Do-it-yourself repair of leather interior and car seats

Cars with leather interiors are considered a sign of presentability and solidity. This material is used to create luxury foreign cars, which allow you to emphasize the individual style of the vehicle.

Regular use provokes the appearance of defects on the surface of decorative upholstery. Small cracks, abrasions and defects of varying sizes appear on leather seats. Interior restoration requires large financial investments and certain knowledge. Some motorists are in no hurry to seek help from special workshops.

They prefer to get rid of minor defects in garage conditions. How to repair a leather interior with your own hands?

Pros and cons of leather upholstery

The following characteristics are considered to be the advantages of this material. These include:

• Tolerates sudden changes in temperature;
• Tolerates high humidity;
• Attractive appearance;
• Excellent cleaning from visible contaminants.

To prevent leather upholstery from losing its original appearance, it is necessary to regularly care for it. To do this, it is enough to remove various contaminants and treat the joints with wax compounds.

The disadvantages include the following criteria:

• The leather interior heats up quickly in the summer;
• Solar insolation leads to the appearance of deep cracks and destroys the decorative base;
• Genuine leather does not withstand the effects of acid and alkali.

The cost of restoration work is calculated based on the area of ​​damage to the upholstery structure.

Restoration of leather interior

A leather interior will last at least 10 years with high-quality care and timely cleaning. Durable material is resistant to temperature changes, changes in humidity, exposure to organic solvents, and wear.

It is easy to clean dust, sand, drops of liquids, and food debris from the upholstery. Restoration of damaged skin is carried out using modern means and effective methods. If necessary, leather trim is painted to restore the original color or completely change the shade to a brighter or darker one. You can restore the leather of the seats, steering wheel braid, and panels with your own hands. Select devices, materials, and products to update the leather drapery in your car.

Preparatory work

Restoring leather upholstery in a car requires proper preparation.

To do this, you need to prepare the following tools and materials:

1. Liquid skin. It is a composition that accurately imitates the natural or artificial structure of the coating. You can purchase this material in automobile stores;
2. Tint composition. The shade must accurately imitate the color of the upholstery;
3. Set of tools. To do this, you will need scissors, special spatulas, thin tweezers and a container for the chemical composition;
4. Dry glue. Experts call it thermal powder;
5. Acid-free degreaser;
6. Plastic mesh. It is used to create small patches. They help get rid of small cracks and minor damage;
7. Fine-grained sandpaper. It will help you quickly and efficiently get rid of uneven surfaces on leather;
8. A hair dryer or a small iron. These devices are used for quick fixation of finishing material.

Restoring a torpedo after an airbag deploys

The process of restoring a torpedo after an accident is labor-intensive, and that’s why this type of work costs so much in specialized service centers.
The following important stages of repairing a torpedo after the airbags have deployed can be identified: Removing the steering wheel and dashboard; Cleaning and processing of dismantled elements from excess glue. Repairing damage to dashboard parts, if any;

Order, at the client's request, a new cover for the torpedo, which can be made of various materials. Such covers are made to order in a studio, and they require extremely accurately measured dimensions of the torpedo. If desired, you can order the installation of special elements and inserts - metal, carbon, wood and others. Please note: If we are talking about a specialized service center and a widespread car model, “standard” cases will cost less because they are supplied directly from the factory, where they are mass produced. Restoring the functionality of the airbag - reflashing the electronic control unit and carrying out work on the niche where it is mounted; Next, the finished cover will need to be correctly installed on the dashboard along with instruments, steering wheel and other dismantled elements

It is important to secure the cover in such a way as to hide all the “joints” and prevent the formation of irregularities.

It is extremely difficult to repair a torpedo on your own after the airbag has deployed. To return the safety inside the cabin to the level before the accident and restore the appearance of the cabin (or transform it), it is better to turn to professionals.

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Do you need dashboard repair? Call our auto repair shop “AIRBAG IN THE GARAGE” by phone, and we will perform all the necessary work efficiently, inexpensively and on time. Torpedo repair is the main activity of our company. Only highly qualified specialists with more than 5 years of experience, modern materials and equipment are at your service.

We carry out restoration, repair and replacement of torpedoes, restoration of airbags (Airbag SRS) after an accident and re-flashing of the SRS unit. Our auto repair shop will offer you the most optimal, high-quality and inexpensive method of repair or restoration. In some cases, it can be combined with the repair of the steering wheel lining with additional finishing. Also, the entire SRS system may be subject to restoration. We will install new or repaired airbags and reprogram the control unit.

We really value our customers' time, so we always have about 150 options of ready-made torpedoes for the most popular brands and models of cars. If you want to update your torpedo, you don't have to wait several days, since the replacement work will take only 4 hours. Just call us and tell us the make of your car.

