London PU Chair: polyurethane, not velvet, at 60 x 50 x 100cm

Many of the chairs it sits beside are velvet. The London is listed with polyurethane upholstery, which makes it the answer to a specific question: what do you put round a table that gets used hard. It is listed at 60 x 50 x 100cm on chrome legs, with a tall back, a decorative scroll top, a stitched front panel and a zipped back. The photographs are on the London PU Chair (Chrome Legs) page.

PU against velvet at a dining table

The description is specific about why the material was chosen: it says the polyurethane upholstery resists wear and staining, and names high-traffic environments along with dining rooms, offices and hospitality settings. That is the supplier's claim and it is the reason this listing exists alongside the velvet ones. None of the velvet listings in this range makes a comparable claim.

What a hard-faced upholstery changes in practice is simple. Spilled food sits on the surface rather than soaking into a pile. Set against that, a velvet chair is warmer to sit on and quieter in a room. If the table is where homework, paint and dinner all happen, the harder face is usually the one to go for.

What the listing does not give is the cleaning detail: no cleaning code, no list of what the surface tolerates, no composition beyond polyurethane. Ask us what the supplier states before you use anything stronger than warm water on it.

60 x 50 x 100cm

The 100cm is the overall height to the scroll. The first two figures are the footprint and the listing does not label them, so ask us which is the seat width and which is front to back. Taking 60cm as the width, two chairs need 120cm of table edge, three need 180cm and four need 240cm, plus a gap between each. On a 200cm table side, three sit comfortably. The 50cm figure is among the slimmer in this range, which helps in a room where the chairs have to be pushed back into a walkway.

At 100cm the back is tall. Measure to any window sill or wall shelf behind the table and compare, and check the chair turns through the doorway on its diagonal.

The zipped back

The description gives the zip as being there for easy maintenance and for upholstery replacement. It is an unusual thing to find on a dining chair listing and it is worth reading carefully: it says the cover can come off, not that a replacement cover can be bought. Whether the supplier offers one is not stated, so if the ability to re-cover the chair later is part of why you are buying it, ask us to confirm that with the supplier first.

Dark Grey or Light Grey, and the other PU listings

Two finishes are listed. Dark grey is the more forgiving round a family table. Light grey keeps a small room open and reads cooler alongside the chrome legs. If you want a PU chair in a different shape, the comparable listings are the Marbella PU Chair (Black Legs), the Venice 01 PU Chair (Black Legs) and the Roma PU Chair (Ring Knocker/Chrome Legs), each with its own dimensions on its own page. If you would rather have the tall scroll back in velvet, the G-Lucy Chair is listed at 67 x 50 x 103cm on gold legs.

Before you order

• Measure the usable table edge and divide by 60cm plus a gap.
• Measure floor to sill behind the table and compare with 100cm.
• Ask us for the seat height, the cleaning instructions and whether replacement covers exist.
• Decide the finish against the floor, not the wall: that is where a grey shows up worst.

This is a chair we supply rather than one from our own range, so every one of those answers comes from the supplier rather than from us. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. The photographs and both finishes are on the London PU Chair page, and the velvet alternatives are in Dining Chairs.