Is it possible to add a patch over a large tear in a leather chair?
by
Valerie
+5
We have my dad’s old recliner and there is a hole worn through on the arm rest. Can a patch be put over it or does the entire chair need to be recovered?
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Another Hometalker had a similar problem and had problems fixing with items from fabric stores. I would visit a reupholstery shop that does leather work, a car auto body shop where they do colission repair or a custom car upholstery shop.
Yes, definitely a patch can be added. You might want to put a fabric doily or something over it afterwards, but it CAN be patched! Do you live near a Tandy leather store? Even visiting their website can teach you a lot about what types of leather and the glues you could use. You'll never match the original hide texture and color, but maybe a patch on each arm will help the chair look less lopsided, than just one patch. Arms on chairs get a lot of wear! Your biggest challenge will be getting the patch to conform and lie flat while the glue is drying. I recommend lots of blue painter's tape, strips placed nearly touching across the arm, and maybe a phone book on top, esp if you can get it to curve a bit around the shape of the arm... good luck!
check out website( leather repair rub n restore) they sell what you will need cheap and walk you thru the repair with a video
I would try and find some fabric close to the color and make some arm covers, like those that usually come with a sofa, or do they even have those anymore. They just slip right over top of the arms.
Another thing would be to find a coordinating leather piece and make patches for both arms, perhaps where the head rests and a patch on the foot rest. That will make it look like it was supposed to be there in the first place. We had a recliner years ago that actually had a headrest piece of the same vinyl that you could flip to the back if you didn't want to use it. It prevented staining from hair oils that are always present in peoples hair. It is possible that there may be enough fabric on the underside of the recliner that you could patch the arm with.
I believe a sympathetic repair may be possible by slipping the new piece of leather underneath the tear and glueing the teared parts to the leather underneath, and then polishing with coloured polish to match in.............
Why not buy some armrest covers and use them instead of having it repaired?