Seat Repair... SAVE THOSE SEATS!!!

[neohic]

I picked up these seats without a real plan as to what to put them in. They are out of a four door XJ and were in great shape but, with any seats with age, have some tears in the vinyl and generally dirty. Never really done anything like this so I wanted to try see what some off the shelf vinyl repair kits can do.

 

Started with two seats: dirty, soiled, and torn.

 

I started with a small tear. This kit is good for small tears, but if you have bigger holes, it can also be used for blending in patches.

 

The kit:

 

I was really impressed with the instructions. The kit includes small backing cloth for “flap” like tears, adhesive for attaching said backing cloth, and plenty of colors to mix and fine tune your specific match. It also has plastic sheets with different inverted vinyl patterns… more on these later. One more fancy tool in the kit is a small iron for finishing the repair.

 

Start with your color, in this case black… or so it looks! Keep in mind that black may not just be black as years sitting in the sun may discolor the seats. I ended up using a milk jug cap for mixing as I didn’t need a lot my mixture. My mix started with black, and had a small amount of white and blue added in.

 

Note: plan ahead! If you have several small cracks or tears, mix up enough of your mixture to cover them all so you don’t have to try and match what you have already done. Another note: keep in mind where your cracks are! If you have a tear that is near a window, you may be dealing with a slightly faded color from what would be closer to the floor. My suggestion is to assess the seat and start at the bottom. As you move toward an area that is more faded, add small amounts of white to dilute your original color.

 

Once you’re happy with your color, drop a small dab of adhesive behind the tear and let it sit for a moment to set up. After that, spread a small amount of your color mixture onto the tear. Choose one of the plastic sheets with the inverted vinyl pattern that closely matches the grain of the seat. Lastly, put the selected pattern sheet over the area and use the supplied iron to heat the repair.

 

Let it cool for a second and peel the pattern sheet off to show the repair.

 

Granted, it’s not a perfect solution, but I definitely think that it’s miles better than just spreading glue over it and calling it good!

 

While we’re at it, grab a clean bucket and fill it with some laundry detergent and warm water. I just scrubbed the upholstery with a soft hand brush until the stains started to lift. Between scrubbing, I used a shop-vac to remove the soiled water. Repeat as necessary.

 

By now, the seats were looking pretty sharp but now it came down to small details. For example, the seat belt retaining strap:

 

I went simple here and used some black dye and a small brush to work it into the strap.

 

Overall, I’m very happy with how these two seats came out! The discoloring shown in the pictures are wet spots that later disappeared. Now, I just need to find a home for them as they’re good to go for another round of service!

[500 MJ]

You can also take the covers off of the seats and put the covers in the washing machine. I usually scrub the covers down real well with some water and heavy duty cleaner - Simple Green, etc. and then put them in the machine while they are still wet. Usually come out real good.