How to change car seats yourself. Self-upholstery of car seats

Car seat upholstery- a great way to restore the aesthetic appearance of the cabin, because old, worn covers in the car can ruin the whole design. This is especially needed in the interior of light shades, the upholstery of which has lost its brightness, has become stained and cannot be cleaned. Fortunately, now there are many materials and tools that allow you to perform hauling yourself. This is not such a complicated procedure as it might seem at first glance, you just need to have basic technical skills and the necessary tools.

Self-upholstery of car seats

Do-it-yourself car seat upholstery: where to start?

Every avid motorist will agree that interior upholstery is an important element, without which tuning of any car cannot do. But, alas, this pleasure is not affordable for everyone. In order to significantly save on the services of car dealerships, this guide was written. So, before starting work, you need to decide on the material that is used most often:

1. Carpet. The most affordable and inexpensive option for the chair upholstery. Usually its base is covered with a decorative pile. The main advantage of this material is a wide range of colors and a simple process of car seat upholstery.
2. Velours. It began to lose its relevance, since now it is not easy to acquire high quality fabric. Many manufacturers make velor, covers from which wear out quickly. Need carefully.
3. Alcantara. Differs in a thin-fiber basis. Motorists often choose it, since Alcantara is high-quality and durable, pleasant to the touch. In addition, it has a special coating that protects the covers from dirt.
4. Leather or leatherette for sheathing. Seat upholstery in leather, despite its effectiveness and durability, it has some drawbacks, including low elasticity of the seat and the ability of the material to absorb odors.

When buying material for interior upholstery, first of all, pay attention to the quality of the goods. Often the uniformity of its structure is of great importance when cutting. For example, when buying non-uniform Alcantara, the details of the seats and armchairs may have different shades.

Instrument preparation

The procedure for reupholstery of seats 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-upholstery of the seat and chairs always begins with the removal of the old car seats. Dismantling makes it much more convenient to plan the dimensions of Alcantara or leatherette and their location on the waist covers. After that, you can sign each fragment on a standard case with a marker.

2. Using the clamps on the back of the chair, remove the cover.

3. We unpack it into separate elements. So it will be easier to transfer their image to the prepared material.

We make tailoring of new car covers for the car interior

4. First, press each element tightly and fix it with weights. After that, we outline the outline itself. To do-it-yourself car seat upholstery was more successful and the flaps were well combined, we make small notches along the edges. The structure of each upholstery material is easily cut with tailor's scissors.

Important! If you are using fleecy Alcantara, make sure that the pile is directed in one direction on all parts. If you miss this moment, all the details will be striking in their differences.

Correct car seat upholstery is carried out using glue in the form of a spray, for example a can of glue Mah. This is a good option, made in Germany and better suited for use in construction and auto repair. It is unacceptable to use the glue itself with a brush, because such a tool quickly penetrates into the pores, deforming the structure of the entire part. After that, it will be impossible to return it to its previous state.

6. We sew the fragments of the cover glued to the foam rubber together, carefully aligning the marks on the edges.

8. We cut off the extra pieces of foam rubber, so you can get more access to the upholstery material directly.

9. After that, we bend the lapels to the sides, press them to 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. We sew the lapels with a double finishing seam. In this case, it is not necessary to cut off the edges that are behind the line - they will not be noticeable on the front side under the foam rubber.

Do-it-yourself leather upholstery: how to install

11. We turn out the made cover, straighten it. 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 turn of the seat. Everything is quite simple here, only sometimes there are difficulties with 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 knitting needle. In this way, it will be easier to pull the cover along the contour.

Final stage

13. Do-it-yourself seat upholstery at the end, it necessarily involves drying and steaming the manufactured parts. New seat covers must be heated with a hair dryer, the main thing is not to go too far and not to melt them. After that, the surface dries and stretches. Each seat needs to be ironed through gauze - this allows our cover to become smooth and “adjust” to their shape.

On this car seat upholstery coming to an end: to complete the interior, it remains only to clean them, remove fingerprints, glue residue, etc. In order to visually assess the time it will take, as well as the degree of complexity of the armrest, seats and car doors with your own hands, you can watch videos and photos on the Internet.

