Lifetime Chairs vs. Padded Seating

Lifetime Chairs comparison vs. Padded Seating Folding Chairs

We get a lot of questions about which folding chair would be best for a particular situation. We have several suppliers for folding chairs and all of them differ in quality and comfort. If we are ever asked about which seat is most comfortable, we almost always direct them to Lifetime Chairs. The next question we inevitably get asked is "Are those padded?" When we answer that no they are not, most every customer turns their nose up at them and asks for a different model. On the surface, this make sense, but hopefully this post will enlighten future folding chair shoppers of things to consider.

Let us first talk about folding chairs in general. In nearly all cases, folding chairs are made for convenience. They are to provide a quick option to set up a room for a meeting or get together and quickly be able to take down the room for clean up. Comfort has really not been at the top of the priority list, otherwise folding chairs would probably more likely resemble La-Z-Boy recliners. Because of this, most chair designs have had convenience more than comfort in mind. If this is not so, please inform me of a time when you sat in a cold metal chair for a couple of hours and actually felt comfortable and relaxed in it. My guess is those instances are few and far between. With that in mind, we will examine design features of a typical metal folding chair and Lifetime Folding Chairs.

Because of the convenience factor, and low cost for production, metal folding chairs have traditionally had a mostly flat seat and a short, slightly curved back. In most all cases, people do not share these same features. Most people's butts have some curvature to them and their backs most likely have a slight arch going up and then arching forward at the shoulders. Because of this, a metal chair design naturally goes against that natural shape of a person's body. As mentioned before, this is probably most likely because of low cost for production, but it might also be that metal does not give you a whole lot of room for shaping that other materials might offer. Now consider the same metal chair, now with just an inch or two of padding on the seat, and typically an inch or less of padding on the back. Although this will be more comfortable than just the metal chair by itself, the pressure points are still the same because the flat metal seat and slightly curved back are still pressing on your body in the same unatural places, just with a pad to soften the blow.

Lifetime plastic folding chairs seek to get rid of these traditional problems by changing the makeup of the chair itself. By nature of the beast, blow molded plastic, like what Lifetime uses on their products, gives you a lot more flexibility in design since plastic can be shaped to exact specifications with a mold. The design of Lifetime Chairs is to provide a natural shape and curvature so it supports the butt and back in all the right spots. Having sat in both a Lifetime chair and a metal folding chair with padding in a church setting, i.e. multiple hours at a time, the Lifetime chair is by far the most comfortable seat. You also need not worry about sturdiness since these chairs also have a steel frame.

With that said, Lifetime folding chairs come at a cost as well. On average, they are usually priced about $5-$10 more per chair than traditional metal folding chairs. The back on Lifetime chairs are also taller than those on metal folding chairs so they usually require either the Lifetime folding chair cart, or a larger cart to accomodate the high backs. Also, blow molded chairs tend to be upwards of 3 times the thickness of a metal chair and about 2 times the thickness of a padded chair meaning more space is needed to store Lifetime Chairs. If these costs are worth it to you, the Lifetime Chair is more than suitable for your needs. If any of these these costs are a problem to you, you ought to stick with the traditional metal folding chair.

Lifetime Chairs Related Links:
Lifetime Folding Chairs Products Comparison.

For more information on ergonomic (back and butt) support, please see our posting below:
Office Chairs Bungee Band Seats Reviews.