It is always nice to have a beautiful looking vehicle from the outside, but what about the inside?! Your interior is what you see during your commute to work every day, so shouldn’t you love it? With auto upholstery I am going to find all the tools we need so we can keep our inside looking as fresh as the outside of our vehicle!
From drooping headliners to torn and worn carpets, your upholstery can make or break you selling your vehicle. If you were able to redo your upholstery or at least fix it to be appealing, this would increase the value in your car. So enough talking about it lets get right into it. Here are 17 Must-Have things when doing Auto Upholstery.
Steam cleaner
This is one of the best tools anyone can have in their garage, shop, or in your house. A steam cleaner can keep your vehicle looking fabulous at all times! Steam cleaners help you keep your car clean by lifting the dirt up so your vacuum can pick it all up.
You can also use your steam cleaner on your seats to get rid of those water stains, and on your leather to get that looking as good as new. There is another thing you can use a steam cleaner for that a lot of people don’t know about.
That way is using your steam cleaner to take off old tint from your windows. Instead of picking it off one small flake at a time, put your steam cleaner close to the tint around 8-10 inches away from the glass.
The steam will melt the bond that the adhesive has with the tint, and it will come right off, then slowly work down the whole window until it is all good and clean. Then you can take a razor blade and scrape the leftover adhesive off, use an ammonia-based window cleaner to help with the glue.
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Heat gun
This tool is terrific to help shrink any cloth or leather you have. Once you have the fabric in place, you can run the heat gun over the corners and folds to tighten the material up.
Glue gun
Watch it on this one everyone, the glue is actually hot, and there is nothing 
worse than scalding hot glue sitting on your skin. In the case that it does land on your skin, you will need to rinse with cold water then pick the glue off. Yes, it will hurt, but I bet that will be the last time you are complacent with a hot glue gun.
Staple gun
These staples are going to help bind your fabric down, but do everything you can to keep the state out of sight if possible. If you are doing your own design with the upholstery in most cases you will use the sewing machine to bind cloth together, so all good here!
Compressor 165psi
A compressor is a key to many tools, and this makes your work go so much faster and smoother. I say 165 psi because most air tools request 135 psi others 150 psi, so it is just easier to give a little breathing room and go with the 165 psi option.
Hand tools
Dykes, seam rippers, chalk, carpenters square, measuring tape, metal ruler, these are all tools of the trade and are needed to do a clean, professional job on a customer’s vehicle, so don’t try to cut corners your workmanship will show it.
Scissors
We all know why we need scissors, but just in case anyone doesn’t 
know……we have his to cut fabric. Ok NEXT!!
Industrial sewing machine
No, your daughter’s little Singer sewing machine is not going to work. We need an industrial sewing machine so we can sew through leather, pleather, fabric, and many other upholstery fabrics that will just be too hard on a household sewing machine. Usually, you can find one of these on sale online, so look there first before buying a new one.
Table
We need workspace!! You do not want to constrict yourself to a small work area. So make sure you have a table that you can work from and do not have to move all your materials until you are done with the project. If you do not have any space or an extra table, go online and buy a cheap foldable table.
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Trim removal toolset
Not using this trim removal set can put your interior at a considerable risk of breaking on removal. So it is so much easier just to get a trim removal set. If you purchase one of these sets online, it can range from $14 to $30. Unless you look at Alibaba, then you can get it for $2. They are the same kits anyway, all of them are plastic and work the same way. So make sure you get your trim removal toolset.
Staple removal tool
It is pretty much a given if you are doing upholstery with vehicles you will run into one of two things. Staples and glue, so make sure you have your staple removal tool to make your job easier and decrease the risk of ripping the fabric because you wanted to use a screwdriver instead of the proper tool!
Foam Saw
Many people wanted to save money on getting an extra saw for their work, so they used scissors, knives, blades, and many more items before picking up their first foam saw.
This saw is made for the job of cutting foam, so you do not do a hack job on your customer’s vehicle. Buy the right tool for the right job and never worry about running out of money, because everyone loves a professional that does high-quality work.
Hog ring pliers
After numerous jobs of fighting the fabric and trying to keep it in place, you will come to the conclusion that many upholstery professionals came to, and that is you need hog ring pliers.
These pliers will put the hog rings in place tightly that will make your job easier. That is the key, isn’t it? Make your job easier by working smarter, not harder.
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Button cutter set
This set of tools will make button cutting so much easier. Just a quick woosh with the button cutter set and you will have fresh holes for your buttons, and you can make your work look fantastic!
Mallet and hammer set
Never know when you need a hammer and mallet, I would rather have one than to be caught without one.
Tucking tool
This tool will help immensely in getting the fabric to sit right and right in the application you are doing at that moment. A great example would be a rear seat or under the seat on a Cadillac.
In Conclusion
Many tools are needed in every industry, and the upholstery industry is no different. Make sure you get the right tool for your customer’s vehicle, that way you can make it look amazing and that customer will be a return customer.
Auto upholstery is not just a skill but an art that takes years to perfect, but with the right tools, you are definitely on the right track. So keep doing a great job, don’t give up, and give your customer a fantastic customer experience with you!
Thank you for reading my article! I hope you enjoyed it and found it beneficial. Check out my Youtube channel for more DIY auto repair and car flipping videos! Thank you again!
