7 years and they also will have to be replaced. The Samsonite sling last on average 8 to 20 years. You have also enjoyed your Samsonite Furniture for many years and you have really not found chairs or chaises you like as much or that are as comfortable. Additionally, when the storms blow, you do not have to pick up your Steel Framed furniture from your neighbors yard as you would the lighter-weight aluminum substrate product. The value in replacing your Samsonite Steel slings is easy to find. You can literally have a "new-look" on your Samsontie Furniture that you are very comfortable with for less costs than lower quality furniture made these days overseas. Replacing your Samsonite Slings can be facilitated by reading and adhering very closely to these instructions. Is it a task to put them on ? It can be considering most people do not do this every day and therefore they are unfamiliar with the procedure. Keep in mind that you want the material to be tight. If it is not tight, then from both an aesthetic and functional standpoint, you are not going to be pleased with the product or the end result. Therefore, to this end - instructions must be followed. Because you want the material to be tight, you do not pull the sling on like you do a shirt or blouse but rather you must pound the sling on (do not worry - we explain below). Before you say, oh no.... I could never that ... we assure you that you can by following closely with these instructions. Now, this does require a small amount of physical strength, therefore if one is quite aged or with physical limitations, we do suggest you acquiring some assistance. On a rare occasion someone will contact us and say their replacement slings they ordered are too small (remember we mentioned they must be tight). If they ordered the correct model, which is our first order of elimination, this is extremely unlikely. Our plant personnel and equipment are defined by patterns and limits. What we manufacture today will be the same dimensionally as what we manufactured last year and what we manufacture next year. For your measure of confidence, we guarantee Samsonite Replacement Slings to fit or we will install for you at no charge. Requirements are these: You must have tried to install yourself; You must ship by UPS the "bucket" frame to our plant; and also ship the bucket frames back to your home. Please note that it is not inexpensive to ship these products to and from our facility. They can transit ground - but this is generally an Oversized ground rating ! Is there any difference in the material or sling manufacture process today from 40 years ago ? The materials are the same. Still the same resin coated yarn milled material from years ago. There have been some tech advances in some materials that allow for less resin coated yarns. But, for the most part, the materials are the same time-tested and weather-tested resin coated yarns. The patterns are the same and the manufacturing equipment is the same. There is two differences in the manufactured slings today: 1) The binding material is different. We have converted to a more weather resistant binding material for most of the materials; and 2) We now do a single-fold binding VS a double-fold binding of years gone by. The reason for this is two fold - First, the binding material used today does not necessitate a double fold step and secondly, the single fold bind process is kinder and gentler to our equipment. What is the Warranty or Guarantee The Warranty today is the same on the SLING Material that it has been for the last 40 years - ONE Year on materials and workmanship. The replacement slings are being manufactured on the same equipment with some of the same people. At the end of the day, we want happy customers and we will do whatever it takes to arrive to that conclusion. If you are not satisfied, we will work with you to ensure that you are a satisfied customer. Tell us what it will take and it will be done. Detailed Installation Instructions Please be sure as you take your frames apart that you keep the same bucket frame (portion of frame sling goes on) with the same base frame. If you have to number the frames and the buckets or if you need to just keep them together you just want to make sure the bucket you take off one base goes back on the very same base frame. One way to make sure this happens is to do one chair at a time to completion. Some items that will help facilitate installation: Flex-Tuff gloves (or any glove that has a grip hand area); water-based lubricant, large shoe-horm or large screwdriver that is wrapped in a kitchen towel. First, lay your slings out in the full sun. Make sure they are opened up or unfolded. It is best to place them on an asphalt surface or on your car and leave them in 75+ degree weather for at least 90 to 120 minutes. A great idea is to lay the slings on the dashboard of your vehicle, parked in the sun, windows rolled up for 2 hours. You KNOW that will warm them up. Leave each one there until you are working with THAT sling - otherwise, they will cool off too much and your efforts are in vain. If you are in a climate cooler or in a season of year that will not permit above, lay them out unfolded in your home near a heat source blowing on them such as a central air duct. Do not lay them near a fireplace or expose them to intense heat as you may melt the components or risk a fire that could endanger your life. While the slings are warming, go to your furniture and remove the bucket frame from the base frame. The bucket frame is that portion of the frame that houses the sling seating material (i.e. the part of the frame the sling goes on). Generally, four to six screws will allow you to do this procedure. Lay your hardware to the side in a safe place as you will use these again to install bucket frames. Next step ranks high on importance: Mentally note (or even measure) the location of the screw holes on your bucket frames (the holes where the bucket frame or plastic components have screws going thru the material and frame). You will, after sling installation, have to use a punch to make a hole at this location in the sling material. After the sling is on the