Sooner or later, the car owner begins to think: why not wrap the interior of his “iron horse” with leather? The reason for these thoughts can be anything. For example, the car is already old and the regular interior coating has become unusable. Or the car got into an accident and airbags deployed in it, turning half of the dashboard. The reason is not so important, the answer to the question is important: is it possible to pull the interior on your own? Can! Let's try to figure out how to make a close-fitting correctly.

The choice of material for sheathing

When choosing genuine leather for interior trim, you should remember a few important nuances. First of all, this material is different not only in quality, but also in physical properties.

Genuine leather: characteristic

On the surface of real, untreated genuine leather, there are a lot of various defects: cuts, scratches, pockmarks. Such skin is only lightly sanded and impregnated with acrylic emulsion. Due to impregnation, the material becomes more durable, but practically stops breathing.

There is a second option: leather without impregnation, with a completely preserved "natural pattern" (which is called mereya). Such material is not very durable. But it is very convenient and fabulously expensive. The explanation for the high price is simple: only the highest quality skins that have passed the strictest selection are used to produce such leather. The material is not embossed and impregnated. And the resulting skin is only slightly stained with aniline dye.

The relationship between leather durability and the degree of processing can be seen in the graph.

The graph shows how soil resistance varies with the type of leather treatment.

On the top line - leather without aniline impregnation (aniline unprotected). And at the very bottom is the so-called split (aka split), which can hardly be called leather. However, it is very durable. To date, the above options are used for interior decoration less and less.

Aniline and acrylic have been replaced by polyurethane impregnation, which makes automotive leather durable, resistant to temperature extremes and mechanical damage.

Eco-leather: reviews

Eco-leather is an artificial material created specifically for car interiors. It appeared recently, but has already gained popularity among motorists. The reason is simple: in all respects, eco-leather is comparable to natural leather. And some characteristics of this material are even better than those of traditional leather (in particular, resistance to mechanical damage and temperature changes). It is for this reason that high-quality eco-leather, as a rule, is more expensive than natural.

The conclusion from all of the above is simple: the choice of material for the upholstery of the interior depends primarily on the financial capabilities of the motorist. If he needs an excellent result, it makes sense to spend money on eco-leather once and forget about problems with the interior for many years. In cases where it is not planned to invest a lot of money in tuning the car, it is reasonable to upholster the interior with leatherette. Well, if a person is an adherent of everything natural, then you can “tighten” with ordinary skin.

Car upholstery process

Before proceeding to the actual replacement of the existing coating, you should select everything you need for the job. It should also be said here that the amount of leather for fitting the interior can vary from 8 to 15 square meters. How much material is needed depends on the specific car model. The same rule applies to the materials used for soundproofing (in our example, it will be foam rubber).

Tools and Consumables

To carry out the work you will need:

• leather;
• foam rubber;
• stapler;
• hacksaw;
• drill with a set of drills;
• threads;
• glue universal;
• sewing machine;
• Phillips screwdriver;
• screwdriver with a flat sting;
• marker;
• pattern paper;
• sandpaper;
• plywood;
• building hair dryer;
• masking tape.

The sequence of actions when hauling the cabin with your own hands

Before proceeding to work, it should be noted that the process under consideration consists of three stages. This is pulling the doors, seats and ceiling of a car.

Door covering: instruction and photo

Do the work in this order:

1. Using a damp cloth, the door trim is cleaned of dust and dirt. Then it is removed with a Phillips screwdriver.
2. The removed casing is pasted over with masking tape, all protruding parts (except for the handle) are outlined with a black marker.
3. Next, the tape is carefully peeled off. Holes are cut in it in accordance with the previously drawn lines. It turns out a kind of stencil or pattern.
4. This stencil is superimposed on a sheet of plywood and outlined with the same black marker.
5. The resulting shape is cut with an ordinary hacksaw, the edges of the plywood are carefully aligned and polished with coarse sandpaper.
6. Using a drill in a plywood form, holes are made for the window lifter handles.
7. Now a layer of foam rubber is superimposed on the plywood sheet, followed by leather (moreover, the skin must be cut so that there is at least 2 centimeters of margin along the edge).
8. The above supply of skin is wrapped and stapled on the back of the plywood mold.
9. Then holes for the door handle and for the power window handle are carefully cut in the skin with a knife.
10. The resulting leather case is carefully removed from the plywood blank.
11. The cover is stretched over the previously removed door trim, the edges of the cover are stitched by hand from the reverse side.
12. Similar actions are performed with other car door panels.

