Heritage Upholstery was established by Matthew & Alison in 2004. Matt –
a member of the Association of Master Upholsterers has worked in the trade since
leaving school. Heritage specialises in all aspects of traditional & modern upholstery,
supplying a range of services to clients all over the south east.
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A former colleague of Matt’s who also works in the trade approached him to
ask if he would be interested in a very old machine used for the carding
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of horsehair. As Heritage Upholstery are keen to recycle materials of the trade
where possible (and the machine is a perfect assistant in the carding of horsehair)
Matt eagerly bought it.
The carding machine itself was made by "Saunders Sanitary Bedding Mill"
in Bournemouth. Matt & Alison were intrigued to find out all they could about
the history of this antique contraption & discovered that it is no longer made in
Bournemouth. Apparently the manufacturing of the machine ceased in the 1930’s
& never started again after that.
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"We have tried looking for further information but to no avail, we even drew
a blank at Horsham museum. As far as we know the machine is likely dated from 1900
– 1930’s but not later".
The Saunders Sanitary bedding mill works in this way:
The old, dusty, compressed horsehair from the traditional furniture interiors is
fed into the top of the machine where it is cleansed & teased into clean re–usable
plumped up horsehair, thus removing the expense of purchasing new hair & therefore
benefiting the environment as well as the customer’s pockets.
So you see, even before the war upholsterers were at the forefront of recycling!
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