Things have been going really good though and I have to say I am really confident that Bob will do just fine when he returns to South Dakota. He has really improved on every aspect in this business over the past 2 weeks, but I also have to say one thing and this really isn’t a brag, but it has been how he has been trained and the products we use. When I started I didn’t have half of what he has gotten or the products that we have in today’s market. I had to basically learn most of what I know today by trial and error, reading on the internet, asking a ton of questions of my suppliers, and the products I had were well let’s say not anywhere near what I use today.

These past few days I have basically stood by and watched while he has done the repairs. I’ve only stepped in when he has really needed it, but really he has done the repairs. He has done an amazing job and I am really proud to call him “my” trainee. Yes there are a few things yet he still has to learn but a lot of that will come with experience and practice. This is something that doesn’t come over night, it takes practice and time.

We have covered a lot of what he will come across in the repair world from leather repairs and vinyl repairs to carpet dyeing and cloth repair, granted there will be things I know he will come across that I haven’t taught him but with the limited time we have had I just can’t show him every little thing. But with the things we have covered I have confidence in him that he will do just fine. He really has the drive and the ability to figure things out on his own, which is something that is needed in this business to survive.

I would like to invite you to my Automotive Interior Repair Training program if your serious about starting a new career and making a new life for yourself. Just drop me an email with your phone number and I’ll be sure to give you a call about the details.

Talk to ya soon,

Mike “TIG”

Today he really got his feet wet and did his first vinyl repair and did great. He’s still a little green but that’s expected, he’s never done this before. This week we’re really going to work on his techniques and really get in there and do the work, and I do mean do it too. I’m basically just there for support this week because he’s the one who’s going to be doing the repairs.

Last week I think he was getting a little worried about things and he thought I wasn’t going to let him do the work. But that’s what my training program is all about is teaching the correct way of doing things and also hands on. The first week I just wanted to get him familiar with the products on how and when to use them, the steps of doing the repairs, and how to mix the dyes including colors and adding the different additives to make the dyes work properly. I just wanted to make sure he was going to be able to do the work before I just let him go. This week is all about getting in there and doing repairs so when he gets back home he will feel comfortable with the repairs and not have any problems with just getting in there and doing them.

Last Friday we did a couple of jobs that were really good teaching tools. One was a Dodge Durango that we had a steering wheel repair, the front leather seats needed reconditioned and it also had a few cigarette burns in the carpet which we hadn’t worked on yet. This was also a good one for the wear lines that occur on the edge of the seat. Believe it or not the passenger seat was worse then the drivers. The wear had almost gone all the way through so we repaired it with Viper’s Deep Crack Compound which is a high performance low heat compound designed to not shrink when heated and is also sandable, a big plus when doing leather repairs.

The next job we headed to on Friday was an 1981 Chevy Corvette. A little jewel of a car that just needed a little TLC, and we were there to give it. This was a good one to show him what happens to a steering wheel when the foam under the leather breaks down. I wasn’t able to make the steering wheel look as good as I wanted to because the the deteriorated foam but I got it really close. We also dyed the carpet and dyed a few miscellaneous plastic pieces around the inside that the original dye had worn off. Both of which we hadn’t worked on yet. When we got done the customer was really happy with the outcome, unfortunately I wasn’t completely satisfied but sometimes that happens when your as anal as I am.

Today, in spite of the heat, we got a lot done. Like I said before Bob did most of the work with me watching over his shoulder. There were a couple of jobs I had to take over but mostly he did it, including mixing the dyes to match to doing the repairs from start to finish.

I really have confidence in him that he will really succeed when he gets home. He’s done his research, listened well, and has taken to the Automotive Interior Restoration like a champ!

Well I’ll write more tomorrow on what’s going on with my Automotive Interior Restoration Training, but now I need to go out and pay some attention to a paint gun that is in dyer need of a cleaning.

