Fixing A Rip In An Old Leather Chair

[Tiara]

My sweetheart has a chair with sentimental value where he'd prefer not to replace the leather on the seat. The leather is very dry, has quite a few surface cracks that don't go all the way through and one tear about 3" long. quite straight and looks as if a cracked line pulled apart, the edges are frayed looking.

Is there a glue that will hold the tear and fill in the cracks to prevent another tear and not affect color too much? With the tear I think I'd need to use some tape to hold the edges together until it sets.

Or if this is important enough to him is it better to take it to an upholsterer who works with leather?

[Northmount]

How much can you disassemble without doing more damage?

If there is room to work ... You can lift the leather away from any backing material. Cut a patch to be inserted behind the leather. May need to skive the edges to reduce the transition around the patch. Use a slower setting glue and work it into the surface of the patch and the underside of the leather. Press it all together and let it set. Depending on what if anything is behind the leather, you may be able to use a roller to help press it together and roll out any bubbles.

I've done this with leather jackets and had an almost perfect repair, hard to see or find after it was finished. Didn't have to rip the lining out of the jacket.

There is no glue that will hold the leather edge to edge. Also as the leather is very old, dried out, etc. it would only tear beside it if it did hold together.

You may need to remove fuzzies from the edges to provide a cleaner edge to work with. This type of repair can be used for small cut or tears as well, however you may have to cut the small tear longer to give enough flexibility and room to work the patch and glue in behind.

There is a post somewhere here about a material used to fill in cracks on shoes that may be used to fill in surface cracks. I think it was sort of like a latex and painted on in layers to build it up.

Before you start doing the repair, try to condition the old leather by working a little neatsfoot oil or other leather conditioner into the surface of the leather to make it more flexible, but DON'T saturate it. Glue doesn't stick to oil, and you don't want the oil getting on the clothes of anyone that sits on the chair when you are finished the repair.

Take your time, go carefully.

Tom

[Tiara]

Thanks Tom,

Disassembling would take removing a long line of tacks and I suspect some staples in the tucked areas. Difficult for me.

There appears to be some fiber type cushioning material under it, not foam so there is room to work. The patch from behind might be feasible for me, I don't see what looks to be a backing material.

I think this is going to be more than my newbie skills are up to now or for some time to come. Since it does have sentimental value that makes it irreplaceable, it's better to admit my limits and find an upholsterer. I can probably handle the latex type fill and oiling but the rest on leather so dry and surprisingly thin is too risky. Thanks for giving me the info I need to say no, not up to this one.

Oh, for future reference, what would you suggest as a slow drying glue? Right now I have Tandy tanners bond for some small light duty projects and Weldwood gel which I think would not be appropriate.

[groovytech]

Go ahead and treat the dryness now, on all the leather on the chair. Neatsfoot is good.slow, light applications.