Padding of car seats- a great way to return the aesthetic appearance, because old, worn covers in the car can ruin the whole design. This is especially necessary for the interior of light shades, the upholstery of which has lost its brightness, stained and cannot be cleaned. Fortunately, now there are many materials and tools that allow you to do the hauling yourself. This is not as difficult a procedure as it might seem at first glance, you just need to have basic technical skills and the necessary tools.
Self-hauling car seats
Do-it-yourself car seat upholstery: where to start?
Every avid motorist agrees that the upholstery of the cabin is important element, without which tuning of any car will not do. But, alas, not everyone can afford this pleasure. In order to significantly save on the services of car dealerships, this guide has been written. So, before starting work, you need to decide on the material that is most often used:
- Carpet. The most affordable and inexpensive option for chair upholstery. Usually its base is covered with decorative pile. The main advantage of this material is a wide range of colors and a simple process for upholstery of a car seat.
- Velours. Has begun to lose its relevance, since now it is not easy to purchase fabric High Quality... Many manufacturers make velor, the covers from which wear out quickly. You need to be careful.
- Alcantara. Differs in a fine-fiber base. Motorists often choose it because Alcantara is of high quality and durable, pleasant to the touch. In addition, it has a special coating that protects the covers from dirt.
- Leather or leatherette for cladding. Padding of seats with leather Despite being spectacular and durable, it has some disadvantages, including the low elasticity of the seat and the ability of the material to absorb odors.
When buying material for the upholstery of the salon, first of all, pay attention to the quality of the goods. Often the uniformity of its structure is of great importance for cutting. For example, when buying a non-uniform Alcantara, the details of the seats and armchairs may have different shades.
Instrument preparation
The procedure for performing seat constriction made of materials of any type (leather, leatherette, velor, etc.) has a similar algorithm, so this requires the same set of the following devices:
- Sewing machine;
- Materials with soundproofing properties (if necessary);
- Wrenches and screwdrivers of different sizes;
- Glue;
- Foam rubber;
- Hair dryer;
- Scissors.
Do-it-yourself interior upholstery: preparation
1. Self-hauling of a seat and armchairs always begins with removing the old car seats. Dismantling makes it much more convenient to plan the size of Alcantara or leatherette and their location on the covers of the constriction. After that, you can sign each fragment on a standard case with a marker.
2.Using the clips on the back of the chair, remove the cover.
3. We unpick it into separate elements. This will make it easier to transfer their image to the prepared material.
We make sewing of new car covers for the car interior
4. First, press each element firmly and fix it with weights. After that, we outline the contour itself. To do-it-yourself car seat hauling was more successful and the flaps were well aligned, making small notches around the edges. The structure of each upholstery material lends itself easily to tailor scissors.
Important! If you are using fluffy Alcantara, make sure that the fluff on all parts is directed to one side. If you miss this moment, all the details will catch the eye with their differences.
Correct car seat upholstery is carried out using a spray adhesive, for example a can of Mah. It - a good option, is made in Germany and is better suited for use in the construction and repair of cars. It is unacceptable to use the glue itself with a brush, because such a tool quickly penetrates the pores, deforming the structure of the entire part. After that, it will be impossible to return her to her previous state.
6. Fragments of the cover, glued to the foam rubber, are sewn together, carefully aligning the marks on the edges.
8. Cut off the excess foam rubber flaps, so you can get more access to the upholstery material itself.
9. After that, bend the lapels to the sides, press them against the foam rubber. An important stage is the beating of the seams on the foam rubber. To do this, you can use a simple hammer.
10. Sew the cuffs with a double finishing seam. In this case, you do not need to cut off the edges that are behind the line - they will not be visible on the front side under the foam rubber.
Do-it-yourself leather upholstery: how to install
11. Turn out the made cover, straighten it out. It should be noted that it is not easy to put it on a chair: we thread the straps and pull our product to the back.
