Nothing makes a church congregation more restless than uncomfortable seats. But choose the right church chairs and your patrons can stay attentive and engaged through the entire service. Seating is an easily-ignored but vital part of successful worship experiences. When your group will be seated for long stretches of time, then you need padded chairs. Padding reduces the strain of sitting down by cushioning your body from the hard edge of the chair. Have you ever tried sitting in a wooden chair for hours — or kneeling in a wooden pew? Gradually, your back and body begin to ache against the hard surface. Pliable seating like plastic chairs can help, but when comfort is the biggest concern, you ought to choose padded banquet seating. What Makes Padding Comfortable? Seat padding is a science unto itself. Usually, the padding in your seats is a high-density foam. This is a cost-effective and comfortable way of cushioning chairs, and because of foam’s pliable shape, the padding can easily be customized to fit the chair perfectly. At Swii Event Furniture, we find that denser foam is useful for chair seats, which have to bear the full weight of an adult. The most comfortable foam for this use is #18, or 1.8lb density foam. That’s because it’s sturdy enough to support the weight of an adult, yet soft enough to shape to your body. The ability of the foam to shape to the individual is a big part of why it’s such a comfortable selection. When it comes to chair backs, too much density is a bad thing. The support that is so welcome in a chair seat feels like a brick wall when it’s applied to your seat back. Our padded banquet chairs are designed with a blend to ensure the greatest comfort for your congregation. The Most Comfortable Shape & Construction Padding is an important consideration when choosing padded banquet chairs, but it is far from the only one. You should also think about the shape and construction of your chair. Keep these points in mind while you shop: If you’d like padded folding chairs, then choose chairs with either a 13/16″, 18-gauge steel tube frame, or 7/8″ tube steel for sturdiness and longevity. Double check the amount of weight the chair is rated for, as too low of a weight rating will shorten the life of the chair and can be dangerous when seating adults. We recommend chairs that can handle loads as heavy as 600lbs for best results. If you buy from Swii, you don’t need to worry about sizing: all our chairs are a standard adult size so parishioners can sit comfortably with their feet flat on the floor. Armrests are comfortable, but if you plan to move you chairs around and store them often, then this feature will get in the way. The seat back shape should be ergonomic to provide comfortable support. This is why crown padded banquet chairs are so popular! Consider chairs at least 16″ in width; when seating adults for longer period of time, you may find that 20.5″ or 21″ chairs are the most comfortable. Finally, consider material. Heavy-duty vinyl resists stains but can be uncomfortable to sit on for long durations. Fabric chairs often look nicer than vinyl and are self-healing if punctured by a pen or pencil, Our fabrics also have high wear resistance providing a long life expectancy. Which Padded Banquet Chairs Are the Most Comfortable? There’s a lot to consider when you search for the most comfortable padded banquet chairs, from chair construction and shape to the density of your padding. Use our guidelines to find the chairs that will work best for your congregation. For a quick start, consider our padded banquet chairs from Swii Furniture.