Furniture disintegrating..

[gearhead]

Our leather? theatre recliners are melting for lack of a better word. I noticed the arms and the backs had areas of wrinkles. A few days later the leather just fell off those areas. It's not like we're living in the trailer. Usually just 3-4 trips a year. It hasn't been used since last spring. The sofa looks good...we rarely use it. We noticed it on this 4 week trip and just put towels over the seat backs.
Solutions...we're talking about just using it as is for awhile as we're thinking about getting a different 5th. I've also heard recovering them isn't too bad a job. Or keep using them and let the dealer or whoever discount the price at trade time.
Suggestions welcome.

[sourdough]

Well, welcome to RV furniture I guess. When we bought ours the salesman told us it had leather furniture...which is what I wanted but didn't know it was available. I talked to the GM about it and he backed up quickly.....no, no...it's not leather it's pleather. Really? Pleather? Anyway,

Prior to this last trip DW told me we had "pleather" coming off the arms of one of the recliners (the one used most). Sure enough, it just flakes off down to the fabric it's attached to. EXTREMELY aggravating. We actually really like the chairs; recline, swivel and rock. They are smaller because they have to be turned sideways for the slides to close. We had the same conversation you are having. We decided to just buy some recliner covers to go on them for the time being. We will have a hard time matching the sizes and construction if we try something aftermarket and new ones are expensive; especially when these are like new with the exception of the worn areas on the front of the arms on one chair.

[SummitPond]

Originally Posted by sourdough

...
Prior to this last trip DW told me we had "pleather" ...

Danny

Have you considered am upholstery shop? We have had some S&B furniture redone, and while it wasn't much cheaper than buying new, we liked what we had and knew it was well built (I don't know if that can be said for RV furniture). But if you find what you have comfortable, it might be worth looking into.

Ken

[Dave W]

It looks like that phony leather (hence pleather!) is starting to show up as a less then great choice as other RV sites are also mentioning this problem. We opted for the cloth covered furniture as we both had a bad feel for that material. Even so, that original furniture was yanked out and a pair of fairly small frame La-Z- Boy wall hugger recliners and a La-Z-Boy manufactured Englander hide abed replacing the originals. While these wall huggers don't swivel(extra cost option we didn't find out about until too late), they are for sure more comfortable then the OEM stuff. The only drawback is that I have to pull the chair backs off to retract the LR slide and to travel, but remove/reinstall only takes a couple minutes each. Additionally, you can purchase La-Z-Boys with leather and a lifetime warranty.

As a further note, we still have the original virtually unused furniture and will part with it at a reasonable price.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by SummitPond

Danny

Have you considered am upholstery shop? We have had some S&B furniture redone, and while it wasn't much cheaper than buying new, we liked what we had and knew it was well built (I don't know if that can be said for RV furniture). But if you find what you have comfortable, it might be worth looking into.

Ken

Thanks Ken. We thought about it but our local upholstery shop, and they were a good one, closed up. The nearest ones we know of are about 1 1/2 hours away so we haven't pursued....but may. With the way they are built and located in the trailer I'm afraid we will be stuck with "RV" type furniture but we haven't taken measurements or looked yet. We've been trying to get things cleaned up etc. from being out in it for 5 mos. and that is one of my to do items.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Dave W

It looks like that phony leather (hence pleather!) is starting to show up as a less then great choice as other RV sites are also mentioning this problem. We opted for the cloth covered furniture as we both had a bad feel for that material. Even so, that original furniture was yanked out and a pair of fairly small frame La-Z- Boy wall hugger recliners and a La-Z-Boy manufactured Englander hide abed replacing the originals. While these wall huggers don't swivel(extra cost option we didn't find out about until too late), they are for sure more comfortable then the OEM stuff. The only drawback is that I have to pull the chair backs off to retract the LR slide and to travel, but remove/reinstall only takes a couple minutes each. Additionally, you can purchase La-Z-Boys with leather and a lifetime warranty.

As a further note, we still have the original virtually unused furniture and will part with it at a reasonable price.

Dave,

Do your recliners sit at the back and have to turn sideways to close the slides? If so, and you found Lazy Boy recliners that will fit I'll go shopping.

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Dave,

Do your recliners sit at the back and have to turn sideways to close the slides? If so, and you found Lazy Boy recliners that will fit I'll go shopping.

Yes, they do sit in the back and as I said, the backs do need to be removed but is super easy. Unfortunately the only pictures I can find on this new 'puter are with them covered to prevent dog tracks on the fabric

Measure the distance you need at the slide(s) then measure the La-Z-Boy seats without the back. The back will fit nicely on the seat or sofa when you travel. There are numerous versions with the wall huggers being the easiest to fit. We have three in the S&B that are very big that will never fit an RV as well as the two in the 5er. The Englander sofa bed is a little longer (72" vs 68") then the Keystone furnished clunk, but also fits well though does crowd the dining table and chairs a bit but works for us.

[gearhead]

We talked about having them recovered, but based on a recent $400 bill for a seat and back cushion on grandma's rocking chair, we're thinking about just stalling for now.
I just did a quick search for slipcovers on Amazon and didn't see anything for theatre seats.