12. Next comes the seat's turn. Everything is quite simple here, only sometimes difficulties arise with the embossed seats - then you should attach the cover to the frame using special clamps. They should be pulled through the holes in the pillow and hooked onto the spoke. In this way, it will be easier to pull the cover along the contour.
The final stage
13. Do-it-yourself seat upholstery at the end, it necessarily provides for drying and steaming of the manufactured parts. New seat covers need to be warmed up with a hairdryer, the main thing is not to overdo it and not to melt them. After that, the surface dries up and stretches. Each seat needs to be ironed through gauze - this allows our cover to become smooth and "adjust" to their shape.
On this hauling car seats coming to an end: to complete the interior, it remains only to clean them, remove fingerprints, glue residues, etc. In order to visually assess the time it will take, as well as the degree of complexity of the armrest, armrests and car doors with your own hands, you can watch videos and photos on the Internet.
A clean and well-groomed car interior is, one might say, the "face" of its owner. Tell me, who is unpleasant to sit in a rather neat interior of a car, on clean and beautiful seats?
And in order to tune not the first "freshness" of the interior, you will need to do the hauling of the seats of your car. The renovation of the seat cover can naturally be entrusted to the professionals in their field. But if, however, you risk doing it yourself, you will even save money. For this business, you will need a sewing machine, since the work will be based on it, and the ability to cut blanks for directly sewing "clothes" for your car. Remember that the process of sewing car seat covers will not be easy, as it is quite time consuming.
Materialfor upholstering car seats
First of all, you will need to decide on the choice of material from which the covers will be sewn. It can be leather, velor, suede, etc. The color of the material is recommended to be matched to the upholstery of the car interior. But, if you want something different, then you can choose color range to your taste. It will be much easier to sheathe the seats of your car's interior with material of the same color. But, the combination of several shades at once will definitely make your salon more fashionable and exclusive. Everyone knows that leather interior gives the most solidity to any car. Although it is expensive for its price, it will serve you for a long time and with quality. True, there is one, one might say, drawback. In hot weather, the skin heats up from the high temperature and sunlight, so it can create some discomfort when you are directly in the cabin. A universal option has always been and is the option of upholstery in velor, or Alcantara. These materials have been popular with many car owners for a long time. Both velor and alcantara are good in their performance properties and, in addition, they are quite economical in price.
Processcar dealership banners independently
So, tune in to the process, as it will be difficult and time consuming. In this case, the main thing is not to rush and follow the instructions exactly step by step.
First you need to do preparatory work... We start by removing the seats. They are known to be fastened with four bolts. Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery and disconnect the electrical wiring terminals, if they are in your car, that is, it can be heated seats. Sign all parts of the old cover, you can also indicate the type of material that will be used in this place. Next, you will need to remove the standard seat covers. In order to do this neatly and without problems, simply bend the metal clips on the back of the seat. Cut the old cover exactly at the seams, as they will serve as a sketch for you directly for the patterns of new seat covers. When you outline the patterns on the new material according to the old covers, be sure to step back another 5-7 mm before you start cutting them.
Processmaking new covers
In order to start making covers, you need some tools: a marker, scissors, a sewing machine, glue in a spray can, a hammer and foam rubber, which is approximately 2-3 cm thick.
So we begin our creative process. First of all, you need to attach the old covers to the canvas from which new covers will be sewn, securing it with weights. This is necessary so that nothing moves from the originally specified place. With a marker, carefully circle thin line the old cover and then cut out the new cover, departing from the line by 2-3 cm.If the material from which you will sew the covers for the chairs is ankaltar, then be careful that the pile goes in the same direction on all of the sewing patterns.
To improve the quality of leather covers, or ancaltara, you will need to glue foam rubber to the material. This is done with glue, which must be applied not with a brush, but with a spray can.
The next thing you will need to do is sew all the patterns you created for the new covers. You need to do this slowly, on sewing machine.