If your looking for a new career or needing to improve your skills in the Automotive Interior Repair business then make sure you look me up.

Talk to ya soon…Mike “TIG”

But with that said, we have had a really good time, my trainee Bob is really catching on like a natural. Like I’ve said before he’s not afraid to ask questions which is great and has even given me some great ideas in some of my repairs. It’s actually been nice having someone there to talk with and swap ideas considering I’ve always been by myself.

Today I gave him a little more hands on training. The first few days I wanted to make sure he knew what products worked where and what they all did. I also have been working with him on color matching, which is one of the biggest priorities in this business. Even if your repair looks good, if your color doesn’t match then the whole job looks bad. I had him mixing colors today and even applying the dyes. He’s still pretty green with the paint gun, but this is something that definitely takes a lot of practice, I stress to him on almost every job about “gun control”. What I mean by this is knowing how to apply the dye to the exact area your wanting to without getting the dye all over the car or on pieces that don’t need to be dyed.

We’ve also had some really good examples the past 2 days of substandard work. Yesterday we had a cigarette burn in a Dodge Neon that had been done by someone else and it was a burn hole all the way through the fabric into the foam. The burn hole was filled with glue and then flock was applied over, but what was wrong with this is the glue had settled and basically what was left was a colored crater. What should have been done instead was the hole should had been filled first with batting then the glue and then the flock. What the batting helps to do is to keep the repair flush with no settling, which is what you want.

The next vehicle was a Chevy Impala. Now this one really surprised me, not really sure what this person was thinking when they did this repair, but I guess it’s either the wrong kind of training or someone trying to make a quick buck. This one had scratches in both the lean back and the lean back bolster and they had filled the scratches with what had looked like a water based filler then applied a solvent based paint over the top, which not only didn’t match, but the solvent based paint had reacted to with the water based filler and spider cracked all over. It took me longer to remove the gooped up gobbed up mess then it would have taken me to do it in the first place. Once I got the stuff off I was able to see what they were trying to repair and it really surprised me that they hadn’t even tried to sand the scratches out but instead just filled over them. Which had probably been another reason for the spider web looking cracks, just way to much compound. All this person had to do was to sand the scratches out as much as they could and fill with minimal amount of filler then dye with a water based leather dye, not a solvent based, this would have made their repair look, feel, and last a whole lot longer. But that’s what happens in this industry more then not… pretty sad

Well tomorrow is gonna be another busy day of repairs, we have 4 different lots to go to and I’m really looking forward to showing him more ways to make these car’s look like new with guaranteed repairs.

If your looking to either better yourself in this industry or would like to learn the craft of Automotive Interior Restoration from a professional with over a decade of experience then don’t hesitate to contact me, I would love to have you as my trainee.

Well we had another good day of teaching and learning. Not a lot of vehicles done but some good teaching tools were presented. We started the day off with a leather resurfacing on a Chevy Tahoe. This one was another good example of the wet sand technique on the bolsters. Not cracked up really bad but just worn. On this one Bob got some hands on prepping. He’s taking to this like a pro! Next we worked on a Chevy 1500, a steering wheel repair and a vinyl repair. Now this one was a great example on using super glue to repair vinyl. These rigs have an area in the door pocket that get torn from finger nails snagging the vinyl. The only way I’ve found to fix this is with the super glue repair. The reason for this is the cloth insert in the door, if a conventional vinyl mend is done then burning the cloth is inevitable. Lastly at this lot we worked on some cigarette burns on a Ford F150, a great example of using pencils to draw the pattern back in the area.

We headed out and stopped by one of my other accounts to find out that the vehicles we were to work on had been sent off to auction, this kinda peeved me a bit but kinda out of my control. So off to the next account we went.

