What’s The Best Stapler For Upholstery?

That’s a pretty easy question but at the same time its not! Haha! 

I often get asked what is the best stapler to use for upholstery. The easy answer is a pneumatic stapler! The hard part is which one! 

First of all, you might ask why do I need a pneumatic stapler? The reason is that hand staplers and electric staplers are not really designed for upholstery. The biggest problem is that they will not push the staple all the way into the wood for a secure hold. Which means either your fabric won’t hold or your have to use a hammer to tap the staples in. All of this results in fabric that is not nice and neat or extra work and smashed staples. How frustrating! I mean if you’re going to do upholstery, you might as well do it right AND make it easy on yourself. 

So why the hesitancy in getting a pneumatic stapler? Here are several reasons:

• I’m just starting out and not sure I will really like doing upholstery
• Pneumatic staplers are more expensive than manual or electric models
• You need an air compressor!
• This whole air compressor with shooting  staples is just sort of scary and overwhelming!

I understand! Let’s talk about these issues. 

I totally get that you are just starting out and not sure how much you’re going to like upholstery and therefore don’t want to sink a lot of money into it. Start with some simpler projects like dining room seats or an ottoman or bench. Any of these projects will make such an impact to the room they are in and you can feel proud of your projects. These are good first projects and a manual stapler can handle them. 

If you’ve been bitten by the upholstery bug it’s time to consider upgrading to a pneumatic stapler. With a little knowledge and practice you’ll quickly get over that scary feeling and in fact will feel totally empowered! Look at you, welding that pneumatic stapler!

Yes, they are more expensive than manual or electric and yes, you need an air compressor! But once you use one for a project, you will never go back! 

Air Compressors

First let’s talk about air compressors. I’m not an expert but I can give you the lowdown on what you need. You don’t need a big huge compressor, most small ones will be just fine. You do need one that will provide your stapler with 70-100 PSI. That’s the amount of pressure your gun needs to operate effectively, i.e., push those staples into the wood! My first air compressor was a 6 gallon pancake compressor that cost under $100.

One word of warning, inexpensive air compressors are loud! As in, don’t worry about watching TV, listening to some tunes or carrying on a conversation while one of these compressors is starting up or refilling the pressure. Some people do manage a set up where they can park the compressor in another room other than where they are working. But that doesn’t work for everyone. Eventually, you may decide to upgrade to a ‘quiet’ air compressor. This will drastically change your quality of life in your workroom! Of course, they cost more. But if you decide upholstery is your life’s passion, it will be so worth it. I have a Campbell Hausfeld 6 gallon pancake compressor. I like this shape because it fits under my workbench. (And it’s blue, which is kind of important! Haha!)

Many of my friends have purchased a California Air model and love them!

Remember when I mentioned that once you tried a pneumatic stapler you would never go back to a manual or electric? Upgrading to a quiet compressor is just as life changing! 

The Accessories

Of course we need to accessorize your air compressor! You will need an air hose and the coupler to attach your gun to the hose so be sure to get those while your at it. I think most staplers use the 3/8″ hose and coupler, but buy your gun first and take it with you air compressor shopping. There are knowledgable people at your local hardware store so shop local and get the scoop from them. A coupler that has a ball swivel is my pick for ease of keeping that hose under control. And I highly recommend a quick release coupler to easily switch out your guns! 

Guns? I’m telling you, you are going to be hooked! And at the end of this post, I’ll introducing you to a really fun gun your going to want in your repertoire! 

Oh and one more thing that has made a big quality of life difference in my shop is having a retractable air hose.

It hangs from the ceiling. The length is 50 feet, but I can roll it out to the length I need and no more hose all over the floor! Yay!

Pneumatic Staple Guns

Alright, now down to the nitty gritty! What’s the best pneumatic stapler to buy? I think most upholsterers want a gun that is economical, reliable and can take a little abuse. (Staplers hit the floor on a regular basis!) There are so so many brands of staplers but I try to recommend those that I have used personally or have been recommended by fellow upholsterers. So let’s talk about the staplers for a minute, what’s different about an upholstery stapler vs a manual or electric. 

