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drdoombot's avatar

Is there a way to repair torn leather armrests on an office chair?

Asked by drdoombot (8145points) November 8th, 2009

On my old desk, the corners of the keyboard drawer were sharp and they punctured the leather armrests on my beloved executive office chair. I wrapped the armrests in black electrical tape. After a while, however, the glue came off the electrical tape, leaving the loose tape to dangle from my chair and the underside of both armrests sticky to the touch.

I rewrapped the electrical tape around the armrests and added a layer of clear shipping tape on top to keep things in place. As you can imagine, this is not an elegant solution. There has to be a better way. And before someone suggests throwing the chair out and getting a new one, I don’t have the $120 to spend on a new high-backed executive office chair.

The leather on the armrests is mostly just cracked, though both of them have 1”-2” spots where the leather is gone and the yellow foam is peeking through. Anyone have any ideas on how I can fix this myself?

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5 Answers

janbb's avatar

Maybe you can get self-adhesive leather patches to stick over the worn parts. They should be available at a sewing supplies store or possibly Home Depot.

ccrow's avatar

If not self-adhesive leather, you should be able to use contact cement or something to glue leather over the area. You should probably wrap something tightly around it (with plastic in between) in lieu of clamping while the glue sets.

gailcalled's avatar

MIne (also on a very expensive chair) have velcro fasteners. Try some of the online sites for high-end leather office chairs. Maybe they sell parts.

YARNLADY's avatar

My favorite solution is to use a good leather glue and glue new leather over the old leather. Be sure to cut the patch corners round so there are no sharp pieces sticking out. You can also purchase a liquid leather repair kit from auto dealers, but they are for small cracks before the get completely out of hand.

I would also suggest purchasing a set of arm covers to protect against further damage.

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