Leather, cloth, leatherette, mesh, rubber? What upholstery for office seating?

The choice of upholstery for one’s office chair is not a marginal matter.
First of all, it is an aesthetic matter: the color must blend in with its surroundings.
Then the choice must consider the health part: the body resting on that fabric must
be comfortable and must be able to continue to do “its work” in an optimal way,
breathing and not sweating during the time of use.
And the assessment on the functionality of the coating should not be marginal: easily
cleanable, mite-proof, resistant to prolonged use, etc., the low impact
environment both to produce it and at “end of life.”
Until a few years ago, choices were limited to leather, intended for “top management” ,
faux leather (also called vinyl leather or sky) for “executive” seating and fabric for
employees. In some cases even rubber, especially for environments where cleanliness is
necessary (thus having to go through it with steam and/or disinfectants) or, even, for a
fortunately temporary tendency,
It was pure classism, one had to know immediately upon entering an office who was the
highest person in rank, and the chair was synonymous with “status,” as was the thickness
of the desk tops.
It was considered more important the type of upholstery instead of the postural qualities of the seat,
not taking into account what all those who spent 8 hours a day there at
sitting might suffer, people who today continue to suffer from resulting consequences such as chronic arthropathy
.

For the past few years, however, the choice has also been guided by factors that, along with the quality
of seating, go as far as theenvironmental ecological impact of the components.
Leather, for example, is disliked by those who have chosen not to use
animal-derived materials and/or those with a high ecological impact; the faux leather of yesteryear was highly
polluting and began its degradation by cracking and losing its
polyurethane surface film, the fabric is dirty and difficult to clean without heavily polluting
the air with the exhalations of products used for “dry” cleaning. The whole thing, then, always at
cover of the foam padding material (foam rubber, “Foam”, etc.) based on
polyurethane also polluting.
Buying the office chair, when we thought waste would not be a
problem, was a simple matter, then we realized the impact it has on users and
the environment.
Today the trend for ergonomic office chairs is mainly the use of mesh,
without padding to cover, low polluting and healthy for the “wearer” as
absolutely breathable. The body is gently wrapped and supported, being
“self-supporting” it does not need the padding and is cleaned by simply wiping the weave with
a slightly damp microfiber cloth. Because of its conformation, the mesh
always returns to its original state, thus durable and elastic, no
footprints or heat are left on the support points, taking advantage of the
cooling and heating of the surrounding
air conditioning system thanks to its wide weave.
Mesh, also in terms of environmental impact, turns out to be “light” compared to other
coverings and the necessary padding (foam “foam is polluting, latex
which instead has vegetable origins can cause allergies) which, in addition to a much
faster degradation, have an imprint effect of the previous user that remains, even in
presence of a “memory” padding, for a longer time than mesh which is
much more repulsive.
Obviously, the manager who works in an environment appropriate to his or her professional level
but, above all, who does not use the seat throughout the day and who works with the aid of a video screen, may lean toward any other type of upholstery, whether
it is leather, faux leather, alcantara, fabric or, even, plastic, but remember that
today “status” is not only about flaunting prestige but, above all, behaving ethically
using environmentally friendly products and products that respect the environment and the person.
To close, I simply want to remind you that those who use a video display screen on a
continuous basis must comply with Dlgs 81/08, which dictates the requirements for a chair to be
compliant with workplace health, and that for those who use the chair for times
longer than 8 hours (even for multiple operators continuously) it must be certified
BS5459.
BS 5459, among other parameters, requires seating to be certified for more than 100,000
“martindale” cycles and that it can withstand a weight of up to 150Kg: parameters that show that not
all armchair upholstery is the same, especially without the support of an underlying
shell and padding. And a quality “mesh” guarantees this.