One can’t deny the fact that leather or vinyl upholstered furniture items offer great luxury, comfort, and relaxation besides adding to the visual appeal of the interior to be placed in. Also, both leather and vinyl are highly durable, extremely resilient, and heavy-duty materials and they can easily stand up to wear and tear from extensive daily usage.
Even being this durable and resilient, accidents can pop a small or at worst a giant hole in the leather or vinyl upholstered furniture surface that if left unaddressed, will spread to the extent where it will become difficult to be patched.
Therefore, If you’re looking to fix the giant hole in your vinyl or leather upholstered furniture, then you’re absolutely at the right place. Because today’s topic of discussion at The Upholstery Master is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Fix A Giant Hole In Leather/Vinyl Upholstery
Besides repairing the damage caused by the hole in the upholstery fabric, you can restore your upholstered furniture back to its former glory. Yes, you’ve read it right and this can be done depending on the extent of damage that has occurred and of course the skillfulness of the person that fixes the hole in the furniture upholstery.
Below, we’ve described all the steps that should be followed precisely for making your furniture look appealing, attractive, and flawless again. Apart from that, you’ll need to arrange for the following supplies to perform this DIY task efficiently and smoothly.
- Rags or upholstery pieces
- Paper towels
- Rubbing alcohol
- Cardboard pieces
- Non-toxic fabric glue
- Scissors & Tweezers
- Butter knife
- Cellulose Sponge
- Compound leather filler
1. Look For Any Damage To The Foam Material
First, you should take a look at whether and if there’s any damage occurred to the foam material. This can largely happen in case the upholstery has been damaged by a pet such as a dog or a cat. They can take out foam from within the surface and spread the pieces across the interior.
Therefore, you should repair the substrate foam material (if damaged) before getting into the process of patching the hole in the upholstery surface. For this purpose, you can either plug an entirely new portion of foam material or put back the irregular foam pieces spread on the ground.
The best possible option, however, is to buy new, heavy-duty foam material for your couch or any other damaged furniture upholstery. Always make sure that the foam material is precisely and perfectly fitted into the surface because otherwise it will cause abruptions to the installation of the subpatch. The following steps should be followed for attaching new foam material to the old one.
- Cut a part of the foam material to the desired shape and size.
- Apply a non-toxic glue over the surface of the new foam material which is to be adhered to the old foam.
- Plug in the new piece with a precise arrangement of the glued surface.
- Put some gentle pressure on the new foam material for some time to let the old foam particles attach to the new one.
- Look for any irregularities in the foam shape and appearance. If found, cut the foam carefully to allow for a smooth, flawless appearance.
- Don’t forget to leave some space behind for the placement/insertion of the subpatch.
2. Cut & Insert The Subpatch Into The Hole
Now that you’ve repaired the damage to the foam material, it’s time to move on to fixing the hole in the upholstery fabric. For this purpose, you’ll need to cut the subpatch into a circular piece that’s pretty much larger than the hole itself.
This is necessary because when you apply glue to the perimeter of the subpatch, it will strongly adhere to the inner upholstery surface. Next, you should try placing the subpatch into the hole to know whether the subpatch is large enough or if you need another piece.
3. Apply The Non-Toxic Fabric Glue To Attach The Subpatch
The next thing to be done is to attach the subpatch to the inside of the upholstery surface. For doing this, you can make use of a non-toxic fabric glue applied to the perimeter of the subpatch. Simply insert the subpatch into the hole and attach the glued surface to the upholstery fabric.
In this concern, the thing that has to be done carefully is to keep the glued face of the subpatch facing the ceiling all the time because otherwise, the subpatch can adhere to the foam material, eventually creating more problems for you.
After placement of the subpatch, hold some gentle pressure over the damaged upholstery area for some time to ensure that the subpatch has properly adhered to the upholstery fabric.
4. Clean The Upholstery Surface With Rubbing Alcohol
After you’ve glued the subpatch properly to the upholstery fabric, you should immediately clean the upholstery surface with rubbing or denatured alcohol to get rid of any excess glue that may become difficult to remove later on.
5. Apply Compound Leather Filler To The Upholstery Surface
Make use of a butter knife to apply an air-dry compound leather filler material to the upholstery surface. And, spread the filler parallel to the direction of the upholstery fabric tear for better results. If you want to boost the process, you should create many thin layers with the filler because they will dry fast as compared to one thick layer.
6. Wait For The Leather Filler To Dry Completely
Before moving on to the next step, you need to wait for the filler compound to dry completely. You can place an incandescent bulb over the desired upholstery area because the heat from the bulb will speed up the drying process.
Apart from the bulb, no heating gun or other forms of hot air sources like a hair dryer should be used as they can crack the filler layer by pushing the moisture inward. You can check for the filler after a certain period of time by touching it with your fingertips gently. And if the upholstery surface appears pellucid, you can proceed further to let the upholstery surface return to room temperature.
7. Finalize The Procedure By Finishing The Upholstery Surface
To add a finishing touch to the upholstery surface, you can use sandpaper over the surface to smoothen the appearance of the upholstery fabric. However, you should take care of the area that’s filled with the leather compound filler because any vigorous action can peel off the filler thus, leading to the waste of your precious time and valuable effort.
Last but not least, you will need a water-based finish to hide the effects of upholstery surface repair. Don’t forget to opt for a matching color finish for this purpose because anything else, no matter how beautiful, will be noticeable and can diminish the appearance of your upholstered furniture item.
The Bottom Line
This informative piece of writing comprises a step-by-step guide to fixing a giant hole in leather or vinyl upholstery fabric. By following these steps precisely and properly, you will not only repair your damaged furniture upholstery but will also be able to regain the former shiny appearance of your upholstered furniture item.
All you need to do is to arrange for all the needed supplies and put some of your precious time and effort to complete this simple and efficient DIY task.
