Minor damage on genuine leather (not synthetics) can be easily repaired with sandpaper and super glue! This leather furniture repair method is exceptional for cat scratch damage! The results are better than those of many retail repair kits and are also less expensive. We developed this method over 30 years ago as Vinyl Ladies (professional leather and vinyl repair artisans) in the auto, RV, and aviation industries of Southern California. Larger holes and tears should be repaired using a flexible repair compound similar to that used for vinyl repair. Click here to learn more. Be sure to check out our Get Started page to determine what method is best for your project! Print/Download FREE Leather Repair Instructions FLEXIBLE FILLER METHOD FOR LEATHER & VINYL Damage on any synthetic or holes and larger areas of damage on genuine leather should be repaired with a flexible heat-curing compound. Be sure to check out our Get Started page to determine what method is best for your project!
We recommend FC-1 Soft Filler, which is water-based, non-toxic, easy to apply, cures with low heat (incandescent bulb or sunshine), and is also sandable. Rub 'n Restore™ products adhere well to this compound. Zoom ahead to minute 3:50 to see the FC1 Soft Filler demonstration and skip the subpatch process which is only required for holes and tears. Minute 7:40 shows the texturizing process. Print/Download FREE Leather/Vinyl Repair Instructions PEELING OR FLAKING LEATHER? If your surface is peeling or flaking, it could be caused by one of two things: 1) Your leather is a composite (also called bonded leather or renewed leather) made from scrap leather and mixed with man-made materials. Composites have a faux leather coating that is notorious for peeling or flaking, exposing a fabric substrate. Repairing and dyeing an unstable surface is likely to suffer the same fate and is often not worth the labor and money. Reupholstery or replacement is recommended.
Real leather or heavy-duty vinyls will never behave in this way, so try to find structurally-sound pieces on Craiglist and then use Rub 'n Restore™ products to dye them the color you want. More info in our "Bonded Leather Blues" blog post. 2) Your surface was previously painted. You will notice that the original grain of the leather or vinyl remains, and it won't absorb water like a woven fabric. Before dyeing, you need to remove as much of the unstable coating as possible. Solvent-based coatings often flake away over time. Elastomeric coatings will tend to crack and then peel. Gently sand with 220 or 320 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper until the surface feels smooth. You can also work with an old Scotch Brite pad and a multipurpose cleaner. Solvents like denatured alcohol or paint thinner can also be used, but beware! Solvents may etch the paint, turning it into a gooey mess without completely removing it, so test the solvent first in an inconspicuous area and see how well it works.
Once you can no longer feel the difference between the original surface and the painted areas, Rub 'n Restore™ products can be used. If the piece is thoroughly prepped, our dye will properly penetrate and bond. Color changes will require some touch-up on high-wear areas, but Rub 'n Restore™ will never peel or flake. The base of the swivel dining and lounge chair can break during normal use, posing a fall hazard. can click on "Customer Care" and then "Recall Information" for more information. The firm has received 410 reports of the swivel chairs breaking, including 16 reports of injuries, primarily bruises and abrasions resulting from falls. Consumers should immediately stop using the chairs and contact Brown Jordan Services for a free repair kit. from October 2012 through January 2015 for about $200 for a set of two chairs to $550 for a 7-piece patio set. "JiangSu Sunnyland Furniture Manufacturing Co. Ltd., of China" The Home Depot, of Atlanta, Ga.
Brown Jordan Services, of St. Augustine, Fla.I’m a huge fan of traditional webbed patio chairs, but they can be hard to find these days. The only stores I’ve seen them regularly in person are True Value Hardware stores, where I’ve also spotted re-webbing materials (Frost King seems to have the market cornered on those). I’ve also seen them at the DoItBest site. But here’s the rub: the new chairs are usually webbed in boring colors like brown or forest green. That’s why, for the past few years, I’ve found my own webbing online (seplaceing for “chair webbing” or “re-web kit” on Google or eBay) and used it to re-web vintage or discarded webbed chairs I’ve found at yard sales or on the street. Re-webbing is easy — believe me, I wouldn’t bother if it wasn’t — though, like any DIY, it can be a little tedious. Click the link for the webbing how-to’s — I’ll keep things as simple as possible. If your chair has little holes, it is re-webbed using screws.
If it has little slots, you use webbing clips. I’m not going to lie — the screws are a lot easier. But let’s start with the clips. I recently found the pink and white chaise on the street. A lot of the webbing was worn, but the frame was in perfect condition, so I couldn’t understand why the owner had tossed it out. Then I realized that the chair was webbed using clips, something I’d never seen before. A-ha — I quickly discovered they’re kind of a pain to use. Took a few tries to get the hang of it, but I think the end result turned out well. The webbing I used to fix the chair was 2.25″ wide, a little thinner than the existing 3″ webbing, but I still think it worked fine together. I removed only the webbing that was clearly beyond help — frayed or completely torn through. Luckily, I had some webbing on hand that was a good match with the colors already on the chair. First, measure how long of a strip you’ll need. The clip instructions say to have at least an inch and a half extra at either end.
I usually just eyeball it, but that can lead to a few inches of waste or worse, like a strip that’s just a little too short to use, so you have to discard the whole thing. Push the point on the clip through the strip with the clip teeth facing the cut edge. Fold the edge of the webbing strip over the clip. Turn the chair over. Insert the clip into the slot on the chair. Once clip is inserted, pull the webbing strip around the metal bar, and weave the strip through the existing webbing. Now you’re at the slot on the other side — this is where it can get a little tricky. Push a clip through the other edge of the webbing strip on the inside of the strip, again with teeth facing the cut edge. Fold the strip over the clip, and then pull the clip around the metal portion of the chair to insert this clip into the slot. You may have to remove and reposition the clip a few times to get a good fit, because you want the strip to be taut enough to hold a person, but not so tight that the clip is going to fly out when someone sits.
The curve of the clip helps to secure it to the chair. When you have a good fit, you will be able to tell — there’s a satisfying “click” feeling when you get the clip placed in the slot.First, measure and cut the length of the strip that you’ll need, as above. Take the cut edge of the strip and fold each side in to form this lovely pointy end. Turn the strip over and insert the screw directly through this point so it holds the flaps together. (You can find re-web packs that include the screws. If you get a vintage chair and need a few extra screws, they’re easy to match with screws from a hardware store.) Then screw into the hole on the chair. Weave the strip through existing webbing and repeat the folded point on the other side, securing with screw through the hole on that end. Again, you might have to refold once or twice to get a good, taut fit, but it’s a whole lot easier than trying to shove those clips into the chair. A note about the bar between the chair back and seat: Always put the webbing under this bar;