Submitted by temp225566 t3_zwios5 in BuyItForLife
Office chairs need to be used more than a year so, it’s not worth it to buy a bonded leather office chair
[deleted]
Best purchase Iade for 400 bucks off craigslist 4 years ago
[deleted]
I got mine for $60 from a guy who didn’t know what it was. I was so excited 😁
Got a Steelcase v2 for 230 locally found online, and a couple days later found a v1 in a Goodwill in great condition for 20.
I love my Aeron, going strong at over a decade.
It was one of very few furniture pieces I took with me when I divorced.
I am sitting in an Aeron that was bought by a startup in the first dot-com bubble! Replaced gas shocks and arms and she is good until the next tech bubble!
Check Habitat for Humanity ReStores if there’s any near you. It’s always random what they will have but I think they get a lot of stuff from office buildings and they had a bunch of Steelcase chairs at the one near me for $50, I only wish that I had bought 2 instead of 1.
I bought a repro of the herman miller eames office chair, even though the quality isnt quite as good as the real thing its 1/8th the price.
The main thing though, is that the design and build is still a time tested thing so as long as the components are solid they last.
Both of the ones I bought are going strong after 3 years of daily (8+ hour) use.
How do you find this
I didn’t know shit about office chairs but when my old office closed and they sent the few remaining employees they hadn’t laid off home to work remotely, I grabbed the office chair I thought was the coolest looking, from one of the abandoned executive offices.
Turns out it’s an Aeron and I saved myself a ton of money.
The wheels on my aeron started falling apart.
I bought Amazon replacements that are skateboard wheels with the proper attachment to go into the hole.
Game changer, rolls so much better than ever before.
I don’t have the Aeron, but my company bought a bunch of Herman miller chairs (about $500 apiece) in 2018 and a ton of them broke within a year. We had a warranty, but it made me really skeptical of the brand.
Steelcase Criterion. I have one at work that’s 22 years old, and bought two more from a university property dispossession warehouse (a great source for indestructible furnishings). If the pneumatic cartridge in a Steelcase chair fails, it’s very much worth the $50 replacement part.
Not sure of the model but we found an office furniture resale shop and bought a pair of Herman Miller chairs in the $150-200 range. Our last office chairs were Serta Big & Tall something or others that we got half off for Black Friday, $200 each, and mine developed a fold in the seat and started peeling. So mad and I swore never to buy that expensive but cheap crap again.
I mean they’ll be ragged out but we’ve got shitty office chairs from 10 years ago still trucking they just look like shit.
Valid point! They are comfy. Get a sheepskin cover and you’re set
You mean to tell me this $150 premium pleather chair wont last me like those $800+ models?
Ahem…it’s vegan leather
That's a pretty broad statement. I'm up to 3 years on mine and it's still nearly as good as the day I got it. Using it 8+ hours for 5+ days weekly.
Lmao OP downvoted you for having an experience that differed from his assertion.
That's Reddit baby.
The typical lifespan of bonded leather anything is gonna be closer to OP's experience. I'd chalk your experience up as an anomaly.
I have one too and it is literally same as I bought it.
People must have cats jumping on them or something
Could also be body oils, and sweat. My old chair only had cracks on the arm rests that I regularly grabbed. Rest of the chair was fine.
Bonded leather isn't actually leather. Its a leather byproduct. So it does contain powdered leather, but its mostly fabric, with a leather shavings coating.
It's the Chicken McNuggets of leather.
And they're both just animal based cardboard
This is the most insightful comment I’ve seen on Reddit in a long time. Have my upvote!
Edited it for you: “bonded leather anything”
I usually get 5 years or more. This is one where I wish they lasted longer but it's usually the base or the armrest that goes for me, not the seat material. And they don't really seem to make a more expensive office chair that is otherwise the same as the bonded leather one. The closest leather ones I have seen were running 3,500 and weren't ergonomically the same. But that cost is like 7 replacements, which at 5 years each is 35 years to break even if nothing happens on the chair. Not sure that's going to be worth it.
Same, I’ve been able to get ~5 years from all my pleather chairs. I’ll probably have different preference in 10 years and will probably move a few times in the next 20 years. I just don’t need my chair to last that long.
