Boat upholstery repair kits

[the rebel]

Seems like I'm gathering "memories" every time I go out and invite another family for a boating trip, in the form of small cuts in my upholstery. What is a proven repair kit to fix small cuts in the vinyl and tears in the piping of my Cobalt interior?

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

Take it to an upholstery shop.The vinyl repairs kits blow. I had people tell me they use them with great success, but I have been an upholsterer for 18 years and have never found any of them to hold worth a crap or look remotely passable.

If you have the seats redone (not expensive if you do 1 or 2 at a time), have them top-stitched instead of the welting cord. You'll rid yourself of the headache of the cord tearing as well as improve the look of the seat.

This is a seat in which I top stitched instead of putting welting in.

 

[Thad]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

I agree with taking it in and having it reupholstered...to a point.

I have had my sun deck and bow seats all redone. But I had two small claw holes in my back rest in the bow. I did not see the point in having the entire thing redone for this. (Don't have the dogs nails trimmed if she goes boating)

Now, before you think I am endorsing the repair kit, let me say...NO! I am not.


My upholstry guy told me to call the local car dealers and find who they use to repair small nips in their cars. So I did. I got the guys number and he came over TO MY HOUSE and fixed the holes.
What he did was;
He actually made the hole a bit bigger, put some mesh inside with a glue, mixed up some stuff and then heated the area and applied. He had tons of patterns that match just about ever style of vinyl and leather on the market, found the one that fit mine and did his magic. Then he color matched the "paint" and BAM...there it was.

It has been 4 years and you still can't see where the repair was done. (Well, I can but only because I knew where it was) So that is what I would suggest. Do not buy and try yourself. Even the fixer guy said those kits are a joke.

So, I guess what I am syaing is, if you only a couple of small rips you need repaired, try that. If you have a lot, then you are better off having the entire seat redone. Hope that helps a little.

Thad

 

[Thad]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

Fireman,

Nice looking seat. It looks really taut and good form all the way. Can I send you me side pannels this winter?

 

[109jb]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

It all depends on how good you wannt it to look and if you can stand a little mismatch. I have had good success with the vinyl repair kits where you use a little iron to heat set the vinyl repair stuff. I have always been able to see my repairs using this stuff, but as I said it depends on how much you are willing to spend and how good you want it to look. Most of the repairs I have done have been on snowmobile seats that are just going to get torn again so I don't care if there is a slight color mismatch. As for the piping, this ain't going to work for that. Here is a link to a repair I did for an example.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=383302

The guys that do it for car dealers are good at matching and I bet they would be darn near invisible. Again though, I don't know what they could do for the piping.

Obviously the best choice is to have the damaged panel professionally replaced. This gives you a brand new unblemished panel. It is also the highest priced option. I quess if I had a nicer boat I would at least trailer the boat to an upholstery shop and get a price.

Take your choice and good luck.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

Fireman,

Nice looking seat. It looks really taut and good form all the way. Can I send you me side pannels this winter?

Absolutely. If you are serious, PM me and we'll work out the details.

 

[the rebel]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

Thanks for the replies. Most of my bo bos are pretty minor. I'm thinking of taking it to the upholstery guy at the end of this season and let him take a look at doing all of them. I was thinking that I could get a professional kit and do all of the repairs myself, gaining experience as I go. Starting with my old truck seats getting a feel for it before I get near my boat stuff.


When you get ten people on a boat and your friends have a small dog, you don't ever know how small cuts happen.
Interior is mostly pristine. Here is what I got on the center bow insert, this last weekend out .

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

Using a person that does repairs professionally for a car lot might work. those are tiny tears and all of the pieces are still intact. I was thinking they might be bigger rips than that. Give it a try.

Then cover all of the upholstery with towels for the next outing.

 

[the rebel]

Re: Boat upholstery repair kits

Using a person that does repairs professionally for a car lot might work. those are tiny tears and all of the pieces are still intact. I was thinking they might be bigger rips than that. Give it a try.

Then cover all of the upholstery with towels for the next outing.

10-4. I have towels all over my interior when we are out on it. Kids move 'em around and don't put them back all day long. It's hard to keep an eye out for it.

BTW, nice looking seat.