Quick Stitch : Coil Springs vs Sinuous Springs

There is more than one way to bake a cake, and there is more than one way to build a banquette. Here at Corn Upholstery, our goal when building custom seating is to deliver a beautiful piece of bespoke furniture, but just as important is to build a long-lasting furniture piece that stands up to the rigors of commercial use. In this “Quick Stitch” we are going to focus on the banquette’s support system and our preferred method over another popular method used by some other manufacturers.

Custom commercial banquette seating is, to put it bluntly, abused. The thousands of people who use these pieces of furniture over the years put more miles on these seats than we often realize. This abuse becomes apparent once you start to see your expensive custom upholstered seating start to break down, and in some cases, all too soon. Here at Corn Upholstery, we want to get ahead of that abuse and consider everything that could go wrong within that banquette’s lifetime. We look to address these potential negative outcomes up front so you don’t have any problems later on. Getting ahead of these heavy-use problems will ensure that your seating will withstand many years of traffic while remaining beautiful and comfortable for your guests.

One common heavy-use problem that occurs with banquette seating is a breakdown in the seat’s support system. Whether the seat is supported by coil springs, sinuous springs, or webbing, a failure in any of these will result in the seat sagging, the fabrics stressing, and the comfort decreasing. Each support system has pros and cons, but some are better than others when it comes to longevity and quality. Below we will get into a couple of the more popular booth and banquette seating support systems and why we choose ours over other options.

Sinuous Springs

One of the more popular suspension systems used in commercial seating is sinuous springs. These can also be referred to as “no-sag” springs. This system is very popular due to its decades of use within furniture, ease of installation, and lower cost. Manufacturers will also note that these springs are easier to fix and replace when they fail. It is that statement where you lose us. It is true that sinuous springs are the easier to replace, but in our experience they are also more likely to fail, thus needing those repairs. It is this idea of “managed failure” that we here at Corn Upholstery are working to avoid.

Sinuous springs can fail because the majority of the force is placed on a very small portion of the system. While the actual springs remain strong and supportive, the small clips attaching the spring to the internal frame can fail, causing the spring to become detached and your seat begins to sink. With the forces of the support system placed on just one point, the likelihood of that system failing increases. Through our 70+ years of experience, we have too often seen this failure occur in commercial banquette seating, and that experience has led us to a support system we believe is more durable and reliable thus helping our booth and banquette seating stand up to the rigors of commercial use.

Sinuous Spring Support System Cut-through

Stress on springs is concentrated at clips and puts most force at one spot.

Coil Springs

Our go-to suspension system here at Corn Upholstery is an advanced drop in steel coil spring system with individually fabric wrapped coils that create all-over support while remaining quiet and in place. We see this system as the most supportive, durable, and long-lasting option for our commercial upholstered seating. The forces applied to the seat are evenly distributed throughout the springs and are anchored by a full-width 3/4” plywood plate underneath. This system reduces weak points and avoids common failures seen with sinuous springs.

Is this system more expensive than sinuous springs? Yes, but the benefits in durability and reliability make it worth the extra cost in our opinion. We stand behind our quality, so we want to give you the highest quality components and engineering. We hope this commitment to quality demonstrates that choosing Corn Upholstery as your custom seating manufacturer creates a higher value for your booth and banquette seating.

Wrapped Steel Coil Springs

Coil Spring Support System Cut-through

Stress on springs is distributed evenly throughout and supported at all points by bottom plywood plate.

Thanks for taking the time to read this month’s “Quick Stitch” article. We encourage you to read our other posts to learn more about us and the commercial upholstery industry, and if you enjoy them, please share with your friends and colleges.