How To Fix The Creases In Leather

23rd March 2008

posted in Leather seats |

This is one thing that theres NOT a lot that can be done to fix. Leather has a grain, and a natural tendency to crease in a fashion that isn’t that appealing to some. Keeping the leather soft by keeping it clean and conditioning it can keep those creases from turning into cracks and in some cases from forming at all. There are some instances the creases are just too bad, this can be caused by the foam support breaking down behind the leather causing the leather to fold excessively. The only fix to that is having the foam replaced by your local upholstery shop. One way you can avoid excessive foam breakage is to not roll in and out of the vehicle, try sitting a little more gently, being aware of the leather. I read in a forum the other day of some one complaining about the creases and someone replied with a recommendation of a professional to fill the creases and re-dye the seat. Take it from a professional, this will not work. The only filling on seats is when the leather actually cracks and exposes the raw leather, then filler will stick and work to repair the cracks in the seat, if one was to have all the creases filled in the leather to make it smooth would, let me say it bluntly, a mess. Basically it would take to much filler and to much dye to make it look right and most of all last. The dyes and fillers are made for minimal fixes. When a repair is done on a cracked seat the finished product does not have a smooth finish, I try to make the repair look natural, like the leather is supposed to look. If the creases are too bad an upholstery shop is probably your best bet, if its just wear or cracked leather with plenty of foam to support the leather then call a professional ” Interior Guy “. If you have any questions on how to fix the creases in leather don’t hesitate to contact me.

Tags: conditioning leather, creased leather, leather repair, leather wear, normal leather wearing

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm and is filed under Leather seats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On May 28th, 2008, GM said:

Hi, half of my passenger seat got wet when my sunroof was left open overnight. There is a crease in the seat between the half that got wet and the half that did not. Is there a way to remove this crease?

2 On May 29th, 2008, Mike-TIG said:

Thanks for the question, that’s what I designed this site for was to help others. Can you send me a picture of the seat? That way I can see the damage. You might try to condition the seat with Lexol Conditioner, but if it’s creased like you say, the leather may have shrunk and puckered, in that case you may have to contact a professional to rework the seat, by sanding down the crease and fill what needs to be filled and then redyed, but if it’s badly creased then you might need to contact a good upholstery shop, and have them replace the panels that have been damaged. I have seen this before and it’s not a pretty sight I know, so I feel your pain in this situation. I’m guessing without looking at the seat you may be looking at anywhere from $65 up to maybe $175 to repair the seat, just to give you a little heads up. If you don’t know of a good leather guy in your area, call around to some of the local car dealers and ask who they would recommend, get a couple of opinions though, don’t just go with the first guy that comes along, and make sure if it is repairable that the tech uses a good water-based urethane dye system. If there’s anything else I can do let me know, give me a location of where your at and maybe I can find a tech in your area from one of my suppliers.

3 On January 2nd, 2009, Alex said:

Hello, My son and his friends shot fireworks off in my car it has leather upholstry and they left a burn mark. It mage that top color come off but it didn’t make a hole. Whats a Inexpensive way to fix it? Thank you

4 On January 2nd, 2009, Mike-TIG said:

Alex,
Wow…That’s a first one on me, sure it smells nice too. There really isn’t a cheap fix. Sure you could use a rattle can dye to cover up the spot, but the problem with cheap fixes is they don’t last. Do you really want to go cheap. You spent the extra money to get leather so why not keep it looking nice and do it the right way. My recommendation would be to contact an Upholstery Repair Professional like myself and have it repaired right. We use water based dyes which are made for leather and compounds that are made to last, that’s what I think you really want, am I right. I understand cutting corners but to have a small spot repaired should only cost you at the most $50. The rattle can dye and the prepping supplies would cost you close to that anyways, so really this ones up to you. If your still interested in doing it yourself though, let me know, contact me through email or even call me, and I’ll walk you through it.

Talk to ya soon,
Mike “TIG”