Cloth Repair

Car Seat Repair

A cloth car seat differs from a leather car seat in 3 main ways:

Cleanability - (I think I just made up a new word) refers to how easy and time efficient it is to remove stains from a car seat.

Durability - simply implies how well a car seat holds up to repeated wear and tear.

Repairability - means how well a seat repair can be hidden from sight.

First, due to the porous nature of cloth, liquid spills can more easily penetrate the fabric and spread out. This makes clean up a lot more challenging. Leather seats aren’t as permeable, making them easier to keep clean. Because this page is focused on car seat repair, I won’t cover the cleaning aspect here. For more on interior detailing, please check out my detailing page.

The second point of difference may be easily illustrated by describing the general material make up of a leather car seat and a cloth car seat. With leather, there are several layers to penetrate before total deterioration is reached. Layer one is the clear coat, which protects the finish. Layer two is the added pigment (color). Layer three, the substrate, is the actual leather surface. Finally, below everything is the skin of the animal, known as the buckskin.  With a cloth seat you essentially have the woven cloth fabric and a thin backing. This is why I find more cigarette burns in cloth seats than in leather. Now you can see why a cloth car seat isn’t as durable as leather.

The last difference I’ll mention, repairability, comes down to being able to make a strong repair that blends well. That’s why generally speaking, a leather car seat repair will be much easier to conceal. However, a skillful technician has the ability to disguise a well-executed cloth seat repair.

Types of Cloth Repairs

Typical cloth car seat repairs are repairs of cigarette burns, tears, and thread snags.
I’ve used a lot of page space to talk about car seat repair, but there are other areas in a vehicle that fit under cloth repair. Similar techniques utilized in repairing a seat also can be used to repair car carpet, repairing car visors, and repairing car headliners.

Car Seat Repair Kits

As I’ve mentioned before in my Leather/Vinyl Repair page, car seat repair kits are only as good as the skilled hands that apply it. I have 21 years of experience in repairing automobile interiors. I’m fully insured and will be happy to give you a free quote.

Cloth Repair Prices

Cloth repairs start at $45.  I invite you to submit photos via email or text message for a more specific quote. If you prefer, pick up the phone and give me a call at 708 372-3680. Please refer to the contact page for details.