How to fit the ceiling panel of the cabin

Sheathing the ceiling of a car is a little more difficult. However, if everything is done carefully, the result will please you. To do this, simply follow the algorithm below:

1. The ceiling panel is unscrewed with a Phillips screwdriver and removed. With a knife, the standard coating is cut off from it, then the panel is cleaned of dirt and glue residue.
2. After initial cleaning, the ceiling panel is sanded with fine sandpaper.
3. The panel is superimposed on the skin, outlined with a marker. A piece of the desired size is cut out of the leather (when cutting a piece, it is necessary to leave a supply of material of at least 2 centimeters on each side).
4. Universal adhesive is applied to the middle of the sanded panel. Then the skin is superimposed on it and fixed.
5. Now a strip of universal adhesive is applied to the edges of the ceiling panel (around the entire perimeter).
6. The skin is gently straightened from the center to the edges and glued to them (for this it is enough just to press it down hard).
7. The remaining supply of leather is folded over the edge of the panel and glued on the reverse side. With a knife, holes are cut in the skin for mounting bolts.
8. The panel glued with leather is mounted on a regular place.

Car seat upholstery technology

Alter seat covers will be within the power of more experienced craftsmen. If this is your first time starting such work, carefully follow the sequence of actions below:

1. The seat is unscrewed and removed from the car.
2. The old cover is carefully cut off from it. Moreover, it is necessary to cut the cover strictly at the seams (it is best to do this with a thin clerical knife).
3. The resulting fragments of the old cover will serve as a pattern. They are superimposed on the skin and circled with a marker. Then fragments of a new cover are cut out of the skin (moreover, each fragment is cut with a mandatory margin of 2 centimeters around the entire perimeter - this is necessary for stitching the sections).
4. The resulting pieces of leather are glued to the foam rubber. After the glue dries, the foam rubber is cut off along the edges of the skin. Now the elements of the leather case have a foam lining.
5. Pieces of leather with lining are sewn together with a sewing machine.
6. The resulting cover is put on the seat, the skin folds that have arisen are slightly warmed up with a building hair dryer and smoothed out manually.
7. The tightened seat is installed back into the cabin.

Video: we drag the seat with leather

The cost of reupholstering the interior in a tuning studio

It is very difficult to say how much the interior upholstery will cost, since several factors affect the cost at once.

• car category;
• material price;
• the number of draggable elements.

The last point affects the cost of work especially strongly, since not all car owners are trying to completely update the interior. Some are limited to seats. Others - pull the seats and the ceiling, etc. The estimated cost of hauling individual elements is given below.

Table: how much does it cost to drag interior elements with leather

From this table it becomes clear that the price of a leather interior of an ordinary passenger car can vary from 60 thousand rubles and more. Upholstery with high-quality eco-leather costs about the same.

Even a novice motorist can pull the interior of his car with leather. All that is needed for this is patience and the ability to use a sewing machine. If the car owner does not have such a skill, you should not be upset. Just before sewing leather, you should practice a little on ordinary fabric.

During operation, not only technical parts wear out, but also the interior of the car itself. Most often, car owners have to deal with the repair of seat upholstery or the replacement of covers. Let's figure out how to rehabilitate the seats with your own hands and save not only money, but also time.

If your seats are leather, look at our professional material, in our other material.

When do you need a car seat repair?

Situations and reasons for which it is necessary to restore the seats in the car can be very different - from the physical wear of the device to serious damage to the structure due to accidents (accidents). It should be remembered that the use of a vehicle, even with damaged seats, is fraught with dangerous consequences. Aged upholstery or sagging seats are capable of delivering maximum inconvenience and discomfort to both passengers and the driver himself.

