(no subject)

[jinian]

So are horsehair sofas stuffed with horsehair or surfaced with horsehair? They are always described as being hard and slippery, so I assumed it was like tanned horsehide with hair on over minimal padding. There's a story in the new F&SF that mentions a sofa stuffed with horsehair, but it's a silly story, but now I am confused! Does anyone know?

Comments

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

dictionary.com is less than helpful:

http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=horsehair&r=3

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Stuffed, usually. With coils of the long hair from tails and manes, to be specific. :->

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Do you know why they are so slippery, then? It seems like a person could use an upholstery fabric that would prevent such things.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Slippery? Usually, horsehair sofas were upholstered first with thin paper to hold the stuffing in place, and then with fabric over, just like anything else.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Well, I've never met one, but like I said, every time I read about them they are slippery and hard. Usually it's some little kid in the parlor when the grown-ups' friends are over, and they have to balance precariously on the slippery horsehair sofa.

[torquemada.livejournal.com]

It's probably just all the pooled hair oil and pomade.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Oh! That's just 'cause they're Uncomfortable Victorian Furniture. :-> It's simpler to just call it a 'horsehair sofa' than to get all upholstery-geek in terms that'd make the twins on Antiques Roadshow drool.

Uncomfortable Victorian Furniture

[hattifattener]

Yeah. I vaguely remember sitting on furniture stuffed with horsehair and not finding it particularly uncomfortable. But it probably wasn't Victorian, or at least had been reupholstered since then. (OTOH, if I know it's horsehair, it's because the furniture is old and needing repair, which probably means that the stuffing has been compacted down and isn't very soft any more.)