Posted 7 years ago
ThisOldStuff
(2 items)
I have to tell you... I love this chair. But I am thinking about selling it because I am thinking about downsizing. But, as you can see by the pictures, there are a few small tears in the "pleather". Does anyone have any idea how to fix or where to find someone who could restore it?
There's a great video on YouTube that shows a guy restoring a leather tufted chair in horrendous shape. https://youtu.be/79lNpVUnOqA
I've used his tear/hole repair method several times on leather and on faux leather. It works great. You cut a strip of material off the bottom excess pull fabric to use. If you have a tear that will close completely, you can use any kind of vinyl or simular material. You cut the scrap a little larger than the repair area and poke it through the hole. Then you cover the patch and the underside of the torn material with craft glue (Aleene's Original Tacky Glue available at Wal-Mart, Amazon and lots of others). Massage and press the materials together and back into place and hold under pressure to dry.
I've also discovered that when the fabric is pulled tight like on your chair, you need to release the tension until the repair dries so there's no force trying to pull the edges of the repair apart. If it's not too difficult you can pull some of the upholstery staples to relax the repair area and then replace them later. If that's not an option you can find lots of creative ways to squeeze the area together like tying something around it or connecting a strap with duct tape on each end affixed in a hidden place on the chair.
I've also figured out a good way to patch holes that aren't the result of just a single cut. I'm talking about damage where the edges of the original material don't come back together when repaired because some of the original material is missing. When you use the above method, you'll end up with the patch attached to the underside of the original material. There won't really be a hole anymore, but the surface will be uneven and will show, even more so if the original material is really thick.
For actually holes, you follow the above instructions all the way through. After it's at least dry enough to handle, trace the outline of the hole where the patch shows and use that tracing as a template to cut a new patch out of the excess under the chair or a closely matching material. Use the same glue to stick the new patch to the one glued to the underside of the original material lining up the edges so the patch fits exactly in the shape of the hole. Even cover the edges with glue and work it into any crack left between the edges of the original material and the patch. That makes the repair area flush and what was a hole is barely visible and only as the outline of the hole where the edges meet.
I hope that makes sense. It's so difficult to explain. Definitely watch the video. It will really help. I'm an upholsterer and I no longer have any of the pieces I've done this on or I'd send you pictures. I did use it once on 2 holes in one of my personal pieces of furniture but I no longer have it. We had it for about 2 years after the repair and it was still holding when I sold the piece. It was a chaise lounge in our living room, heavily used by my teenage boys, college age daughters and our shocking number of pets so that's a pretty good testament to the method holding up! Whether you sell it or keep it, you should try it. If you end up selling it, I think it's ethnically necessary to disclose the repair to the new owner even if you do such an awesome amazing job that it's invisible. You probably would have thought that on your own but I wanted to make sure as a frequent buyer and seller of used furniture.
Good luck with repairing it, selling it, keeping it, moving, downsizing, upsizing, supervising and /or whatever else you decide to do.
Tessa