How to Repair Leather Car Seats Perfectly
I guess most of the car owners once came across a tear, rip or scratch on your car leather seat and of course, you can’t be in a good mood in the situation. You might come up with replacing new upholstery or hiring a professional to fix the tear, but obviously, both of the solutions cost you an arm and a leg.
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Well, in fact, you absolutely can learn how to repair car seats on your own to save the cost. Of course, the DIY can’t help your cracked or torn car seat gain the initial look. However, if you are a big fan of DIY or are looking for a budget-friendly way to work out your damaged upholstery, the DIY is worth taking into account.
Read the whole article to learn how to repair leather car seats. Believe me; it is just as easy as a piece of cake. More importantly, the DIY only works perfectly if the damage is not too serious, which doesn’t require a professional or replacement.
What You'll Need
To do the DIY, you need to prepare some following essentials:
- Clean cloth
- Canvas backing patch
- Fine sandpaper
- Leather repair kit
- Tweezers
- Foaming solution
- Scrubbing pads
- Palette knife
- Rubbing alcohol
- Replacement leather swatch
- Scissors
- Conditioner
Tips And Tricks To Get Successful Repair
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There are some tips and tricks which tend to help you gain the best repair.
Have A Leather Repair Kit
If you own an automobile, a leather repair kit is a must-have item. Since the kit has all tools required for your repair, it is extremely convenient and helpful for you in the case.
Clean The Work Surface
Keep the site of damage clean is of great importance to get a smooth finished look. Try to remove all coating, dirt, and chemicals on the areas, cut any ragged and tidy edges with sharp scissors, and then clean the site with some alcohol and foaming solution.
Get The Right Color
Don’t even think that if your leather if beige, you will easily choose a color to match. You know, there are various shades of beige. Therefore, check the color carefully so that you could buy the colorant giving the right shades. You may need to mix several hues to get the right one if your leather is in a strange shade of color.
Know The Size Of Tears
Before kicking off repairing, you must assess the size of the tear to determine whether you need a patch or not. Small tears might be fixed with filler only, but for the large one, you are normally required to use a replacement patch.
Coating Is Indispensable
In fact, you can get your job done after applying color to the damaged sites. But if you want to protect the repaired area, which is normally fragile, from further damage, covering it with a coat is advisable.
How To Repair Leather Car Seats
Knowing how to fix damage on your car seat helps you in many ways. Just by following some simple steps, you can fix your seat yet save a great deal of money. Also, choose the day when you are left with much free time since it takes you much time to do the DIY.
Step 1: Assessing Damage On The Car Seat
It is essential to assess damage on your car seat to determine whether a replacement pack is required or not. For small tears or scratch, you just need the canvas backing patch and filler only, but the replacement weather swatch is required to deal with a large hole.
Step 2: Cleaning The Surface Of The Tears
This is an indispensable step during the seat repair process. Cleaning the area of damage helps to remove all types of dirt and chemicals on the work surface. Then you could get the best-finished repair.
You may kick off cleaning step by rubbing the damaged sites with sandpaper to remove chemicals and dirt from the surface. In case the damaged edges curl outward, cut the edges off with the scissors to gain a tidy repair.
Then, pour foam solution or alcohol on clean cloth or scrubbing pad and gently wipe the sites and surrounding areas to get a clean work surface.
Step 3: Backing
The backing is required for any types of car seat tears. With the tweezers, gently push the canvas backing patch into the position beneath the tears. Keep in mind that you have to fill the entire hole. In case the packing canvas is not enough for a large hole, add another one. For the larger hole, get the replacement instead of the packing canvas.
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Then, you have to spread a thin layer of adhesive around the inside edge of the tears with a palette knife, then press the edge against the packing and leave it to rest until the adhesive dries.
Step 4: Filling
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When the adhesive has dried, apply a thin layer of filler using the palette knife. Wait for the layer to dry then add more layers until the fixed area is equal to the surrounding areas.
Step 5: Coloring And Coating
This is the most challenging part of the process of getting the color that matches with the initial color of the leather is not a piece of cake. You may need to combine some colors to get the exact or just similar color.
When the layers of filler have dried, apply an enough amount of colorant to the tear so that the colorant blends with the color of your leather. Then, apply some conditioner to soften the fixed area.
Finally, when the colorant dries completely, cover the repaired site with a coat to protect the site and prevent possible damage, and now the job is done. Of course, your repair can’t be 100% new like, but it absolutely can hide the tear.
- Note: For the step 3 and 4, the most important thing to keep in mind is to be patient. You must wait until the adhesive and filler dry before continuing adding more layers. If you add a new layer on the one that hasn’t dried completely, you are sure to end up with a poorly-fixed look.
If you are in a hurry and want to accelerate the repairing process, you might use a hairdryer to make the adhesive and filler dry more quickly.
Conclusion
I’m sure the guideline above can save your day if you are dealing with a torn leather car seat. Without a doubt, the repair can't bring you a perfect look, but it could help you hide the tears.
For too serious torn surface, there is no way but to replace a new one or hire a professional. However, if the damage is not too serious and you don’t want to spend much money on the repair, don’t hesitate to try the DIY.
Try to follow the instruction strictly; the result will certainly come up to your expectation. If you find the content of the article helpful, please like and share it with people around you so that it could help as many people as possible.
