Every car owner wants the interior to be cozy and beautiful. Naturally, you will be unhappy if your chairs look 100 years old, and pieces of upholstery material are hanging from the ceiling. This article will help you understand how to reupholster a car interior with your own hands, and what materials and tools will be required for this.
What are the benefits of the procedure?
So, the presented process has the following advantages:
1. You have the opportunity to choose the material you like.
2. Do-it-yourself work will cost much less than in a service station.
3. Thanks to your imagination, you can create a very original interior that no one else has.
Naturally, in order to do this enormous work, skill and some experience are needed. However, if you follow the technology for performing all the actions, you will be able to cope with this, even if you have never worked on car upholstery.
What tools will you need?
Reupholstering the interior of a VAZ or other car brands should be done only after all the technical base and materials have been collected. You will need the following tools:
Spray gun. With this tool you can apply glue or paint during finishing.
Knife and scissors for cutting material.
Sewing machine for joining fabric parts.
Screwdriver and wrenches.
A regular hair dryer is quite powerful.
A pneumatic gun or stapler for securing material to a surface.
Roulette.
Wooden rulers.
Sewing pins and needles.
Patterns with which you can cut out a blank for the interior.
Reupholstering the interior with leather or other material should be done carefully and carefully.
Features of material selection
Naturally, you will need certain fabrics or their substitutes with which you can update your interior. In order to properly reupholster the car interior with your own hands, you will definitely need special glue and sound insulation (not always required). Now you need to figure out what material you will need. You have quite a large selection. You are offered:
Alcantara. This material is made on a thin fiber thread base. It has good strength, softness, and a silky surface. In addition, it is resistant to stains and can last for a very long time. That is why the presented product is now the most popular among motorists.
Leather. She's very expensive. However, your salon will look very beautiful and prestigious. In addition, the presented material is very durable, resistant to stretching and mechanical damage, and environmentally friendly (natural). Working with it is not easy, because leather costs a lot of money and requires very careful and thoughtful processing.
Carpet. Also quite popular soundproofing material on an artificial basis with a pile coating. It is cheap, available at any car store, and has a large selection of colors.
Velours. A very beautiful material that allows you to provide a rich appearance to the interior. However, now you can often buy a fake, so try to be careful when choosing and give preference to special car velor. Please note that this material is very susceptible to mechanical damage.
Leatherette. It is very cheap, easy to process and has a natural appearance. However, it is less durable than leather, stretches quickly and has an unpleasant odor that does not disappear for a long time.
Vinyl. For the most advanced car enthusiasts, this material will be ideal. However, most often it is used to decorate hard interior elements. It is very easy to cut and glue. In addition, a huge variety of textures and colors will help you decorate your car in an original and tasteful way.
Now you can independently choose which material to use for upholstery of the interior.
Preparing for work
Now you can get to work. Naturally, first you need to assemble the entire tool. But reupholstering the interior with eco-leather or other material does not start right away. First, all surfaces must be prepared. For example, you need to remove all the devices from the front panel and the handles from the doors.
Next, you need to remove the seats and thoroughly clean the interior. Naturally, this involves removing all the old upholstery from the ceiling, doors, seats and other parts of the car. This is done carefully. During preparation you will have to use a knife and screwdrivers. Perform all actions carefully so as not to damage the base.
Since the work will be quite dusty, try to vacuum the interior before starting upholstery with new material. Naturally, wear work clothes. Upholstery of the interior with leather, vinyl, Alcantara or other material can be done in the garage or on the street.
Front panel reupholstery
Now let's figure out how to update the torpedo. This part is the most difficult to process, since there are many bends and holes for devices on it, and electrical wires are connected to it. That is, reupholstering this part of the interior must be done very carefully. So, you will have to follow these steps:
1. First, you should degrease with purified gasoline the places where the casing will be replaced, and also sand them using coarse sandpaper.
2. You should also note future seams on the panel itself.
3. Now you need to glue the interlining onto the dashboard. Using the measured pattern, you should cut out the covering elements from the new fabric, taking into account seam allowances (1 cm).
4. After trying on the flaps, they need to be sewn together. Excess parts on the wrong side are cut off.
Door trim
In this case, the fabric for upholstering the interior can be replaced with vinyl, which is easier to process. Naturally, to glue the material you must first remove all the handles from the doors. First you need to measure the part that will be processed and make an appropriate pattern. Please note that the hole for the door handle should be marked on it.
The fabric is cut so that there are allowances on it. Next, apply a small layer of glue to the door near the edge of the trim. Next, slowly and carefully tuck the fabric inside using a flat-head screwdriver. In order for the skin to be even and smooth, it should be straightened and stretched while working.
Seat trim
The interior reupholstery technology involves changing the upholstery of car seats. It's not that difficult to do. Naturally, you should first draw a pattern that will match the seat and transfer it to the fabric, taking into account the seam allowances. In principle, you can remove the old upholstery, tear it into pieces, and then make a drawing from it. It will be easier and faster this way.
Next you need to cut the material along the drawn lines. After that, foam rubber of small thickness (5 mm) is fixed to the finished flaps using glue. Now, using a sewing machine, the cover can be sewn together. Next, you need to turn it right side out and put it on. Please note that you will need two identical covers for the front seats.
Do-it-yourself car upholstery has a number of features. However, experienced professionals can give some advice that will help you perform the procedure efficiently, even if you have never performed it:
1. If you have not done this kind of work before, it is better to start with a flat and straight surface.
2. On those parts where there are bends, you will have to sew several flaps. At the same time, try to hide the seams so that they are not noticeable.
3. If the material lays flat and beautiful, try not to touch it for 24 hours, even if the instructions say that the glue hardens after a few hours.
In principle, this information is enough to make reupholstering the car interior with your own hands quick and successful.
