A guide to vinyl repair

Making repairs to your fabric vinyl upholstered furniture is not too difficult a task. The biggest challenge that you may face is in finding a perfect match or a piece of vinyl to complete your sofa repair. A combination of a vinyl repair kit and reading the instructions in the guide below should be enough to enable you to complete a repair to your vinyl furniture.

Making the repair

Small repairs The areas of your leather vinyl that have suffered a large amount of damage may require to be reupholstered. Small cuts or burns can be easily repaired with a vinyl repair kit. Clean the affected area Using warm water, some washing up liquid and a soft cloth, clean the surface around the damaged area without applying too much water. Make sure that the area is completely dry before moving on to the next stage.
Clear adhesive compound Open the clear adhesive repair compound found in the repair kit and spread a layer across the area of the repair using the spreading tool supplied in the kit. This should look similar to a small putty knife. Fill the deepest part of the damaged area and leave the surface as smooth as possible. Let the compound dry completely. Colour compound For the next stage, you need to use the colour compound jar. Open the jar that matches the upholstery the closest and spread this over the clear compound with the spreading tool. You should leave a smooth even finish. Grain pad Using the grain pad from the repair kit that closely matches the texture of the damaged upholstery, press it into the vinyl repair with the textured side down. Press it firmly enough to leave it in place, but not so strongly that the compound is disturbed. Masking tape Using some masking tape, attach the grain pad to the repair and allow it to remain in position until the repair is completely dry. With the grain pad covering it, the repair will take at least eight hours to fully dry. Once dry, carefully remove the masking tape and grain pad.

Types of repair kits available

The correct repair kit to buy There are several vinyl repair kits available. Buy one that is listed as being a complete kit. Otherwise, you will have to spend time finding the missing pieces that you will still need.
Heat or no heat The repair kits are available as heat and no-heat styles. No-heat is easier to use especially if you have never used one before. If the kit that you have purchased is of the type that requires heat practice at first on a scrap, piece of vinyl before tackling the real thing.