Did You Know This About Upholstery

Spanish Moss as padding

Spanish Moss……

Did you about the use of Spanish moss in furniture? Yes that’s right at one time it was used as stuffing and padding, as well as some other uses. Here are some little known facts about how it was use back in the day.

The weaving of Spanish moss doesn't begin with the Civil War, but rather, at least a century before. It was used in the place of horsehair for stuffing furniture, a filler in wall plasters and bricks, and in a variety of horse equipment. The most obvious advantage of using Spanish moss was the abundance of it in the south. It didn't chafe the horse, cause overheating, and the weave allowed for the sweat to evaporate from the horse. The items woven from Spanish moss proved to be durable and waterproof, and best of all to the Confederate government, it was inexpensive.

Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a plant commonly seen in the low country hanging from trees. It is not a true moss, but a flowering plant which has adapted to growing in trees. Spanish moss has no roots, but instead soaks up water from the air by using a spongy coat around its stems and leaves. Its stems and leaves are gray-green in color, and it can form long trailing clusters that shine silver in the sunlight. Like other flowering plants, Spanish moss produces its own food by using the energy of the sun, and takes no nutrition from the plant it lives in, so is not a parasite. It flowers in the spring, producing small green flowers that are very hard to see. The seeds produced from these flowers are spread by wind currents.

Spanish moss is used by wildlife as food and to line nests and was also used by humans in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a stuffing for furniture and car seat cushions.

Why Spanish?

Spanish moss is in fact not Spanish and has nothing to do with Spain. Early French explorers gave Spanish moss its name. One historian credits Spanish conquistadors’ long beards as French explorers’ inspiration for the name “Spanish beard”—a name that evolved to its current form.

So maybe you did know about some kind of fibers, straw, hair or other materials used in furniture padding. I sure over time you may have seen or have heard of these uses here and there. And now today we use mostly foam or some type of synthetic material which can be mass produced, and formed to whatever you want. Still when we go back in time and see what was on hand at the time and how it was used not just for one thing but for many things. As well today some of these things are still around and give us a look into a time when we use what was around us.

I hope this gives you some food for thought as you go about your day today and maybe next week, when you look at how some things have progressed but also where we have come from. With upholstery we still use the same method in many ways, by using hand tools and old fashion hard work to get the work done. Still we can see today with the advances in fabrics and the production process we can produce more than we ever could before. We must remember that with all that we have advanced we still need to have hands on craftsmanship to make the simple chair.

 You can see in these pictures how Spanish Moss is grown, as well it is mixed with horse hair in the padding for this chair.                

 I hope this was useful to you and gives you some interesting things to think about when you look at furniture today.