What material is this seat? And what’s best to clean and protect

L

LTRMcrew

New member
Hi everyone, so this is our daily driver 2014 Toyota Sienna SE. as you can see the front two seats are having this issue with cracking. What is this material? Vinyl? Leatherette? What best to clean it with? And what to apply to protect it to avoid more cracking?
Thanks for the replies!

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Looks like good ol’ regular vinyl coated upholstery to me. As far as protecting it, well you’re already past that point. The vinyl is coming off of the fabric backing. It’s past the point of return and will continue to work it’s way out in the high wear areas. You may slow it down with commercial vinyl dressings on the lesser wear of the seat but the reality is you’ll see this every time you look at it. It’s worn out.

Maybe it’s time to play with some of those “As Seen on TV” products that use a vinyl fill in that cures. Never tried it, never heard anyone say they’ve used it but it is out there.
 
As GearHead stated above, it is beyond the point of repair. You would need to look into an upholstery shop to replace the skins of your seats I`m afraid.
 
There is no Detailing product I know of that will fix or stop this problem you have with your vinyl seats..

Not sure exactly - where - this tearing is happening, but I have seen it usually on the driver seat bolster next to the door, that gets rubbed on a lot when getting in and out of the vehicle..

The only - real - fix is to get an upholstery shop to replace the entire seat covers, and then you can try to keep them clean and apply something to them regularly to keep them from getting too dry..

And if someone is getting in and out of the vehicle with something sharp, etc., in their pockets, and hitting that area, well, you need to stop that too..

Good luck with this..
DanF
 
I`ve had a shop replace one panel of a seat for me before. May be a cheaper alternative than replacing the entire cover.
 
Yeah a good shop can take the cover off. Remove that section and use it as a stencil for a new piece and replace. Won’t be cheap but cheaper than replacing all if it.


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Ok thanks for the replies. Yes it is the bolster next to the driver door. Although it’s also happening to the passenger seat.

Could this have been prevented? Should I have been applying something to the seat to protect it?

so frustrating as it’s only 6 years old.
 
LTRMcrew said:
Could this have been prevented? Should I have been applying something to the seat to protect it?

so frustrating as it’s only 6 years old.
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Presumably, using a good vinyl/rubber product can help keep such areas pliable and prevent the cracking. That and keeping it clean since dirt is abrasive. BUT if it`s where the seatbelt rubs against it some degree of wear might be inevitable.

BUT I`ll say that I`ve never had vinyl seat upholstery do that, and I`ve had a lot of really old/neglected vehicles. It was more common back in the `70s, but even then it never happened to mine and I credit regular upkeep. Six years *does* sound like it happened pretty quick, but different seats go through different experiences! And maybe that material just wasn`t as durable as we`d like.

What about using a seatcover? Like...now, to cover up that damage, and in the future to provide a sacrificial wear-surface? It`d be great if you could find a solution that not only solved the problem but also helped save some $ :D

Oh, and Welcome to Autopia!
 
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