I'm with you on this math, I'll use my bonded leather one as long as it lasts (5-7 years) and then buy another for $150.
What kinda ass you got? I had a La-Z-boy Bradley chair that was bonded leather and it lasted 6 years. I only replaced it cause the base had picked up a significant lean.
6 years is not really a lot….also, I bet you don’t sit in it every day
I work in it 8 hours a day. Add in the fact that i was 330lbs for most of that too. My point was that the leather was in perfect condition. It was the base that broke.
Hasn't been my experience. I've gotten close to a decade of use out of a $100 bonded leather office chair
What brand?
Not sure as I threw it out a few years ago but it was from Walmart. The one I'm currently on was $80 from office Depot I think. Had it for a few years and is holding up pretty well. It is squeaky but I could probably fix that with wd-40
I have a bonded leather chair and it does get wear marks on the seams on one side. About once a year I patch it with vynil/ leather crack filler.
Honestly this is not BiFL but very fair service for less than half the cost of the typical chair recommended here.
Yes SC and HM are best in class. No argument. But my chair is not garbage one year later or even five of daily use. Not even close.
And that brings me to another point. Good maintenance is often as or more important than good quality.
Agreed. I avoid bonded leather for everything except items I consider to be decorative!
I’m writing this in an Eames/Herman Miller leather office chair right now!
Steelcase Leap V2. You won't regret it.
This is a good chair, I like it better than Aeron
Is r/OfficeChairs leaking again?
Because bonded leather is hot garbage
No?
Several office chairs at my workplace that are used nearly 24/7/365. Sprayed with Lysol/other cleaning chemicals multiple times a day. They look like they came from a nuclear waste dump, but they're still comfy chairs. If you work someplace where frivolities like the appearance of something you fart into all day matter, than your mileage may vary
I bought a random office chair from a used office supply store. Asked for the chair that would last. $50 and ten years later its still going. My cat has torn up the upholstery sharpening his nails, but that’s expected as a cat owner.
I use Weimar Leather Conditioning wipes every couple of weeks and haven’t seen the classic wear and tear.
This isnt a secret. Any low quality leather/pleather/other fake leather names are trash. Either go all the way with Top Grain and spends $$$$ or get some kind of rugged fabric thats easy to clean.
Give me $10 and I can make magic. Fabric paint baby! Lol.
My house has couches literally 20 years old. I clean, condition, and cream polish them once a year. Still going strong! No idea what leather. Finished I suspect - the coating has flaked off in wear spots.
[deleted]
I’m looking for a premium office chair with flip up arm rests that will allow a comfortable position to play guitar, anyone know of one?
I’m looking for a premium office chair with flip up arm rests that will allow a comfortable position to play guitar, anyone know of one?
I’m looking for a premium office chair with flip up arm rests that will allow a comfortable position to play guitar, anyone know of one?
So what is the buy it for life alternative? That's what I'm here for. Things to buy for life. :-)
Hermon Miller Aeron and Steelcase Leap V2 are the go to chairs but cost $$$$ you can find them cheaper when offices decide to replace everything.
All of the parts can be bought from the manufacturers and be replaced generally. They also have a focus on adjustability and ergonomics being designed to be sat in for 8+ hours a day. Usually have 10year or more warrentys
If you dont want to fuss with maintenence save some money and go with fabric instead of leather.
And of course try and sit in one somewhere before you buy it.
I also like the ObusForme chairs - they are 500-1000 depending on the model, but last years. If you order it, you can pick the color/fabric.
also, avoid anything "genuine leather" its crap sold as leather
I have a 12 year old Herman miller and it's still fine, though I was thinking of getting the LG Herman miller gaming chair.
The chairs will last for a year, but the weight of skinning that poor cow will follow you for a lifetime.
Most leather is ethically sourced as a byproduct of harvesting meat, and as such is BIFL. It's just the animal's life.
GTG, throwing some cow on the grill.
Ah, yes, the 99% of meat that is "harvested" in factory farms, which are famous for their ethics. Definitely no cruelty, barbarism, or horrific animal torture going on there. I'm going to put twice as much cow on my grill now just because you brought it up.
deus_ex_platapus t1_j1uu98z wrote
Herman miller or steelcase