Great British Craftsmanship
The majority of upholstery now sold in the UK is sadly either imported, or if it is made here, it is more than likely to be mass-produced. Fabrics and leather are cut in piles with automated cutting machines and upholstery is done on a flow-line or track system. Therefore, no operative is responsible for the final quality of the build except an inspector at the end of the line.
Long Eaton is the UK Centre of Excellence in Upholstery Manufacturing and furniture made here is hand-made by highly skilled, time served craftsmen and women.
At Long Eaton Sofas®, every piece of furniture is hand-made in our Long Eaton factory and is inspected at every stage of manufacture to ensure you receive the highest quality finish possible.
We have had a short video made to show you just how lovingly our products are made.
Our Construction
Our frames are made by us in our own wood mill, which enables us to make our furniture to bespoke sizes if required.
All frames are hand-built using seasoned kiln-dried beech, or birch hardwood from Europe, typically from Scandinavia, or the Baltic States. Skilled wood machinists mill the frames parts, before an experienced framemaker builds the frame. All joints are glued, screwed and dowelled for strength. Separate corner blocks are used to support the legs, or feet and all spring rails are supported by 15, or 18cm solid wooden blocks.
The whole process ensures that our frames are built to last and as such, we give a 30 year construction guarantee on them.
All of our seats are constructed with metal springs, we do not use elasticated webbing in our seats whatsoever.
At Long Eaton Sofas®, we use metal springs in all our seats. We use high-gauge tempered steel no sag/zig-zag springs. Our springs come with a 15 year construction guarantee.
Cutting & Sewing
Our fabric cutters are highly skilled and can turn any fabric, no matter how complicated the design, into a perfectly matched piece of furniture.
Fabrics are marked out and cut by hand to ensure that any weaving and printing faults are avoided. Leather is also marked out and cut by hand to ensure scars and growth marks are avoided wherever possible.
Once the fabrics and leathers are cut, they move on to our sewing department where they are sewn by one of our skilled machinists, each of which have been with the company since the year we started.
Upholstery
Each piece of furniture is hand-made by one of our skilled upholsterers, who makes the whole piece from start to finish and is individually responsible for its quality and finish. Once completed, each piece is proudly hand-signed by the craftsman who made it.
Cushion Fillings
We offer our customers a wide range of cushion interior options to get the comfort just right. Seat cushions are available in foam, hollow fibre and feather.
We have two standard seat grades of foam, but we can also order softer, or firmer grades from our cushion supplier if necessary.
DACRON® Quallofil® Blue is the eco-friendly choice for furniture cushions and is used in our polyester hollow fibre seat and back cushion interiors.
Quallofil® Blue is a new polyester fibre for sustainable sofa cushions. The filling fibre is made from 100% recycled bottles, of which 50% is Prevented Ocean PlasticTM collected from coastlines at risk of ocean plastic pollution. The Prevented Ocean PlasticTM programme is a global recycling initiative which helps tens of thousands of people around the world to earn their living, clean their coastlines and prevent ocean plastic.
Plastic waste is collected before it enters the oceans and rivers in regions that do not have efficient and formal waste or recycling systems. The collected plastic is then washed, crushed, and dried, becoming strictly controlled PET flakes. This is used by ADVANSA in a 50% blend as a valuable raw material in the manufacture of polyester filling fibres. ADVANSA fibres are GRS (Global Recycled Standard) independently certified and audited for traceability.
High technology Quallofil® Blue cushions will not only last a long time and maintain its original appearance, but by choosing this filling for your sofa cushions, you are also helping the planet at the same time!
In some models, you can also have the option of 100% duck feather seat cushions.
Back cushion interiors are available in Quallofil® Blue, or 100% duck feather.
Quality Control
The final inspection is conducted by our Production Director and it is his responsibility to ensure that every piece we make is as good as any sofa or chair that can be manufactured anywhere in the world.
Inside the Factory
See every stage of our manufacturing process and the love and care that goes into every piece of furniture we make in this short video.