In addition, the dilapidated upholstery of car seats does not look very aesthetically pleasing. With the help of modern finishing materials, it is quite easy to reconstruct the coating and return it to its previous appearance.

Types of car seat defects

The most common car seat problems are:

• erasing armrests, upholstery and pillows;
• breakage of gaskets and the base of the car seat structure;
• damage to special springs;
• discoloration of the skin and its cracking due to temperature changes or ultraviolet radiation;
• mechanical flaws not related to the operation of the device - burns, rupture, breakage of the bases or cuts due to careless handling or external factors.
• deformation of the seat structure due to the operation of the automotive security system as a result of an accident.

The choice of a method for solving the problems of car seats is made taking into account the type and nature of damage. Tools and materials are also determined according to the situation.

Vehicle seat upholstery

When changing the upholstery of the car interior, it is important to consider the type of coating used and the working tools. The complexity of the process itself and the quality of the final result depend on this. In order for the interior of the car to look harmonious after the upholstery of the seats, the color scheme of the upholstery must be exactly matched to its main shade and not stand out from the overall picture.

Secrets! Most of the materials for the waist, you can buy in China at the Aliexpress site! For example, artificial horse leather http://ali.pub/2jm5ix or alligator leather http://ali.pub/2jm6ii

Material and tools for changing the seat upholstery with your own hands

Upholstery for car seats can be made of leather, fabric, leatherette or alcantara. The latter is a material with a short pile, somewhat reminiscent of natural suede. It is necessary to work with Alcantara very carefully, taking into account the direction of the fabric hairs when cutting.

To replace leather coverings, artificial or synthetic leather can be a good alternative to a natural surface. It is more convenient to eliminate defects in velor upholstery or leatherette with the help of special compounds that are available at any automotive equipment store.

In addition to the coating material, the following tools must be available:

• a set of hand needles;
• awl;
• chalk or a piece of dry white soap;
• dense silk threads;
• glue;
• hammers;
• wrenches and nuts with washers;
• cold welding;
• towing strap;
• pliers;
• hacksaw;
• screwdrivers;
• machine vacuum cleaner.

Also, do not forget about the foam for lining car seats. All this can be found on the Internet, including on your favorite Ali.

Step-by-step instructions for self-repair of car seats

1. Dismantling and disassembling the seats into parts. It is desirable to do this on the table, signing each removed element and fragment of the structure. Covers and pillow should also be separated and marked for convenience in further upholstery sewing. The case is removed by unclenching the metal clips on the back of the chair in an upward direction.
2. Seam ripping of seat upholstery. For quick and convenient cutting of threads, the working area should be pulled slightly, and an incision should be made along the line and stitch. If there are problem areas, you can use gasoline to soften the surface a little.
3. Complete disassembly of the seat frame, upholstery, backrest and cushion designs.
4. Preparing to install new chair elements. According to the patterns of old covers, fresh patterns and sketches are created, which are carefully transferred to the work surface.
5. Assembly of prepared seat components. You can fasten parts with a sewing needle, glue or welding. At this stage, maximum attention is required to correctly and accurately glue the seams of the case and respect the drawn contours.
6. Back repair. To fix the structure, a special stand is used on which all restoration work is carried out.

Do-it-yourself car seat repair is completed by connecting the pillow to the back of the chair and attaching the hinges with screws.

Car seat upholstery secrets

• Any hauling of car seats should be accompanied by reinforcement of the upholstery with foam rubber. This is an important nuance without which a high-quality repair of the car seat upholstery is impossible. A prerequisite for a pillow is the fabric base of the synthetic substrate and its thickness equal to 5 mm.
• Small scuffs, scratches or cuts are best repaired with small pieces of upholstery. The main thing is that the quality and color are in complete harmony with the main surface.
• The material is sewn along the edge of the parts, strictly following the marked marks. Deviation or violation of the contours of the sketch will spoil not only the material, but the whole result of the work done.
• Glue foam rubber to upholstery fabric spray glue is better and before connecting the elements of the case. At the same time, it is important to glue the foam rubber with the side opposite to its base, and in the case of Alcantara, place the pieces of material with a pile in one direction.
• The lapels of the wrong seam must be processed and smoothed. For this, a hammer is used, with which it is easy to beat off the scars, and sewing needles with threads to secure the lapels.
• It is always necessary to finish the restoration of car seats by steaming the overtightened parts and drying them with a technical hair dryer and a hot air stream. This procedure should be done carefully so as not to burn the surface.

