DIY Ways to Fix your Car Roof Upholstery
Anyone would agree that owning an automotive car entails a lot of responsibility. Aside from making sure it’s well maintained physically and mechanically, you need to spend a lot of money on it as well. No wonder some people would name their cars with a pet name, as it surely is very much comparable with a baby or a pet. If you have been in a steady relationship with your car for quite a while now, it would seem normal to see that there might be some physical damages and some parts might need headliner repairs already. The first thing most people would experience is the decaying of the car headliner. Read along as we discuss how to fix car roof upholstery. If you look up to see your car ceiling fabric starting to detach, just don’t panic and follow these step by step guide. All you need is just some useful materials and a whole lot of common sense, and you can definitely do it all by yourself.
Definition of a headliner:
Before we tackle the technical procedure, we have to define what a headliner is. This is especially discussed for the purpose of those people who just purchased their car and they’re not familiar with their vehicle and component parts yet. The headliner refers to the ceiling fabric that is fitted on your car’s roof. It does not only provide protection against the heat of the sun or the coldness of the temperature outside, but the automotive headliner also prevents outdoor noise from penetrating into the car. The car liner is usually textured with smooth fabric and is sturdy enough to last weather conditions. However, in unavoidable situations, you need your car headliner repair, if it starts sagging down.
How to repair your sagging headliner?
1. Before you start:
Before everything else, you have to secure all the materials that you will need to fix your car’s roof upholstery. Make sure you can choose the supplies that are suitable for your repair. Here is the list that you have to gather before starting:
– Upholstery glue
Try to select upholstery glue that offers high quality and one that doesn’t lose its potency. When the headliner car is exposed under direct heat, it can possibly lose its effectiveness.
– Assistant for headliner repair
It’s advisable for you to have someone help you with the repair. So that someone can affix the edges headliner is glued into, while you hold the other end as well.
2. Check where the headliner problem is
It is important to thoroughly check your car ceiling before repairing it. If you can see that you don’t need to replace it, then it’s effective to do a DIY repair. Replacing your roof car upholstery entirely can be pricey. So, it’s best to reapply glue to the areas that have started sagging. Start by checking the corners first, in each and every space to make sure if there had been fabric coming off. Once you spotted the places, try to mark it with a removable pencil so you will now where to reapply the adhesive glue.
3. Applying glue adhesive
Once you know where the areas have worn and torn, start to apply the glue. One thing to note is that you have to apply the glue gradually in each and every affected area and let it dry constantly in pieces. This is the best time for your assistant to help you in holding the upholstery up after you have glued them unto the roof. Another option is to glue all the affected pieces all together at once and letting them dry completely too. Your assistant can hold them in but it would be helpful to use a heavy tool to use as a weight to make sure the fabric would stay place. Take note of this as you can do it again for other repairs.
Other methods for fixing the headliner:
If you don’t want to use upholstery glue, there are other ways for you to repair your roof fabric.
Using pins to hold the car’s headliner
Depending on your preference, you may opt to use a different tool for fixing your headliners. Pins can be one of those tools. If you have enough pins in your toolbox, then you can put these pins against the headliner’s fabric sagging part. This is very easy to do and you can also make patterns according to the pins that are placed on the sagging areas. These small tools are great ideas for fixing car headliners.
Using the steam cleaner
As this article mentioned, the reason for the sagging roof liner is because of its loss in glue potency. The adhesive has been dried out too much so the stickiness has died down. One way to revive it is to use a steam cleaner. It can melt the adhesive glue used in your car upholstery. It can fix the interior once again. However, it would be advisable for you to pat the liner unto the roof’s backboard smoothly and securely. If you have a rolling brush, that would be a great tool to smoothen wrinkles.
Using double-sided tapes to fasten the loose headliners
If you think you won’t mind having some tapes on your car roof, then using this option is perfectly effective as well. All you need to secure is some sturdy double-sided tapes. This also entails a very fast and smart solution to prevent your car ceiling from sagging. The procedure for this is quite simple. You will only need to stick the tapes unto your backboard and the frames of your headliner. And that would settle it for a long time too. This is a quick roof liner repair. You may use this method if you think your automotive headliners have incurred too many damages on the side, as the tape can hold the frame securely unto the backboard.
Whichever method or tools you decide to use, as long as it works perfectly and effectively then you’re good to go. If you are still not confident about your DIY skill about fixing cars after you’ve read the tips above, you can rely on someone how to fix books written by a car repair expert author. It would also help if you’d ask for more advice from some people who had experienced the same headliner problem with you. They can also suggest ways on how to replace your headliner if in case you decide to do so.
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