Now this next car was an ’05 Cadi CTS which had been basically trashed. All four seats need to reconditioned and the stereo bezel was peeling. A great teaching tool for the use of Sems Sand Free on water based coatings, although it didn’t work as well as I wanted because of the heat. One thing I learned today was when using Sems Sand Free, the air needs to be around 70 degrees or so, not 90. The heat causes the chemicals to work too fast and the blend didn’t work like I wanted, so I had to basically strip the entire bezel then resurface.

All in all we had a great day of repairs. Looking forward to a good day tomorrow, we have a pretty busy day planned!

If your looking for a new career in the Automotive Interior Repair business and a personal touch to your training, feel free to contact me anytime!

I’ve kinda avoided talking about this subject, the economy, due to the fact there has been so much negative put out there and I didn’t want to become another guy talking about how bad things are.

I want to get your mind to working and thinking of where your next step forward is going to be not sit there in a panic wondering where to go next.

Yes I paniced, not gonna say I didn’t, back in December when all was crazy and everyone was paying attention to Christmas, and not buying cars. Things got really slow.

But I took one step back and asked myself what can I do to make my business better and more appealing to my customers. Things were tight, money was not really flowing like it should, so what could I do to get money flowing.

The one thing that so was obvious was price and service. People want affordable and great service. By giving a service that is affordable and great…now that’s a perfect scenario and what the people want!

Lowering prices but keeping the quality as good or even better, better in that giving my customers just a little more. Things like wiping things down if the car had been detailed and just had a little “lot rot” or spraying a little deodorizer inside to kill the smell.

Maybe even repairing something they didn’t even see for no charge. Just making the car front row ready as possible. Giving the customers more for their money!

When I said lowering prices, I meant lowering them back down to an affordable price for everyone and maybe then some.

When the gas prices soared through the roof I had to increase prices a bit to accommodate my expenses. So now that gas prices are back down I’ve dropped prices back down and then some.

What I mean by then some is, the economy needs a break, people need a break and it’s professionals like us that give that to them. Now I don’t mean cutting prices so much that you hurt yourself and the industry ( I hate cut throat pricing more then anyone), but maybe taking a little less. Give your customers discounts, run specials, do some buy one get one just something to help.

I personally feel if everyone would cut back a bit, not be so greedy, and make life a little more affordable for all this economy might just prosper.

We all need to sacrifice just a bit to survive this slump and it’s not going to be over anytime soon. By taking a little less for your work will not only help out your customer’s pocket and the economy by getting the money to flow again, but it will also put money in your pocket by getting you the work for being the best at an affordable price.

Like I said people need a break, they are looking for bargains and we need to give it to them. Times are tough and we just have to work smarter and harder for the money we earn.

We are Upholstery Repair Professionals, a lot of you like myself are accustomed to working on automobiles. I even set my van up to work on car’s and really have had a time when needed to work on anything else. Boats and Rv’s haven’t been too bad, but furniture stores and home calls have been difficult.

I recently added a change to that though. I added a roller tool box and a small airbrush compressor with my Iwatta airbrush so all I have to do it load up my dyes and compounds and go. No more being tied to my van.

I’m even more mobile now! This is just another way of working it smarter.

We as upholstery repair professionals have to think of different avenues to look into for work. Yeah there’s the car business and it’s looking up, but think about it what else has leather and vinyl ?

Let me see there’s hot tub covers, motor cycle seats, golf cart seats, aircraft seats, boats, RV’s, leather coats, leather and vinyl furniture (that’s a big one), there’s ATV stores, day cares, hospitals, truck stops, school buses. In fact I knew a guy that all he did was school buses. My list could probably go on forever.

Try it sometime, sit down and try to think of all the things around us that are made of vinyl or leather and write them down. Your list will get quit lengthy, I promise. Now take that list and see where you come into the picture.

You’ll find there’s so many different avenues we can travel and so many ways we can work it smarter. It just takes a little good old fashioned hard work to make it in the upholstery repair business.

Talk to ya soon,
Mike “TIG”

Looking for a new career ? Training Upholstery Repair Professionals NOW!