Skip navigation

Upholsterers

Upholsterers upholster vehicle, aircraft and other seating, fix trimmings to the interiors of vehicles and aircraft, upholster furniture such as chairs and sofas, and make mattresses, curtains and other soft furnishings.

Wages

New workers
AVERAGE
Experienced
£10,932
£23,234
£34,624

New workers start around £10,932. Normal pay is £23,234 per year.
Highly experienced workers can earn up to £34,624.

Available jobs

In the past year there were 11,103 vacancies for this type of job

4.08%

Projected job growth over the next 8 years

Related courses

People work towards these careers by taking these courses at college and uni.

What they do most days?

  • Measures, cuts, pins, sews and trims fabrics to make curtains, cushions, loose covers and similar soft furnishings.

  • Replaces covering, padding, webbing or springs to repair upholstered furniture.

  • Encases bed springs and padding with selected covering material by hand or machine stitching and fits castors where required.

  • Operates machine to compress padded spring assemblies and inserts them into mattress covers.

  • Pins sections of coverings together, joins by sewing and inserts trims, braids and buttons as required and fits upholstery unit to frame.

  • Pads springs and secures padding by stitching, stapling, tacking, etc..

  • Tacks and staples or otherwise secures webbing to furniture frame.

  • Measures frame to be covered or examines drawings or other specifications and cuts material with shears, knife or scissors.

Hard Skills

Hard skills are specific, learnable, measurable, often industry or occupation-specific abilities related to a position.

Skills are ranked based on the number of job adverts that list them as required skills.

  • Upholstery

  • Textiles

  • Furniture Cleaning

  • Sewing

  • Hand Tools

  • Power Tool Operation

  • Cutting Tool (Machining)

  • Warehousing

  • Photo Stitching

  • Production Process

Soft Skills

Soft skills can be self-taught and usually do not necessitate a certain completed level of education.

Skills are ranked based on the number of job adverts that list them as required skills.

  • Detail Oriented

  • Communication

  • Lifting Ability

  • Problem Solving

  • Customer Service

  • English Language

  • Ability To Meet Deadlines

  • Self-Motivation

  • Teamwork

  • Organizational Skills

How do I get a job like this?

People in these types of job started their career paths after studying courses like the ones below.