If you need a torpedo that is not in stock, or you decide to repair your torpedo, you must leave the car with us for 3-5 days or:

- remove the torpedo yourself and bring it to us. - remove the torpedo from us and drive for several days without it.

If you do not have the skills to remove dashboards and airbags, trust our specialists. Auto repair shop "AIRBAG IN THE GARAGE" guarantees high quality of services provided.

The process of restoring leather upholstery

Restoration of leather seats of any car brand is carried out in several stages. If the procedure is carried out in a garage, then an alternative solution would be to watch a special video on the Internet. This will allow you to have a clear understanding of the workflow.

The recovery process includes the following manipulations:

• We dismantle the damaged seat;
• Next, use sharp scissors or a knife to smooth out the boundaries of the damage. For example, a trace from a smoldering cigarette. In this case, the hole has clear boundaries, which may subsequently increase;
• Using a degreaser, we treat the edges. This composition will allow you to get rid of deep contaminants and increase the area of ​​adhesion of the elements to each other;
• We process the borders with sandpaper;
• We cut out a small patch from a plastic mesh, taking into account the area of ​​damage.

What to do if the seam comes apart?

Another problem in which the leather interior of a car may require repairs. It happens often enough that you have to pay attention to it.

Here you will definitely need the following types of tools: sharp scissors, a collet clamp, a special needle with an eye on the point, and strong thread.

It is worth noting that it is easier to perform this type of work when the seat is dismantled and removed from the passenger compartment.

Because the seams are located in hard-to-reach places, which are sometimes simply impossible to get to inside the car!

Step-by-step self-repair of seams on car leather seats looks like this:

1. Place the leather seat in front of you so that you can clearly see the seam itself, as well as its reverse side.

2. In the place where the seam is weakened, pry up the edge and find a piece of thread. Using tweezers or your hands, carefully pull it with even force so as to strengthen the seam in an undamaged area.

3. Find the old hole in the leather from the seam and collect all the layers of the seat in this place into a single stack. Then we thread the needle through the holes using a collet clamp. We insert a nylon thread into the eye of the needle and remove the needle from the stack, pulling a strong thread through all layers. Now we have thread on both sides of the leather upholstery.

4. Find the next hole from the old thread and thread the needle and thread there again. At the exit we get a loop from the thread that is threaded into the needle. You need to insert the second end of the thread into this loop and pull the needle back, creating a knot in this place.

5. We continue to go through the third, fourth and subsequent holes in the same way until we reach the end.

6. Then we bring both ends of the thread to one side, tie it well into a knot and cut off the long ends.

7. We turn the leather part over to the front side and see that the repair of the seat upholstery was successful.

Painting the damaged area

The next stage of the restoration process is staining.

To do this, just follow the following sequence of actions:

• Re-degrease the plastic patch;
• After this, we use a small spatula, with which we apply thermal powder. Distribute it evenly over the entire area;

• We heat the damaged area with a hair dryer to 100 degrees. When heated, the powder begins to melt and act as a binder;
• Getting rid of visible boundaries. We use sandpaper;
• We apply liquid skin to the restoration site and dry it with a hairdryer. We apply the paint until the upholstery acquires a uniform structure.

Removing scratches

To remove a scratch from the leather inside a car, you don’t need any special knowledge or skills.

This is a fairly minor damage that can be easily repaired on your own. Of course, you will have to purchase some additional tools and tools at the auto store.

First, you need to buy a special coloring pencil for restoring leather goods.

Moreover, it must be selected in such a way that its color does not differ from the color of the car interior. This is not always possible and sometimes you have to additionally buy a white and black pencil from the same manufacturer in order to disassemble them, mix the paint and get the desired shade.

It is necessary to check the suitability of the paint in hard-to-reach and inconspicuous areas of the skin.

When the desired shade is obtained in the pencil, you can begin to work. To make it clear how to paint over scratches on interior leather, we will describe everything step by step. To repair car seats safely, you need to wear clean rubber gloves.

1. We carefully clean the area with the scratch with an alcohol wipe so that no dirt or greasy stains remain there. After processing, wait about 30 seconds for the alcohol to dry.
2. In one smooth movement, draw a pencil along the scratch line. Using a microfiber cloth, use short sharp movements to smear the paint along the scratch.
3. We repeat the previous step several times until the damage becomes invisible. (For small scratches, as a rule, 1-3 approaches are required, for larger scratches up to 5-6).
4. We go over all the scratches on the seat in this way and wait a few minutes.
5. We wipe the entire seat with a clean napkin and carefully inspect it. Where scratches are still noticeable, you will have to repeat everything.
6. As soon as the visual differences between the damaged areas and entire areas on the seat disappear, take a clean napkin, apply polish to it and wipe the entire surface.
7. This completes the repair of minor damage to the leather seats.