After you have sewn all these patches, you need to glue the cuffs of the seams. First, cut off all excess pieces of foam rubber and material, and then, after degreasing and cleaning the lapels of the seams, glue them together. Further, as the glue dries, you will need to beat them off with a hammer. It is recommended to sew the cuffs with a double stitch, and it is not necessary to trim the loose edges that go beyond the edges of the stitching.
Howput the cover on the chair correctly
Before you install a new cover on your car seat, you need to make the straps. To do this, the covers must be turned inside out and pulled over the seat backs. Next, you need to pull the cover directly onto the "seat" itself. This is easy to do. Pull the cover itself to the base of the chair with plastic clamps threaded through special holes and securely fasten it to the spoke. In order for the edges to evenly "sit" along the contour of the seat, they just need to be well pulled.
As for covering the seats with leather, at the end of the process, you need to walk through it with a jet of hot air. Use a hair dryer for this step. It's important not to overheat and ultimately burn your skin, so be careful not to overdo it. Once leather
the cover will dry out, it will immediately stretch like a drum. After that, everyone is already covered seat you need to steam it with an iron and a damp piece of cloth. If you follow these recommendations, then the leather case will get a fairly smooth look and stretch well.
And the last step in the seat constriction will be cleaning the Alcantara or light-colored leather from the remnants of glue, fingerprints.
The car seats you tightened will serve you for a long time, and most importantly, please you. During the hauling process, it will also be possible to make changes to the design of car seats, and at the same time update the upholstery of the panels, doors and ceiling of your car. Car tuning done by your own hands at home will transform your interior and the car as a whole beyond recognition.
In previous articles "Do-it-yourself steering wheel padding" and "Heated the steering wheel with your own hands" we have reviewed the first steps in the interior renovation. In this article « » I will continue the collection of instructions on the topic “ Tuning the salon with your own hands ".
Even if your car has a perfect appearance and good technical condition, and inside the car will have a shabby appearance, then general impression will not be the most positive and your car will be perceived as second-rate and, frankly, staying in an elephant of such a car will not be pleasant enough.
Do-it-yourself seat upholstery
First, decide what fabric or leather you will use for upholstering the seats (the most common fabrics are velor, suede, eco leather or natural and alcantara) and its colors, then everyone chooses according to their financial capabilities, it will not be a secret for anyone that leather will be the most expensive and most practical material. You can also combine materials and colors (For example: black leather with a beige fabric insert in the middle). But it must be borne in mind that the process of constricting with one type of material and color is much easier.
Also consider the fact that do-it-yourself car seat hauling will take more than one day of your time.
In order to get started, you will need the following materials and tools:
- Sewing machine
- Large and sharp sewing scissors
- Gel pen, marker
- Foam rubber about 5 mm thick
- Glue aerosol in cans
- Selected fabric and thread type
In order to get to work and drag the car seat, you need to perform the following preparatory robots:
- It is necessary to remove the seat from the car, use "Manual for the repair and operation of the car"
- On each element of the old car seat cover, make notes with a marker and if the waistband will consist of several colors (types) of fabrics, you must indicate what material you will use for each element.
do-it-yourself seat hauling photo 1
- Then you need to pull off the old covers from the seats, in order to remove them, unclench the metal brackets that are in the back of the seats.
- Now you need to measure the removed covers and calculate the required amount of material for the seat upholstery. The resulting result must be increased by 30%, this eliminates the errors in the suturing of the material.
Step-by-step instruction
First, make patterns for all the elements of the new cover, for this we take the old pieces of the cover and apply them to the new fabric and circle them with a gel pen and cut them out with scissors. Important: If you are using Alcantara, carefully make sure that when combined on all elements of the pile lies in the same direction.
do-it-yourself seat hauling photo 2
Then all the elements that you cut out for the new cover must be strengthened, for this you need to cut and glue the foam rubber with glue to the back of the fabric.
do-it-yourself seat hauling photo 3
do-it-yourself seat hauling photo 4
Now you need to glue all the cuffs of the seams, and cut off the excess pieces of fabric and foam rubber, at the final stage we degrease all the cuffs and glue them together.