• Upholstery staplers are generally a 71 series that shoots, fine wire staples
• Fine wire staples are generally (but not always) 3/8″ wide and commonly have 3/8″ legs. There are other size staples for specific purposes but for this discussion, this is what you will look for. 
• Long nose vs short nose – This refers to the length of the ‘nose’ where the staples shoot out of. The longer nose is better able to get into hard to reach crevices so if I could only have one stapler, I’d get a long nose. (But why limit yourself!)

Recommended Brands

BEA

If price is not a factor, get a BEA! If price is a factor, get a used BEA! LOL! BEA’s are the Cadillacs of pneumatic staplers. They are German made, all metal and they just work, and work and work! Buy one and it will last you a lifetime. Brand new, you can find one in the $235-250 range if your lucky. Suggested Retail Price for a long nose is $300. 

I have two, a short nose and a long nose, both bought used. The short nose was my first stapler and I used it for the first six years of my upholstery career. I love both these staplers!

Porter Cable

Porter Cable is a great gun but only comes in a short nose. I have a lot of friends that have this gun and have used it for years with no problems. Cost is around $145.

Meite

Meite makes a great long nose at a good price. Cost is around $100. 

Sailrite

I have a Sailrite long nose that I love. They make both a long and short nose gun and are very reasonable priced at around $60-$90. 

Here is the thing about Sailrite, they are a marine upholstery supplier (although many of us non-marine upholsterers shop them because their products and selections and how-to guides are great.). Many of their products are designed with marine applications in mind. Their stapler is all metal! Yay! But it shoots bigger staples which is generally better when working with vinyl, which is used frequently in marine applications. This is the reason I love this gun. It’s fantastic when doing foundation work like stapling webbing or thru thicker layers of Dacron and cotton and webbing. The staples are also easier to pull out! Hip Hip Horay! I’ve gotten where I use my Sailrite and my BEA interchangeably all the time. For foundation work, I’ve got my Sailrite and for regular work I switch to my BEA. 

I have many friends that now use this gun exclusively. Its a great gun at a great price that is all metal and works great! If you go with this option, be sure to buy several boxes of the staples since it uses a different size than your typical upholstery stapler. 

Speciality Staplers

Gimp Gun

You might be asking what is a gimp gum. This stapler shoots very narrow staples and is designed to staple on trim. Fasco makes a gimp gun.

I have one but honestly don’t use it very often. I prefer to use hot glue for trim as a gimp gun can show dimples unless you staple very very close together. 

Fasco also makes regular staple guns which are really good guns. But the good news/bad news about all Fasco guns is that they have a safety on the trigger. This means that for EVERY staple you want to shoot, you have to depress the safety first with one finger and hold it while depressing the trigger to shoot the staple. So you will absolutely not shoot off a staple by accident! But by the end of a day of the two finger staple action, my fingers are seriously stressed. Some people love this stapler, some not so much! And some people break or otherwise disengage the safety. 

Meite Decorative Nail Gun

This is probably the most fun gun ever! It shoots nail heads!

How crazy is that! Now there are some really talented upholsterers that can hand nail in nail heads quickly and beautifully. But it takes skill and practice to do it well! And trust me, nothing ruins a beautiful piece of furniture faster than tacky uneven nail trim!

This Meite nail head gun makes the job so much easier and faster for someone like me. I don’t do nail trim everyday, so I’m not proficient at it. But with this gun I can do nail head trim and do it well. There are different size sleeves you can get for different size nail heads. You can get this thru Amazon, but if you can stand to wait, ordering it thru Ali-Express is much cheaper, albeit longer shipping times. 

So there you have it, everything you wanted to know about upholstery staplers and probably a few things you didn’t. There are many many other very good staplers out there so just find the one that suits your needs. I have only touched on a handful that I’ve had experience with. I hope you find the stapler that is perfect for you! Let me know if you have any questions! Happy stapling!