Ergohuman Chair Blog

I wanted to make a post about why certain comments have been made in regards to the leather seat vs. the mesh seat. Many customers have been concerned with going for the mesh seat because of the last post about the leather seat providing a little better support than the mesh for the long haul. I need to clear the air on this issue. If you have owned a mesh chair or are familiar with sitting in mesh, then much of this may not apply to you.

When the Ergohuman first came out, we had 2 mesh chairs shipped to our office so that we could get good, first-hand knowledge about the chair. We used them for about 8-12 hours per day for about 4-5 months before we decided to make the switch to the leather version. The switch was made for 2 reasons: 1) because one of us wanted to sit in the leather model to get more familiar with that style of sit for an extended period. 2) One of us started to experience some discomfort in the tailbone area. The discomfort occurred because the user was not consistent with their sitting posture to benefit fully from the mesh seat. This particular user liked to lean forward in the chair and often times on the armrests. Slouching, awkward leaning and incorrect adjustments can lead to problems. The reason being is that mesh upholstery will flex and cause tension to whatever area is pushed into it. The greater the weight placed on the mesh, the more tension is caused by the rebound effect of the mesh. A mesh seat gets the user’s entire body weight and therefore much more tension is placed on that mesh than mesh on a backrest.

If the chair is adjusted correctly and an ergonomic sitting position is maintained, then the discomfort will not occur. But, the problem comes when users deviate from the upright, correctly aligned position that the Ergohuman chair promotes. When the user slouches, leans drastically to one side or has the chair adjusted incorrectly, then the Ergohuman can’t do its job. Because most users are not conscientious of maintaining a correct posture, we usually recommend the mesh seat for 5 hours or less. If you feel that you sit correctly and can maintain that correct sitting position for the duration of your work day, then the mesh seat would pose no problems. If you’ve had a mesh chair in the past and are familiar with the great qualities of mesh then we definitely recommend the mesh for you as well. But, for users who like to change positions often or lean heavily on the armrests AND will be in the chair for more than 5 hours, then we recommend the leather seat because the stiff leather seat allows more wiggle room when it comes to sitting in a more comfortable position.

The Ergohuman mesh chairs are still the most popular upholstery chosen by our customers and the fact that very few are returned is a true testament to the success and comfort that mesh offers.

Earlier in the year we introduced a new Ergohuman chair that featured a mesh backrest with leather seat. As expected, the Ergohuman Leather/Mesh Combo was a big hit. We have had a number of new customers that love the idea of having 2 great upholstery options on one chair. Some customers just simply love leather and they have a hard time justifying any other upholstery selection. Now leather loyal customers can stick to what they like best AND get the awesome modern mesh compliment. We have also had a lot of repeat customers that have decided to order some of the Ergohuman LEM4ERG Combos because not everyone in their office wanted the all mesh or the all leather chair like they had already seen or sat in. The new combo chair has allowed office managers and executives to give their employees a wider selection of seating options while maintaining a uniform office chair environment. Managers have said that their employees feel better about the furniture they use if they can have a say in what it is and the Ergohuman provides the employee with options.

Overall, we feel that the Ergohuman combo chairs capture the advantages from both upholstery options and thus far, our customer have agreed.