What exactly is an adirondack chair? For a quick answer, we can turn to good old Merriam-Webster for a definition:

Adirondack Chair

Noun : a-də-ˈrän-ˌdak-

: a wooden lawn chair with a high slatted back, broad arms, and a seat that is lower in the back than the front

In Merriam-Webster’s definition, we see that most adirondack chairs are recognized as being made of wood. And historically they were. However, today, adirondack usually refers to the style and construction of the chairs more than the materials they were designed from.

In this article, we’ll discuss a brief history of Adirondack chairs, how they’ve evolved, and what materials the best Adirondack chairs are made from.

Brief History of Adirondack Chairs

The first Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee while vacationing in Westport, New York in the Adirondack Mountains in 1903. The Adirondack Mountains are located in upstate New York stretching about 18,700 miles across the state. Needing outdoor chairs for his summer home, he tested his early efforts on his family first. After arriving at a final design for a "Westport plank chair," he offered it to a carpenter friend in Westport in need of a winter income. Harry Bunnell saw the commercial potential of such an item being offered to Westport's summer residents and–apparently without asking Lee's permission–filed for and received U.S. patent #794,777 in 1905. Bunnell manufactured hemlock plank "Westport chairs" for the next twenty years, painted in green or medium dark brown, and individually signed by him.

A quote from the Bunnell patent stated the credit to the improvement in design of the Adirondack Chair: “To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Harry C. Bunnell, a citizen of the United States, residing at Westport, in the county of Essex and the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Chairs… ”

“Nailing boards together on the front lawn, he asked other members of his family to test prototypes and tell him which were the most comfortable. With this research as a guide, he built a chair with a sloping seat and back. Each chair was made from a single pine board and with the wide armrests that became a hallmark of the Adirondack style. His chair was an immediate success with the family,” In the patent, Bunnell credits Lee for the original idea as the two are quoted as being friends.

As time went on, designs changed, improved, and also weakened. The original design has been modified throughout the years, changing the feel and comfort of these chairs.

The backs to adirondack chairs originally called for a single, flat piece of wood to support the person sitting in the chair. Improvements in designs have led from four, all the way up to nine, separate pieces of wood to give the the sitter maximum comfort. The reason for this is simply for comfort, allowing more back pieces to the chair to give it a more refined shape fitting more naturally to a person's back.

The same design modifications were done to the seat of adirondack chairs. Just like the back, the seat in the original design was just a flat, single piece of wood. Modifications done to better fit the body’s natural curvature provide a much more comfy seat. Adding individual pieces of wood at different angles and heights allowed a much more comfortable seating position. Leaving gaps between each wood panel also adds additional comfort while making the chair lighter at the same time.

In that same sense of making chairs lighter, an even more extreme modification to the original design is the removal of wood altogether. Plastic adirondack chairs are on the rise but there are many pros and cons when it comes to this product.

Plastic Adirondack Chairs: Pros and Cons

Starting with the major pro to plastic adirondack chairs: they can be produced and sold for a much lower price. Coming from a single plastic mold, the manual labor hours to produce one is almost nothing. Being just a single piece of thin plastic, these chairs only weigh between 5-10 lbs, making them much easier to move and store.

The fact that they're light weight and plastic, many reviews left on the product aren't good reviews. Saying, that “if buying a plastic adirondack chair, expect to only get a good seat for a summer”.

Usually left outside, these chairs are subject to the elements, and with that comes rain, sun, heat, wind and any other crazy form of weather your geographic location can throw at them. In terms of heat, this is one of the biggest problems when it comes to plastic adirondack chairs.

Sitting out in the sun all day heating up to temperatures that can exceed 120 degrees and then cooling down at night weakens the plastic causing them to become brittle over time, which can result in a snapping of a leg, arm, or back of chair when sitting in one.

This brings up another big con of plastic adirondack chairs: weight limits. Most plastic adirondack chairs on the market have an average weight limit of about 250 lbs, and adding the weathering effect, this can drop them weight limit down to anywhere from 150-200 lbs.

Another element that can cause harm to plastic adirondack chairs is the wind. Weighing in at  roughly 7 lbs, the chairs can be blown around like a feather, causing harm not only to the chairs themselves but other items around them.

Wooden Adirondack Chairs: Pros and Cons

In comparison to plastic adirondack chair, wooden chairs equally have their own pros and cons. One of the biggest cons is the price point: selling anywhere from $100-$300, with some chairs, made from more exotic and rare woods, being listed at over $1000. Read more about this subject in an article published last month, How Much Do Wood Adirondack Chairs Cost?: Wood vs Composite (On Amazon).

With this product, you are paying for quality, and unlike plastic adirondack chairs, wooden chairs will last you almost a lifetime if kept properly.

No weather conditions will harm these wooden chairs in comparison to plastic adirondack chairs.Sun will give the chairs a more worn and aged look but for some people that is the look they are going for. As far as wind damaging these chairs, unless you live in tornado alley where you can experience winds reaching up to 100 mph, an above average windy day won't budge a wooden adirondack chair.

