Custom Armrest Upholstery
Hey guys, just wanted to share a quick tutorial of how to re upholster your armrest. I know on most older cars the fabric tends to wear out and fall apart, but with little work and money you can get it back to stock or custom. Its a quick and easy diy project that requires little work, time, and money on material. First off, you need your supplies and the cover of your armrest.
Tools and Supplies:
-Headliner adhesive spray can (about $10.99)
-Fabric Scissors (any will do, as long as it can cut fabric, got mine for $3.99 at JoAnn)
-Phillips Screwdriver
-Razor blade
-1 yard or less of Fabric (Choice of material, go to HobbyLobby, JoAnn, Michaels; Prices range)
-Iron and Iron board (If fabric is wrinkled, it comes in handy)
Instructions:
Gather you tools and supplies.
So go to your car and unscrew the 3 or 4 screws where the hinge is holding your armrest cover. you endup getting this:
If you can see, some of my fabric is already peeling off, no worries. By simply reupholstering it, the armrest will look new again.
Next begin, locating all the screws underneath the armrest cover and carefully unscrew them. Keep track of all the screws and where they go. Mine had a latch so, you need to take that off also.
Pry off the plastic part underneath the armrest cover. This will allow you to peel off the old fabric off. Proceed to slowly peel off the fabric, trying not to peel the cushion.
Grab your new fabric (I chose a black cloth fabric, feels like oem cloth material. I paid $8.9/yrd), and your scissors. Lay the old armrest cover fabric over the new fabric material and cut out a rough shape.
Grab your iron and iron board. Iron with steam it if you have to, to get rid of the wrinkles. Be cautious not to destroy your new fabric:
Then once you are done ironing, lay out the fabric on top of the ground or safe area, and lightly coat it with some adhesive (MAKE sure you are coating the correct side of the fabric, because there is a backside and front side). At the same time, coat a generous amount of adhesive to the top/sides/undersides of the bar armrest cover. Allow a 2-5 minute flash/dry time for the adhesive before you actually join the two together. Here is how it should look.
Then carefully and stretch the new fabric and wrap the armrest; the adhesive is really sticky and will not dry out. Get all the wrinkles out by gently pulling off and stretching it over again to wrap the the armrest cover. Get all the contour shape of the cover, be patient and wise about it, theres no need to rush. Work your way around.
Once you have gotten most of the fabric straightened out, begin trimming some of the excess material off underneath (you'll know what i mean when you get to this part). When you finished, put the underneath cover back on with the screws and you are good to go. Go to your car and screw it back on to the rest of the armrest.
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Originally Posted by RL...
