How to fix a hole in a leather car seat

To the left is a seat from an MR2, very badly damaged on the left hand side where the driver has got in and out of the car.

The friction caused by rubbing against the leather has, over the years, resulted in a tear and a lot of abrasion to the surface.

This damaged will be repaired using the basic leather repair kit & the small leather colourant kit in black with a satin finish.

1. The first step it to prep the leather. Using the leather prep & abrasive pad gently rub the surface of the leather to remove any grease and oils on the leather.

This step will also remove any loose leather fibres and remove the manufactured finish allowing the colourant to take to the leather.

Prepping the leather also helps reduce creases & cracks. You will also notice that the prep shifts around the leathers colour and has slightly re-coloured some of the faded areas.

After prepping, wipe the leather down with the alcohol cleaner.

2. Tidying up!

If you look at the hole you can see that the leather is sticking outwards, like a lip.

You will never get a good repair if that isn't removed as the repair would stick outwards.

Cut out the lip either with either scissors or a scalpel.

3. Adding the backing.

Using the tweezers start to place the canvas sub patch behind the leather.

It is easy to hold the canvas in one corner with the tweezers and the push it into, say the top left of the hole. Then take the top right corner of the canvas and insert it into the top right of the hole. Do the same for the bottom. Once the canvas is in place, push it around a bit until it is in perfectly.

Squeeze some leather glue onto the end of the palette knife and insert it around every edge of the leather (between the leather and the canvas). Gently hold the leather down against the canvas for a minute whilst the glue dries.

4. The step above has in effect re-created the backing in the leather. This acts a firm base to fill the hole.

To fill the hole, use the heavy filler. Take a small amount on the end of the palette knife and apply it to the hole. Make sure all the canvas is slightly covered and allow 20 minutes to dry, this can be speeded up by using a hair dryer.

Keep applying the heavy filler in thin layers until it is near the surface.
It is crucial to use thin layers as the filler shrinks as it dries.

5. This is an illustration of what the hole will look like after 3 or 4 layers of filler have been used.

It will not be smooth but it will have nearly filled the hole completely.

6. Put a small amount of filler onto the hole.

Take your palette knife and angle it at about 45 degrees from the leather. Run it over the hole to smooth in any gaps.

Add more repair filler if necessary.
If you rub over the hole and filler gets onto the leather, remove it with the palette knife.

Your aim is to create the hole so that it is level with the leather and not over filled. If you do over fill it, you can reduce it with sandpaper.

7. Applying the colourant.

Using the sponge, wipe or dab the colourant onto the leather to act as a base coat of colour before spraying the next coat on.

You can see that it leaves the leather quite streaky, but this will be fixed when the colour is sprayed on.

8. Using an airbrush spray a thin coat of colour over the leather to thoroughly blend in the repair.

Then apply a thin coat of the finish, this seals in the leather preventing the colour from wearing and prolongs the leathers life. This is applied with an airbrush.

I used the Small Leather Colourant Kit for this job as it required spraying as the repair area was quite large. If you are just repair a small hole, cut or tear you can use the Leather Touch Up Kit.