As far as similarities between the two products, there are endless color options for both. However, with plastic adirondack chairs being one single piece of plastic, you can’t mix and match colors. The chair will only be one solid color. Where as wooden chairs, individual pieces can be painted, then assembled to create your own unique chair.

Whatever your situation is, whether you're refurbishing your home office or simply replacing a worn-out old chair, selecting the right plastic office chair depends on a wide range of factors. A long office session is not healthy for your body, nor is it easy. This is why it is important to take your time when deciding on a new office chair.

While it is important to find a plastic office chair that is comfortable and supportive, you should also get a durable one. The material should also be considered when choosing office chairs. Providing a clean working environment and comfort is essential to an effective home plastic office chair.

Pros and Cons of Hard Plastic Office Chair

Pros of Hard Plastic Office Chair

Durability

The durable nature of a plastic chair for office use makes it an excellent choice since, once heated or moist; they don't crack or dry out.

Maintenance

A plastic ergonomic office chair requires almost no maintenance and is remarkably durable. To keep them in tip-top shape, all they need is a quick wash with a commercial cleaner. Plastic office chairs are equally remarkably light, which makes it easy for you to rearrange their arrangement in your space at any time.

Styles

Plastic chairs can be made into an endless array of styles and colors, so if you want to explore different looks and colors, you'll love them. You can find the right chair for your business with a hard plastic office chair, no matter the design style.

Affordable

Furthermore, the best mesh office chairs are a very affordable way to modernize your space. Business owners, professionals, and any other individual without a large budget can opt for wooden or fabric chairs for a desk instead.

Cons of Hard Plastic Office Chair

Every plastic mesh executive office chair has a different standard. Before making a purchase, you should do your research. Make sure the chairs can withstand commercial use and ask what the weight limit is.

Ensure the furniture you're buying can withstand strong winds if you live in an area prone to high winds. As they appear cheap, people may not take to liking plastic chairs. Today a lot of manufacturers do, however, offer a wide range of plastic chairs.

Hard Plastic Office Chair vs. Mesh Office Chair

Padding

Developing a mesh seat that is both supportive and comfortable is extremely challenging. You can get a mesh office chair with a soft mesh or a hard mesh. A higher-end chair will have a soft mesh, while a lower-end chair will predominantly have a hard mesh.

In the beginning, the softer mesh will offer more comfort. By controlling the smoothness and expansion of the surface, a softer, more comfortable seat is the result.

As the user sinks into the mesh chair, they will feel as if they are floating in the air. You can get comfort and support by using polycarbonate chairs. Manufacturers choose from varying foam thickness levels for making the most comfortable computer chair.

Expanding and contracting

Users of mesh chairs rave about the way mesh sinks down and it gives them a sensation of floating. The mesh, however, will eventually sag if it is allowed to flex and relax repeatedly; the seat or whole chair would have to be replaced.

Soft mesh has an additional problem in that it expands and contracts more than hard mesh; therefore, it will not evenly distribute your weight across the entire seat. In the end, the mesh creates an uneven flex point, resulting in the weight resting on the tailbone.

Chairs made of plastic typically feature memory foam cushions that expand, contract, or move only under your weight when you sit down. This makes them more durable.

Performance

Generally, a plastic office hard back chair constructed from foam and fabric feels more like sitting on a surface like wood than a hard mesh seat. It is the same whether you use a hard mesh chair or a plastic chair over time. Users will not enjoy the nice, floating feeling described above because the flex points will be much less pronounced.

Abrasive feeling

The fabric or leather upholstery of mesh sofas is much coarser in texture than those made of leather. The result is that users are at a higher risk of skin abrasions and clothing damage if they wear coarse mesh.

Leather is a natural material, whereas mesh is upholstered from manufactured materials. Occasionally, users may experience skin irritation when their hands contact polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, PVC, or PTFE.

When it comes to office seating, it is important to understand that mesh quality varies greatly. More costly mesh is likely to be hard, coarse, and brittle in comparison to cheaper mesh. In turn, less skin irritation or garment damage is likely to result. Foam-covered plastic chairs will protect your skin and clothing from scrapes and provide greater comfort.

Maintenance

In comparison to other types of upholstery, the mesh has fewer cleaning options. Vacuuming mesh chairs without padding is simple, but wiping them with napkins, paper towels, or toilet paper can be more bothersome than helpful. The shredding of paper products on mesh upholstery will only make things worse.

As a result of friction caused by rubbing with a towel and getting the mesh wet, the mesh can also fray or tear when it is cleaned with a cloth towel and water. Cleaning will be extremely difficult in padded mesh cars using paper products, cloth towels, and water. This is because dust, dirt, and food particles like to accumulate between the mesh and the foam.  

Versatility

Because mesh's customization options are limited, designers usually do not prefer it. While there are many variations among the models on the market, most of them share many characteristics. 

Since mesh behaves like a net, entangling small objects, a mesh is not good for industrial, warehousing, or manufacturing applications. Many of the workers in industrial facilities carry tools with sharp edges strong enough to rip or puncture the mesh while sitting down. Durable plastic chairs can help prevent this.