This photo shows a cigarette burn in a leather car seat. To fix the burn you will need the following products.

Products Required

Leather Repair Kit - To fix the burn or hole

Leather Touch Up Kit - to restore the colour.

A burn causes the leather to shrink inwards creating a wrinkled effect and turning the leather hard.

1.The first step is to partially cut the burn out. Cut a cross into the burn about half the depth of the leather and then proceed to cut the burn out cutting around the edge with a scalpel. Again, only about 50% depth into the leather.

Make sure all of the black/brown burn mark is cut out. This burn caused a hole in the leather so we have cut it out all the way through, creating a hole.

Go to step 4 if you don't have a hole.

2. Using the tweezers insert the canvas cloth behind the leather and then glue it down. This creates the backing for the leather making for a very strong repair.

The glue is applied on a thin object like the scalpel or paint stirrer. Push one side of the hole down to raise the other side, then wipe the glue onto the raised edge and stick down. Repeat this so glue is applied around all edges.

Wait 20 minutes for the glue to set.

We'll now apply some heavy filler into the hole to start to fill it - as shown in the photo.

4. If you are filling a hole, you need to apply about 4 thin layers of heavy filler, drying each layer off with a hair drier and pressing it down as you do so. This avoids shrinkage.

If you have only slightly cut a burn out, then apply two thin layers of filler.

Apply a small amount of filler into the hole with the palette knife and then wipe the excess from the side of the hole.

Dry thoroughly with a hair drier for 3 minutes and then leave it for a further 3 minutes. Gently press the filler down with your finger and re-peat the process until the filler is just below the surface of the leather.

Once you are ready to apply your last layer of filler, wipe it over the hole so that the filler stays level with the leather.

5. This step is not 100% crucial as it involves embossing a textured grain pattern into the filler. This isn't necessary to do for most repairs, but we recommend it if you want a perfect finish or are using it as a professional.

To get the grain pad for this step, either purchase a readymade grain pad, or get our kit where you can take a custom grain pattern from your leather - Grain Copier Set

With the heavy filler level with the leather surface, place the grain pad onto the filler and press it down gently. Remove the grain pad after pressing it down and then dry the filler off with a hair drier.

Leave to set for 5 minutes and then gently sand the leathers surface to make smooth. This photo shows a close up of the damaged area with the texture applied to the filler.

6. Using the leather touch up kit, match the colour of the leather or, send a piece of leather to us for colour matching. Also check our database to see if we have already matched your colour before - Colour Charts.

Apply the colour to the filler with a cotton wool bud and dry with a hair drier, leave for 1 minute and apply more colour until it blends in perfectly.

This photo shows the finished seat.

The colour coat is applied by just applying the colour to the filler until it becomes totally opaque.

Then, sponge some colour onto the filler and further around it to blend it in with the leather.

Then sponge the finish onto the area to match the sheen.

This is an enhanced image of the above photo.

We have zoomed into the area where we repaired the brun to show you how getting the correct grain pattern and colour, can make for an invisible repair.