Advice from professionals

1. Before you begin restoring leather upholstery in a car, it is recommended to practice on an old jacket or shoes. It is very difficult for a beginner to create a perfectly even coating the first time.
2. Leather upholstery needs to be repaired from the lower parts. These places are not always visible to the human eye. After numerous preparations, many manage to efficiently restore natural leather.
3. Don't worry if the color after application is slightly different from the original shade. After complete drying, the palette will become uniform. It is recommended to choose paint in the manufacturer's catalogs. This booklet contains all acceptable shades. They are signed with special codes, the ratio of coloring pigments and proportions.
4. Regular viewing of special videos will help you cope with the task. These materials contain the entire workflow sequence and methods for mixing tint pigments.
5. Restoring leather upholstery to its original appearance is quite simple. To do this, it is enough to be careful and show maximum patience. The advantage of restoring leather upholstery yourself is minimal financial costs.
6. To maintain the ideal appearance of the leather interior, it is necessary to carry out regular cleaning and cleaning of the coating. Alcohol-based compounds are used for cleaning. To moisturize leather seats, use beeswax or a special aerosol, which is then thoroughly polished with a soft cloth.

Repair of leather car seats - conditions and costs

However, before we move on to the essence of this review, we should outline some conditions under which self-repair of leather car seats makes sense, and is even possible in principle. Such cases with full confidence include the following types of damage to the upholstery:

• Scuffs, aka bald spots
• Cracks in the skin
• Seam rupture
• Mechanical cuts
• Burnt Skin
• Mechanical failure of the seat

If the leather interior of your car has suffered due to such defects, then it is quite possible to eliminate them and return the seats to a decent aesthetic appearance with your own hands. In this case, the repair period may well be limited to one day, and the next day you can leave the garage with an updated interior. However, in more complex situations, namely skin rupture, damage by chemicals, etc., you should contact a specialized service and entrust the work to professionals.

In the case of self-removal of damaged skin, it is quite possible to fit into a budget of 2-3 thousand rubles, or even less. It all depends on how much damage there is to the seats and what type they are. Usually it costs about 500-800 rubles to repair and reupholster one part. All that remains is to count the number of damaged parts and find out the cost of your repair.

Preliminary preparation

Regardless of what type of restoration your car's upholstery requires (repair or paint), the first step is to clear the interior of personal items and other furnishings. After this, the interior should be washed and only then, in good daylight, inspect the interior of the car.

Once you have formed an opinion regarding the extent of the damage to the leather, decide whether you will remove the damaged parts. On the one hand, it is much more convenient to work in an open space, thanks to which you can provide yourself with good access to light and the car without chemical odors in the interior. On the other hand, when dismantling elements, you can not only damage other parts of the upholstery, but also disrupt the operating mechanisms of one or another part of the machine.

After all the above-described manipulations have been carried out, start cleaning the surfaces that you plan to undergo restoration.

To do this, use any detergent to clean the surface, and then gently wipe the area that needs to be restored with an alcohol-containing solution. Keep in mind that some solutions may contain not only alcohol, but also chemicals that can further damage the surface. So first test the effect of the composition on a small, inconspicuous area of ​​skin.

After cleaning and disinfection have been carried out, the defect should be treated with sandpaper. Once you have completed this stage, you can begin the more detailed process of restoring the car's interior trim.

How to paint leather parts of a car

It is important to understand that the paint must be special, automotive. Compositions intended for clothing made from the same material are not suitable, as they do not have the necessary wear resistance

Compare the loads to which clothing is exposed with the loads on car seats, and everything will become clear.

Buying paint intended for car leather is not difficult these days.

When choosing, you need to pay attention to the quality of the product and its shelf life. It should also be understood that it is hardly possible to perform coloring at a high level using the cheapest coloring composition

Acrylic paint compositions are deservedly the bestsellers in this segment of automotive products today. The leather treated with them not only regains its former beauty, but also does not lose elasticity and becomes resistant to cracking. As for the release form, experts recommend buying coloring products in aerosol cans. Choosing such a product greatly simplifies your work. As a rule, the following recommendations are relevant when using aerosols:

• paint is sprayed from a distance of 15 cm from the surface;
• It takes 15 minutes to dry one layer; after waiting this time, you can begin applying the next layer;
• The aerosol should be sprayed by quickly moving the canister head along the surface to be painted.

When restoring the interior of a car, in addition to the coloring aerosol, special pastes and creams can be useful. They are convenient to apply using a gauze pad or brush. Such substances are applied in several layers until the desired color saturation is obtained.