Repair of the inclined mechanism of the car seat

The tilt mechanism is a complex technical device responsible for changing the position of the backrest of car seats. Troubleshooting the design is a rather laborious process and is carried out in the following sequence:

• removing the lining at the base of the pillow and fixing bolts;
• dismantling the back of the car seat;
• cutting off the upper link of the hinges;
• fixing the new mechanism with bolts;
• connecting the back of the chair with the pillow through the axis;
• fastening hinges and back by welding.

In case of minor damage to the inclined mechanism or its jamming, it is sufficient to dispense with lubricating the device.

Car seat heating repair

This type of design involves the presence of a security system (airbag) and connection to the on-board computer. As a result, it is more reliable to carry out repairs, check the electronics of the machine or set up a computer in a service, service station. Self-adjustment of the operation of the device without the necessary qualifications is fraught with errors in the electronic support system of the car and a functional failure of the machine.

Seat padding repair

Main lining material for car seats It's a fabric-based foam. In rare cases, it can be replaced with dense cotton wool. The upholstery is attached to the base or frame of the seat structure and upholstered in leather, suede or some other type of upholstery. An independent repair of the lining is carried out according to the same principle as the restoration of the front case.

Note! Before using a finishing agent, it is necessary to first test it on an internal or inconspicuous area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe sheathing in order to see the possible reaction of materials to the substance. This is especially true if the repair uses polish with fillers or spray paints.

In order to achieve a stronger adhesion of the upholstery to the lining and a better fit of the cover on the frame, all elements of the seat structure should be thoroughly cleaned of old materials and their residues, degreased and dried on the treated surfaces.

Seat chair repair. Video:

Car seat lumbar support

The lumbar support allows the driver or passenger to maintain correct posture, evenly distributing body weight and providing a comfortable feeling in a sitting position. In the absence of a special mesh device, a self-made plate made of flexible material can be used as a support. Fastening is carried out using cold welding, a long bolt and glue.

Features of repairing a leather car seat

To restore the leather covering, the use of leatherette or special mixtures, for example, liquid leather, is allowed. Self-repair of leather chairs begins with degreasing and polishing surface irregularities with sandpaper. After that, a plastic mesh is applied to the damaged area and the product itself, which, after drying, perfectly emits a leather texture.

Author

A professional auto mechanic with more than 7 years of experience at one of the largest stations in Moscow. I am well versed in such cars as VAZ, Kia, Peugeot, Bmw, Audi, Mercedes and many others. If you want to get a professional answer, leave your feedback in the comments to this material.

A car can have an ideal body, wheelbase, have a powerful and not worn out engine, but if its interior looks “worn”, then the whole impression of the car will be spoiled, and it will be perceived as second-rate. In this case, one of the best solutions would be to reupholster the car seats, which you can easily do yourself.

Let's not dissemble, self-upholstery of the car seats, although it can be done without any problems, it will require maximum concentration from you and take a lot of time. If funds allow you, then it is better to give this work to professionals. If you are determined to update your car seat covers yourself, then in this article you will find all the necessary information.

What material to take for the upholstery of car seats?

There are five most common materials for upholstery of seats in a vehicle: flock, vulure, alcantara, suede and genuine leather. Usually, the color of the material is chosen based on the color of the upholstery of the car, but if you want something special, then no one forbids you to choose a different color. Also, it is worth noting that you can completely cover the seat not with the same color material, but make inserts that will improve the appearance of the car interior, although, of course, it is much easier to make one-color seat covers.