After the glue has completely dried, it is required to beat off all the seams; this is a very simple procedure that is performed with a regular hammer.
do-it-yourself seat hauling photo 5
When all of the above points are completed, you need to sew all the cuffs with a double finishing stitch.
do-it-yourself seat hauling photo 6
The final stage
To correctly put on covers on car seats, you must adhere to a certain sequence:
It is necessary to unscrew the covers, you need to start pulling from the back of the car seat.
The process of pulling on a new cover is quite simple, you need to fix the cover to the spokes intended for this with special clamps, then continue to gently stretch the cover along the contour of the chair.
If the seat is upholstered with genuine leather, then before you start putting on the cover, it must be well heated with a hairdryer, after which it is put on the seat. After the cover is dressed, you need to steam it with an iron through a wet cloth.
In the end, all that remains is to clean the surface of the glue stains and fingerprints and install the over-tightened seats back into the car.
Any tuning project, and especially one related to the upholstery of the car's interior, requires partial or complete disassembly. This is not always an easy task - there are plenty of tricky fasteners in the car. But extensive experience in car tuning tells the master where a piston, a self-tapping screw or a screw can hide under the upholstery of the car's interior. The car seats are bolted through skids to the floor. In order to remove the seat with your own hands, it is enough to unscrew the four bolts and open the electrical connectors.
01. We took the seat out of the passenger compartment and put it on the table to make it easier to plan the location of the leather and Alcantara fragments on the seat upholstery cover. The seamstresses marked with a marker, signed each panel of the cover with the name of the material from which it will be cut.
02. It takes strong hands to remove the cover from the seat frame. In the places of division into fragments (in the corners of the abutment of the skin panels) on the back and "seat", the cover is pulled to the frame of the pillows with steel rings. The design of the drawbars is different, but the polyurethane of the pillow in any case is very springy and holds the cover.
03. The removed seat upholstery cover passes into the hands of a cutter, a car upholstery specialist. The master unpicks the cover into separate panels - prepares it for transfer to new materials.
04. For example, the Alcantara piece planned for the seat upholstery is laid out on the table and pressed against the Alcantara with weights. It is outlined with a gel pen along the contour and is marked with short notches around the perimeter to align the flaps. Alcantara, like leather, can be easily cut with tailor's scissors.
There is one very important task in the process of cutting Alcantara car trim parts. Alcantara is similar to suede and has a short pile. This pile is directed to one side. Guess that the direction of the pile needs to be taken into account when cutting? An error in the direction of the pile will appear as a difference in the shade and tone of the miter part.
05. Padding of seats and some other details of the upholstery of the car's interior are not complete without reinforcing leather and Alcantara with foam rubber on a fabric basis. Cut out leather and Alcantara seat covers are glued onto the foam rubber (from the side of the foam rubber, not the fabric) using glue in a spray can. It is impossible to smear the foam rubber for the seat constriction with a brush - you can spoil the part with your own hands: the glue goes deep into the pores and, when squeezed, glues the internal structure of the foam rubber. Simply put, the foam will not return to its original position.
06. The panels of the seat cover glued to the foam rubber are sewn together. When sewing, you need to carefully align the marks on the edges of the parts.
07. The next operation is the gluing of the seam lapels spread apart from the seamy side of the seat constriction covers. The question is - what to glue to what? First, we cut off the foam rubber strips that remained near the cuffs to clean the Alcantara and leather cuffs for gluing. Then, we spread the lapels of leather and Alcantara to the sides and press them against the foam rubber. An important point upholstery of the car's interior - beating off the seams of Alcantara and leather on foam rubber. We crimp the seams with an ordinary hammer.
08. The cuffs are now sewn with a double finishing stitch. The free edges behind the stitching thread are not cut off - this will not be noticeable under the foam rubber. You can trim the edges with your own hands along the edge of the cover part.
