It’s frustrating when your ride’s gorgeous leather seats crack, rip, and tear. Fortunately, it’s not the end of the world. Depending on the damage, they might be repairable.
While it’s easier to hire a professional for the repairs, you can deal with the damage yourself. You’ll need to get your hands on some tools and leather repair products, but you can save a lot of money in the long run by cutting labor costs out of expenses entirely.
If you’re keen on learning how to repair tears in leather car seats, read on.
There are three ways to repair leather car seats: use a leather repair kit, install leather patches to hide the damage, or apply fluid leather and conditioner.
There’s no best method when it comes to patching up leather, so choose what’s most accessible to you.
Leather repair kits include tools and solutions that can patch up holes, cracks, and scratches in anything made of leather. Find one that matches your seat’s leather.
Before starting, make sure the seat is clean by scrubbing off dirt, residue, and other debris with soap and a rag. Using a leather repair kit usually involves the following steps.
Another way to patch up tears and holes in leather car seats is to use patches. These patches add another layer to the car seat, hiding the hole and reinforcing it with wax paper.
Some drivers use patches large enough to cover the hole, but this leaves a clear indicator of where there used to be a tear. If you’d prefer your leather seats to look more seamless, you can apply leather patches over a much larger area.
Once you’ve found a leather patch that matches your car seat’s leather, follow these steps:
Last but not least, you can use fluid leather to refinish tears, cracks, and scratches without needing to apply patches or backed cloth of any kind.
Simply find fluid leather that matches your leather seat’s color and some leather conditioner to prevent the fluid from drying itself out. Make sure the leather is clean before following these steps:
While it pays to know how to repair tears in leather seats, it’s definitely better to take measures to protect them from damage in the first place. Here are some tips to help you keep your seats in great condition.
Keys, knives, and other sharp items can dig into your leather upholstery even when they’re in your pockets. So don’t keep such objects in your back pockets when you drive. Place them in your front pockets or your glove compartment instead.
If a sharp object is pushed into a leather set with enough force or weight, it can puncture the leather. Scrapes and scratches are difficult enough to deal with as is, but a hole in leather will require patchwork to fix – and even then, it’ll never look the same.
Sunlight dries leather, causing it to break apart and crack, so park in shaded areas as much as possible. Find ways to limit sunlight exposure to your leather seats.
You can also cover your vehicle with a tarp when it’s not in use or drive with a sunshade on your windshield.
Regulating your vehicle’s temperature is just as important because extreme heat can damage leather seats. If your A/C is off, drive with the windows open to prevent or minimize heat buildup in your ride.
Food and drinks can ruin leather seats, leaving sticky residue and stubborn stains. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t bring any food or drinks with you inside the car.
It just means you should make it a habit to avoid drinking and eating when driving. Urge your passengers to do the same. Cover drinks with lids and keep food in sealed containers.
If anything spills on your leather seat, make sure to wipe it clean immediately to prevent stains. Besides leaving unsightly marks, stains on leather can wear away the material.
It’s a good practice to vacuum your leather seats to suck up dirt, crumbs, and other debris that might be too hard to clean by hand.
Dirt and loose bits of food tend to harden over time, and if they aren’t removed immediately, they could scrape against the leather. The longer dirt is left uncleaned, the more likely it can damage your leather seats.
In some cases, the dirt could become impossible to remove after sinking in too deep.
Don’t forget to wipe the leather down with cleaning solutions after vacuuming it to get rid of all the stains and dirt.
Use a leather cleaner and a soft towel. Generally, you should avoid using rough towels when working with leather because you might accidentally scratch it.
Bear in mind that you should only use cleaning solutions designed for leather. Some chemicals found in general cleaning solutions could damage leather.
Once you’ve finished cleaning your leather seats with a leather cleaner or a vacuum cleaner, your next step should always be to apply some leather conditioner. The conditioner stops leather from losing moisture, preventing it from cracking and drying itself out.
Dry leather scratches and breaks apart easily, so the conditioner makes it last a lot longer. Condition leather once every two to three months to keep it in great shape.
Any information provided on this Website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace consultation with a professional mechanic. The accuracy and timeliness of the information may change from the time of publication.