The Upholstery Forum

I have always used 1/4 or 1/2” scrim when doing automotive trim but more and more it seems I am seeing videos where the trimmer is using headliner material instead of regular scrim. Is there a time to use one and another time to use the other?

Specifically, I guess I am wondering if one stretches or forms better than the other. Maybe regular foam scrim is better for pleats and headliner material is better for forming buns or reshaping seats? On the other hand, maybe headliner material has a poorer quality of foam and should not be used for padding.

Any knowledgeable feedback or thoughts will be appreciated.

John

My wholesaler will only sell scrim foam by the roll (and it’s quite large) but they will sell headliner by the yard, there’s not much difference in the price per yard breakdown.

I just don’t use enough to justify buying a whole roll, may be others in my situation.

My opinion is that headliner foam breaks down a lot quicker. I feel like I see it more and more in cheaper replacement seat covers. In a few years they are already broken down. But I have no factual information just what I see.

@Cody, I have suspected that could be the case. I also notice that scrim is made with a muslin backing and a t-shirt backing. Obviously the t-shirt backing would be much more stretchy.

I would really like to find a good tutorial on which product to use and when. (Headliner, muslin backed or t-shirt backed scrim.)

Revv Up, It can be bought at places like Albright's but you need to have an order large enough to warrant free shipping or it becomes cost prohibitive.

John

It’s hard for me to justify a whole roll vs enough for each project as I don’t have a lot of storage space. But in the long run I’ve used enough sew foam now to have gone through a whole roll. It’s a lot of money up front and can be money sitting there if you don’t use it. But in the end it’s probably the cheapest route for you.

3 reasons Ive used headliner fabric for scrim before.
-One some supply stores have special deals on scrap headliner or full roll deals. Making it a cheaper option.
- Headliner foam is thinner than 1/4 scrim? So if 1/4" is too thick headliner material is a good option.
- Some times I have leftover headliner scraps around and dont want waste it. So Ill use it on jobs that dont need to be high end quality.

Thanks guys. @John What can you share concerning the different backings available on scrim?

John

@John,

I make my own.

@BigRig, As cheap as they both are, why do you find it is better to make your own?

John

@John Long ,

Becasue I do not think they are cheap at all. I use foam for other applications too so on the fly it is easier for me to keep raw foam on hand and make it as I go.

@John Long Great question!
In my experience there are 4 types of scrim backing.

1. Fish net backing: This is the cheapest and worst scrim available. The foam has a square pattern plastic netting on the back. The problem is that the netting is spread far apart and does not hold the depth of top stitches on things like pleats. I never use this.

2. Tightly woven Fish net backing: This is what you see on the higher quality scrim foam. Usually this is all pink and green scrim foam. This is typically regarded as the best scrim foam. It works well because the netting is much tighter and holds the depth of top stitches very well.

3.Headliner Backed /Muslin Backed / Tshirt Backed: These 3 terms are pretty much the same. This is the type of scrim you see me use in the videos. This is my favorite because in my experience this holds the depth of top stitches the best. Its also usually a pretty good price!

4. Make your own: In the old days you would have to glue muslin to the foam and make your own. This is a really good way to do it because you can choose the quality of foam and choose the backing material. But its much more time consuming and there fore more expensive. So this option usually does not make sense.

hope that helps!

@John, Thank you. Do you ever choose scrim based on it's ability to stretch or not to for that matter? Muslin is pretty strong but cotton T-shirt material would be pretty stretchy I would think.

John

Yes that is a good point. All of the store bought scrim is much more stretchy than vinyl or leather. If you are making your own scrim this is something you want to consider for sure.