09. The sewn cover of the seat constriction is turned on front side and straightens out. Pulling and securing the cover to the seat frame is not an easy task. Especially the backrest cover - it has a closed shape and you have to work in cramped conditions.
10. The seat cover for the seat constriction also has its own troubles. First, the cover is folded onto the seat cushion and then pulled to the frame. Plastic straps are used to pull the seat cover in the middle. The clamps are threaded through the pillow into special holes in the same way as on the original design. On the cover, the clamp clings to a knitting needle, sheathed with fabric and sewn to the cover from the inside out. The edges of the cover are stretched over the seat frame along the contour. Behind the native plastic bracket sewn to the cover (ripped off from the native seat), from the sides and in front of the notches in the seat frame.
11. Car interior trim always ends with drying and steaming of overtightened parts. Seat covers are warmed up by a jet of hot air from a hair dryer - the leather, drying out, stretches like a drum. All seats are ironed with steam through a rag. After these procedures, the seat upholstery becomes absolutely smooth, as if made of a solid material. I think everyone can do these operations with their own hands.
The car seats are very high today. In order for the repairmen in the car service to undertake to replace the seats of your car, they will first issue you a preliminary invoice, which you are unlikely to like. What to do if the seats have become unusable and must be replaced? It's simple. Learn to do it yourself!
The seats have fallen into disrepair
What the level of driving comfort vehicle depends on the interior decoration and the state of the armchairs, it was noticed for a long time. And it is not for nothing that in the process of car production, famous and brilliant designers are hired, who are able to beautifully decorate everything inside.
Over time, everything gets old, including. It is clear that such eye damage will not please. Squeezed-out chairs, in addition to an aesthetically unpleasant perception, also cause discomfort. During the movement, passengers and the driver himself are not able to relax and the seats constantly cause inconvenience.
How to eliminate these flaws with your own hands? In our time, this will not be difficult. You can fix everything: defects in the upholstery, scuffs on the armrests, tears on the backs of the seats, and much more.
Often forces you to repair an accident. Even the very one can violate the integrity of the seat frames, and the previous gloss of the interior will disappear.
Preparation
Before you start changing anything, you should arm yourself the necessary tools and, most importantly, decide on the material. A lot will depend on the material:, the price for it, etc. It's not the same thing: working with leather, vinyl or textile fabrics. Although the essence of the repair is the same everywhere - repeated coating of the damaged area with a specially selected composition, and then heat treatment.
To begin with, it is useful to choose a color scheme with which we will work. This will depend not only on the taste of the owner, but also on the integrity of the painting. Everything should look harmonious.
We start, of course, by dismantling the old seats. If the seats are upholstered in leather, they will need to be removed. It is advisable to work with at home, where it will be more convenient to place fragments of leather or alcantara on the constriction material. It is recommended to sign each part of a standard case, indicating the name of the material from which we will prepare the cut itself. You can use a regular marker for marking.
We remove the standard cover from the car seats. We remind you that the chairs must be removed in order for the work to be carried out comfortably.
We remove the old cover as follows: squeeze out the metal clips located on the back of the seats. The cover always comes off upwards.
After removing the cover, we see a foam rubber frame. It will also need to be removed. This will not cause any difficulties, since the foam rubber frame is held only on paper tape.
Lumbar support
We need a set of the following tools and devices:
- nuts with washers;
- cold welding;
- long bolt;
- towing strap;
- a homemade plate made of an easily bendable material.
We take a nut and clamp the plate, then press it with cold welding for reliability. We bend it. Here it is important to pay attention to the following: the belt itself is thrown over parallel supports and the process of friction occurs only at the edge. Cold welding will help where you need to build up the components so that the belt lies flat.
We fix the belt with a long bolt so that it does not fidget. For fastening the bolt, fixing with glue is provided. Thus, it will not spin and the bolt will not go anywhere.
Padding
Let's move on to work on the material. The removed cover will need to be ripped open first. At the same time, you need to divide it into separate parts in order to use it later on new material.
