Re-Webbing Guide

A guide to renewing the webbing upholstery of your Artek furniture

Early on in his career Alvar Aalto adopted webbing belts as alternative to classic upholstery. Ever since, webbing - a natural material made of 100% linen with a low consumption of resources - has been an elegant way to cover furniture with a slim silhouette.

Chair_611_Aalto_table_91_Riikka_Kantinkoski3

After several years of use, webbing may lose its tension upon which it needs to be replaced. Since Artek’s furniture is designed with longevity in mind, the webbing can easily be renewed, ensuring that the product goes through several life cycles.

This guide lists all specifications needed for re-webbing, as well as a step-by-step instruction for professional upholsterers to re-web Alvar Aalto’s Chair 611. Find the PDF version of this guide for your local upholsterer here.

The linen webbing belts are available in rolls of 50 meters, enabling local upholstery workshops to re-web products. The belts are made of 100% natural linen, woven in Germany with Italian yarn. They do not receive any chemical- and anti-stain treatment.

The linen belts are developed for optimized stretch behaviour and longer lasting upholstery through the use of extra twisted yarn and an additional pre-stretching step. They are available in the following six colours:

Artek-Webbing-natural_white_s RGB

Natural / White

Art. no. 270 043 03

Artek-Webbing-natural_red_s RGB

Natural / Red

Art. no. 270 043 04

Artek-Webbing-natural_black_s RGB

Natural / Black

Art. no. 270 043 05

Artek-Webbing-black_brown_s RGB

Black / Brown

Art. no. 270 043 07

Artek-Webbing-black_blue_s RGB

Black / Dark Blue

Art. no. 270 043 08

Artek-Webbing-black_black_s RGB

Black / Black

Art. no. 270 043 06

The minimum order quantity for linen webbing is 50 meters. The following quantities are needed for re-webbing:

43 studio

Lounge Chair 43

Total: 34 meters

45 studio

Armchair 45*

Backrest: 10,6 meters
Seat: 9,4 meters
Total: 20 meters

406 studio

Armchair 406

Total: 20 meters

617 studio

High Chair 617*

Backrest: 3,8 meters
Seat: 6,9 meters
Total: 10,7 meters

611 studio

Chair 611

Backrest: 6,2 meters
Seat: 7 meters
Total: 13,2 meters

615 studio

Chair 615*

Total: 4,7 meters

Y612 studio

Chair Y612*

Total: 6 meters

Y61 studio

Stool Y61*

Total: 7,2 meters

*These products are no longer in production.

For ordering linen webbing belts, please locate your closest Artek distributor.

Once the linen webbing belts are received, a professional upholsterer can start the re-webbing process. When removing the old webbing from a chair, we advise to take a photo of the whole chair and the areas where belts are attached to the wood. The photo as well as the bleached imprints of the wood will serve as indication of where to position the new belts.

The use of common 10mm (or 3 ⁄ 8”) staples made from stainless steel is recommended.

Chair_611_clear_lacquered_natural_red_webbing_3