bucket frame, you will have to "feel" for indentation in the frame and then punch the material. It is wise to have a very good idea about where this location is prior to sling installation as some of the wicker weave fabrics and thicker style woven fabrics will make this tough. With the bucket off the base, remove any plastic components on any chaise lounges or chair models that may have plastic components. Lay the plastic components in a safe place for install later. Cut the old sling off of your chairs / chaises. Do not try to pull off or save. The old sling will not be of any value to you once removed. At this point wash and wax your frames. That is correct - wash and wax. Wash, just as you would your car, using dishwashing liquid and water. Wax, just as you would your car, using any good quality of car wax on the frame. We might mention that if your frames are embedded with dirt from over the years you can remove most of the embedded dirt by applying Turtle Wax Automotive Chrome Polish found in any WalMart or Automotive Store. This polish has a light grade pumice which can lift embedded dirt from solid substrates. Side Note: Every spring you should wash and wax your furniture. You do not remove installed slings. Once slings are installed they are never to be removed unless being replaced. However, you may wash everything and then wax only the frames exposed to the sun. This will extend the function and life of your furniture just as wax will extend the finish of your vehicle. Your steel frames are coated with PVC or Poly Vinyl Chloride. It is 20x thicker than any powder coated surface. The UV rays of the sun will break down this coating over time and thus shorten the frame life. Wax will protect against these UV rays. If you have not been doing this..... it is never too late to start. My Frames are very dirty (i.e. mildew, ground
in soil over the years) - What to do ? For Care and Maintenance Guide for the Frames - Please Click Here For Chairs with single L-Shaped Frame- Lay down folded up on the ground two beach-type towels. You will be using these for cushioning or padding. You now need to apply a thin coating of a lubricant to your bucket frame. A H2O based lubricant will work best - as you may easily rinse off. Petroleum Jelly will work as well, but obviously will not come off frames as easy. Put on the grip-style gloves. Go get one of the slings that has been warming. Start the pocket opening at the top and back. Hold the frame and fabric at the top and raise the frame over your head (in a hammer style motion - hammers are NOT involved) and forcefully slam the frame down on the beach towels. You will move the sling on about 3" to 4" at a time. In essence, what you are doing by this procedure is forcing the bucket frame up and into the sling material. Continue this process until you have worked the sling on as far down as you can. Now, take a large screwdriver WRAPPED IN A TERRY CLOTH TOWEL, or a large pair of Rubbery-Gripped Style Pliers, and carefully pry over one corner of the pocket at a time (large shoe-horn may prove to be useful). If you find you cannot get the second corner on, remove the first corner and set the frame on the ground and step/walk on the fabric in the seating portion of the chair. This will allow you to stretch the fabric a little and should give you enough stretch to go back and try the corner pockets in reverse order. Once installed, place bucket back on the base frame and enjoy your new look chairs. For Chaise Lounges Warm slings as above. Go to chaise and remove bucket frame from base frame by first popping runners from glides under bottom at front. This is very easy. Stand on bucket frame and place hand in front end portion of bucket (where your feet would lay) and pull upward quickly. The gliders will pop right out of glide holders. (You will reinstall by putting glides on top of glide holders and using your foot stomp the bucket downward into the glide holders). Remove any plastic components and lay aside for later. Wash and wax frame as described above. Fold frame at hinge area and rest the hinges on the towels described above. Put a thin coat of petroleum jelly on frame as described above. Go get one of the slings that has been warming. Start on the foot or seat portion of frame (this portion will be extending taller than back portion) by putting pocket on frame. Raise frame up above you and slam frame down on hinges. Continue this procedure until you get down equal with the back and then start the back simultaneously with the seat. Do a little on the back and a little on the seat. Once the material is over the bar on the seat portion you can gently open frame about 5 inches and gently stomp your foot down into the middle of the material until the sling is down onto the frame completely on the back and completely on the seat. DO NOT OPEN THE CHAISE BUCKET FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE THE SLING CLOSE TO BEING ALL THE WAY ON as you will TEAR the sling open at the seam near the riveted pivot of the chaise. Place back on bucket frame. For Chairs with Tension Rods The instructions provided in written form in each shipment should be followed. The process is essentially the same as above except you have three sections of frame instead of one. One KEY element prior to beginning this process is to carefully look at the back of the tension rod chairs. The relationship of the tension rod and the U-Shaped frames is critical (i.e. the U-Shaped frames have a unique relationship with how they fit on each end of the tension rod. One is on the outside on one end and on the inside on the other end of the tension rod. The opposing U-Shaped frame has the inverse relationship as the first. They MUST be assembled in the same manner that they were before installation commenced. They have been together and married for a long long time - they want to stay that way. After reading thru, and prior to beginning your install, call us with any questions that we can clarify. It may save you some time and frustration along the way. We are available to talk you through any area you need help. You may reach us 888 808 2253 during standard business hours.
|