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I have a tear in the vinyl driver seat. I'm looking for a purely functional (read: not concerned with aesthetics) way to effectively patch the tear to prevent further tearing and degradation of foam padding.
I'm hoping for a better suggestion than duct tape. I'd rather avoid the inevitable sticky residue that is associated with duct tape.
I was doing some searching along these lines today and found something that you may be interested in. It is a transparent vinyl repair tape that has a very high rating on Amazon, and is relatively inexpensive. It's called NRS Tear-Aid Patch.
Another approach, though not perfect, is to:
If I was going to do it, what I would do is remove the seat. Then take off the cover, after learning how with Google searches. Then sew it together from the inside. In fact I did a similar job on my grandson's Celica seat where it had pulled apart on a seam. The only thing is, looking at your picture, I think you might need two small matching pieces to fill the holes. You may be able to cut this from excess fabric under the seat.
Most auto parts stores carry some sort of vinyl repair kit. They consist of a liquid that air dries. In your case you may want to tape the edges leaving some of the tear exposed while the repaired area dries, then move the tape and repeat the process until the entire tear is repaired. You could also make a patch and glue it to the seat with the repair compound. Another option might be to sew it closed and apply the vinyl repair compound over it to seal it.
The area of your tear is in a place which will be stressed each every time you get on and off the seat. The apparent size of the tear is too great for plugging and patching, it will always be weak. This damage looks to be a seat cover replacement, either by yourself or an upholstery shop.