Each of the pieces of leather or Alcantara is pressed against the new material with weights. Take a gel pen and draw around the edges of the material. To combine the flaps, mark them with short notches around the perimeter. It is worth knowing that alcantara, like leather, can be easily cut with scissors.
Alcantara - a material that looks more like suede than leather, has a short nap. Such a pile is directed in one direction. This is very important to take into account when cutting, since if the direction of the pile is not the same, flaws may form and it will look bad.
The next stage in the work involves strengthening the leather or Alcantara with foam rubber. This is a prerequisite for a competent constriction. Do-it-yourself car seat repair is not difficult, but there are many nuances in this work that you should know. And foam rubber is one of the important little things. It is imperative that the thickness of this material is 5 mm, and on the reverse side the material must be on a fabric basis.
The video describes how to repair the upholstery of car seats:
Glue the foam rubber only with spray glue! All pre-cut details of the covers are glued to the foam rubber, not from the side of the fabric, but from the side of the foam rubber.
It is important to know that in no case should you smear the foam rubber for the seat upholstery with a brush. In this way, you can easily. The thing is that the glue is able to penetrate deeply into the pores of the foam rubber and, if you squeeze it a little, glue the entire internal structure of the material. And the foam rubber will not return to the opposite position. Therefore, you need to glue the foam rubber correctly: using a spray can. For example, the German spray adhesive Mah.
When working with Alcantara, it is important when cutting to position the pieces of flaps with the pile in one direction.
Use a good sewing machine when sewing. This will do sewing machine that will be able to sew lockstitch with triple advancement. This sewing will allow the drive to slowly advance the material. about 10-30 thousand rubles.
After we have sewn all the parts, you need to glue the seam lapels spread out to the sides from the seamy side. First of all, we cut off the foam rubber strips remaining near the cuffs, and then we clean the leather or Alcantara cuffs for gluing. After that, we spread the cuffs to the side and press them against the foam rubber.
The video details the process of tightening the car seat:
It is important at this stage of the constriction to beat off the seams of the material on the foam rubber. This should be done with an ordinary hammer.
Now we sew the cuffs and for this we use a double finishing line. You should know that you do not need to cut off the free edges of the stitching behind the thread, since this will not be noticeable under the foam rubber.
We continue to repair leather car seats. We have got a new cover, which we turn out from the inside out and straighten it out. Now you need this very cover and. It seems that this is easy to do, but it is not.
For everything to work out, you need to start from the back. First, we thread the straps, and only then we pull the cover to the back of the chair.
At this stage of work, you can turn a regular driver's seat into a sports one. To do this, we build up the sides of the seat with the help of polyurethane and give them the desired shape. You can simply take pieces of foam rubber and glue it to the side of the seat. Next, you will need to cut out the fiberglass plates of the desired shape and install them on the sides of the seat. Then stick thin foam rubber on them. The whole structure must be strengthened and pulled together like a single chair.
After you put the cover on the back, you should go to the "seat" of the chair. Usually, this part of the chair will not be difficult. Everything should go smoothly. Unless, of course, the seat is not embossed. Then you have to use plastic clamps with which the cover is attracted to the frame. These same clamps will need to be threaded through the pillow. There are special holes, and then hook on the knitting needle. As for the edges of the cover, they need to be pulled over the frame of the chair along the contour.
Repair of the leather of the seats should always end with drying the overtightened parts and steaming them. Leather covers should be warmed up with a jet of hot air from a hair dryer. And it is important not to overdo it, so as not to burn the material. When treating leather cases with a jet of hot air - do not overdo it!
After the leather is dry, it will stretch over the chair structure like a drum. It will not hurt to iron the seats with steam, but always through a rag.
The banner is finished. It remains to clean the stains left by fingers and glue, as well as various abrasions.
They will last for a very long time, especially if you make timely repairs and take care of the chairs. During the hauling process, you can improve other elements of the interior of the cabin, that is, doors, ceiling, panel, etc.
