In the new car, at first everything is like that, however, during use, the colors of the upholstery material begin to lose their brightness, they are wiped and covered with stains that can no longer be cleaned. This problem is especially acute in light-colored interiors, when, after several years of operation, do-it-yourself car interior hauling is simply necessary.
The issue, of course, can be resolved by contacting a service where professionals will completely change the upholstery of the seats and the interior, but many can do the upholstery of the car interior with their own hands, so you will save a significant amount of money and be able to give the car a touch of elegance according to your personal taste.
Step 1: choose the material
Everyone will agree that leather upholstery is an ideal solution for any vehicle, but not everyone can afford it, since it is not cheap.
However, today there are other upholstery materials that have earned popularity among car owners for their qualities:
- Carpet is the cheapest and most readily available material; a decorative pile coating is usually applied on top of its non-woven base. Its main advantage is a completely uncomplicated installation process and a huge selection of colors.
- Alcantara - has a base of fine-fiber threads, the material is made using technologies of the chemical and textile industries. Alcantara is a material with good strength and durability characteristics, it is distinguished by its softness, silky surface and stain-resistant coating.
- Leatherette is a cheap and attractive material that, unfortunately, has an impressive list of drawbacks. Its main disadvantages include an unpleasant odor that lasts in the cabin for a long time, increased elasticity characteristics, low resistance to mechanical influences, as well as the ability to absorb odors, sometimes quite unpleasant.
When purchasing material for the future constriction of the car interior with your own hands, be sure to look at what quality goods they want to sell to you, you should check the homogeneity of the structures of any material. If you decide to stay with Alcantara, remember that the direction of the villi can be decisive when cutting, otherwise it will turn out that on one seat all the details will differ in shades.
Step 2: preparing the tools
Since the process of upholstering the car interior with any material, be it leatherette, carpet, velor or leather, is performed according to a certain algorithm, it requires tools, sometimes they even need to be bought specially. So, you will need: a sewing machine (you need it if you plan to replace the seat upholstery), soundproofing materials (if you wish), a set of keys. And also a couple of tubes of glue, a hair dryer, a set of screwdrivers, scissors for working with linoleum.
Step 3: getting started
It should be remembered that depending on the car model, the sequence for replacing the interior upholstery may differ slightly. However, in general terms, it is the same for everyone:
- First, all fastener parts and all accessories are removed, such as visors, handles and decorative elements
- In the car, the electrical wiring is turned off, the connectors are removed, the decorating elements are unfastened and the old upholstery is removed
- When dismantling is finished, the surfaces are cleaned of all contamination.
- All parts made of metal and plastic are degreased
- Cutting of the future upholstery is performed, for which the old parts are applied to a sheet of cardboard, then it should be cut. It is advisable to transfer the finished cardboard patterns to the prepared material only when you check if you did everything correctly.
- When the details of the new upholstery are ready, they should begin to be installed on the surface, after having thoroughly coated them with a layer of glue
- If necessary, you can use a hair dryer to smooth out the formed folds. In addition to steaming, you can beat off the upholstery seams with low force, then everything will look even more neat and beautiful.
- And in conclusion, all fastening elements removed at the beginning of work should be installed in their places.
Do-it-yourself car trim: some useful tips for each part of the car
First, let's watch the video:
Seating
If you are thinking of completely replacing the upholstery on the seats, and not buying new covers, then first you need to cut the old upholstery at the seams, you will make a pattern along it. After the individual elements are ready, use a sewing machine to assemble them into a single product. Nowadays, it is much easier to go and buy new covers; car dealerships have a huge selection of various options for this product.
Doors
Removing dirt is especially important when changing upholstery with your own hands on car doors. When you start the pattern, remember to leave about a centimeter in allowance on all sides of the part. Carefully punch the holes for the door handle and power window handle. Be sure to apply a layer of glue where the upholstery is close to the door.
Do-it-yourself car upholstery: ceiling
To replace the ceiling banner, an important fact is the complete dismantling of all backlight lamps, plugs, handles and decorative parts of the racks. Only the fulfillment of this condition will allow you to change the ceiling sheathing as carefully as possible. By the way, if you have chosen leatherette for the ceiling, it is recommended to warm it up a little before starting installation, then it will be elastic, which means that it will be easy and simple to fix it.
Armrests
To drag the armrests, you first need to remove them, then make patterns using the same details, be sure to leave a small amount of material around the edges. After that, the product is glued over the entire area, the edges are carefully fixed, and processed with a hair dryer.
And finally
In cases where there is a need or just a desire, before the final installation of the new upholstery, foam rubber or special insulating material is placed under the parts.
As it becomes clear from all of the above, do-it-yourself car upholstering is a very real task. Of course, it requires an investment of a certain amount of money and several hours of time, but the result is worth it, because then you will be proud that with your own hands, without resorting to the help of professionals, you have changed all the upholstery in the car.
