The Upholstery Forum

Hey Guys,

I really like foam repair and just signed up to do these type of seats for this. I have done some repairs with good success in the commercial trucks and want to just get your guys input on some important tips for making sure these repairs hold for me.

I have some limited foam repairs on boat seats. When i make a repair, i cut away the damaged area with as straight lines as i can with an electric knife. My thought is when you glue a new piece in with straight lines, then you have max foam to foam contact. I have had seemingly good luck with 3M super 77 spray adhesive from home depot . one thing i always try to do is match the firmess of the existing foam.. When shaping, i just use an electric knife to get pretty close. If you use 1/2 scrim foam for the top, i would think it would cover any minor imperfections.

Good advice on the straight cuts and I was using the LePage in a can from Home Depot it has held up. I kept looking at the 3M 77 stuff. I just got my supplier to set me up with my adhesive today. He really was more educating me on proper ventilation for the spray adhesives as he seemed very concerned about carcinogens.

Vicstric is spot on there. Only thing I do differently is once I get it rough cut with the knife I come back and smooth and shape the foam with a 3 inch 80 grit disk on my air grinder. Then I like to glue a piece of muslin over the repair area to add a little more strength to the repair.

@John,

Excellent!!!

I have never had Muslin just use old bed sheets. Is that fabric similar or is this Muslin a must have?

Haha yeah bed sheets will work That's pretty resourceful. Muslin is just a cheep light weight cloth material. Its nothing special.

@John,

Salvaged bed sheets
1/2" High Density Foam (no backing)
Headliner foam

Quick spray of glue all togehter and presto!!! Sew Foam

I promise that I will never throw away any old bed sheets!!!!! I never thought of using it to reinforce a repair or to manufacture sew foam, and i will definitely do it, as I have not easy access to sew foam!!

Thank you very much for the very useful advices! This forum and its users is a great resource!

Here's a link to a slide show I posted on Instagram when I repaired my son's F350 seat. I did put a piece of headliner across the whole bolster before finishing. Hope it works! @BigRig I liked doing the repair too!
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Oops, I guess not!

@kl4bidn ,

Did you use a spray can adhesive?

Yes. I buy from Albany Foam Supply or Miami Corp because they have warehouses in my area. I used AFS's brand of foam adhesive.

Lol I guess I don't mind doing foam repair. I just don't like how much of a mess it makes.

I like it because it's like magic how foam can be fixed with only contact cement and other pieces of foam but, as John says, everything gets dirty really fast!!! Even doing it outside, my wife hates it!!!

I just run that shop vac end alongside the sanding disc as it spits the foam some of it is captured.

@LeatherJohnny ,

Better get on those purses and bags before you take in any of the rotten foam repair jobs

Good idea about the shop vac! I'll try it next day!

John wrote: ↑Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:05 pm Lol I guess I don't mind doing foam repair. I just don't like how much of a mess it makes.

I hear ya, would love to have a separate room to sand foam and spray glue, unfortunately I’ve run out of room for such luxury’s.

Yeah that would be nice!

Where would one look for seat foam? I see references to high density foam, but am unsure where to find it. (I have a seat on my minivan I need to fix, and the cracked panel has split and the foam below it has degraded.

I'm also looking to shape a pillow for my wife who is having difficulties with stacking a small pillow with a larger pillow, and I think I can shape a pillow with a deeper "well" for the back sleeping position, and shallower parts on the sides for side sleeping. I have seen the costs for such a pillow in stores and it's obscene what they charge for them.