The Upholstery Forum

My first question: I'm looking for an vinyl for practicing in a few low end cars like my sons 1998 Toyota. Of course I would still like them to look as good as possible and last a while. But I'm not looking for high end stuff.

I'll probably just do the 10 yard thing at Albrights... but they have a handful of brands and types. Is there any real difference between the different brand of cheap stuff?

The other option I am looking at is just using Joanne Fabrics marine vinyl. I used that on my first project and it was... ok. Super shiny and cheap looking. The main thing is that I can get it local-ish.

How would the cheap Albrights stuff compare, if anyone had used both.

Anyhow, that is my first question.

Any thoughts?
Jeffery

I used some of the 10 yard store stuff for practice stuff I was doing and it was great for that. I like it much better than anything you can get for Joanne Fabric and its much cheaper to buy. Even if you buy some of the more expensive stuff from Albrights in the 10-20$ per yard range, just for practice stuff you don't have to buy a lot. And the better quality material will stretch and handle different from cheep material. You would probably be using the better stuff for most projects anyways so its nice to know its limitations and what to expect from it. You will mess some stuff up and have to redo it for sure, but you usually wont waste that much material anyways.

You know, I hadn't thought about the elasticity and the way it works being different. I think I'll not go super cheap.

Also, even if I'm practicing, if something comes off gray, I'll want to keep it, so using the right fabric might save me a little that way too.

I'm ordering from Albrights, getting some DAP Weldwood, some black vinyl and some burgundy vinyl.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep ya posted.

Jf

Looks like you got some good advice. But I agree don’t go too cheap. I had some real cheap vinyl given to me. I used it for templates, but it match in color and texture real well to some better material and got it mixed in by mistake. The cheap stuff didn’t flex and just cracked like a month in. Looked good to start with. Just by a good quality you’ll be happier in the end if it does turn out.

Albright is a great place for good cheep vinyl. You can also try brytech out of Florida they usually have some good clearance deals. You can also call other local suppliers and ask if they have any vinyl on clearance.

I'm in Canada so I order from here. I do have one US supplier that seams good. I'm not sure how they compare in price.
Charlotte fabrics. Com. They have really good customer service and will send you samples

@Susy, Go to Fabricland and take a good look.