Seat Covers Research Guide
UV Damage
Ultra violet is the electromagnetic waves of light that are emitted by the sun. The sun emits large quantities of the UV rays but though most of it is filtered out by our atmosphere, some of it nevertheless comes through, and it ends up harming human skin as well as the automobile upholstery. Direct sunlight on your fabrics has a bleaching effect. Where once your seats were dark blue or black, an overdose of ultra violet radiation will leave your seats looking purple or ashen. Since you can't always park in the shade, you can give yourself year-round protection with a snazzy set of seat covers.
A Guide to Covering Your Damaged Seats
Sometimes bad things happen to good upholstery. If the interior of your vehicle has suffered some cruel twist of fate (a leaky pen left lying in the backseat, or a torn seam that's threatening to unravel completely), you have the ability to rejuvenate your vehicle's seats without having to go through the hassle of a complete reupholster job. Instead of calling up your dealer and shelling out an arm and a leg for new seats, you can simply slide a new set of seat covers directly over the old ones. No muss, no fuss-just great looking seat covers that fit like a glove.
There are three different fitting seat covers, a custom fit, semi-custom fit and universal fit. Let's take a closer look at the benefits you get with each style.
Custom Fit Seat Covers
A Custom Seat Cover hugs every contour of you seats to give a perfect fit. No part of the seat is overlooked. Custom covers offers such a great fit because as the name suggests, these covers are made from the exact make and model measurements that are obtained from the manufacturer of the automobile. The custom-fit seat covers provide access to every special feature and function housed in your seat body.
Semi-Custom Fit Seat Covers
On the other hand, a semi custom seat cover provides a fit that is only 80% as good as a custom seat cover. It also does not provide access to special features or functions provided with your seat.
Universal Seat Covers
Universal Seat Covers simply do not give a good fit; neither do they provide any access to any special feature or functions of your particular vehicle model. You should never use Universal seat covers if your seats have side-impact airbags – they hinder the process and can lead to some really risky situations.
Tips on Making over Your Interior
Your vehicle is more than just a means of transportation – it is an extension of your identity, your personality and your uniqueness. You want your vehicle to mirror yourself, and the right set of seat covers is an excellent way to personalize your interior. And, with all the different colors, patterns and materials at your disposal, you have an almost limitless array of ways to customize your car seats. Here are the basics:
Colors and Designs
Automobile manufacturers tend to design their interiors to please as many shoppers as they possibly can. In order to create that wide appeal, they usually use neutral colors and almost never add any patterns into the mix. Now, you can break free from the mold by dressing your seats in your favorite color, or even one of the radical and eye-catching designs.
Universal Fit Covers
Universal Fit seat covers are available in 3 general sizes – Big, Small and Medium. These covers are never recommended as they rarely fit properly.
Pelt
According to vehicle upholstery terminology, Pelt stands for animal skin usually coming from fox, raccoon, beaver or bear that still holds good amount of animal fur, hair, bristles, etc attached to it. Pelt is often used in seat cover making in place of genuine fur which is far too expensive.
Friction
Friction ordinarily means abrasion. In the vehicle seat cover trade it denotes the chafing or rubbing between a person’s apparel and the automobile’s seat or the seat cover, as a result of which some heat is generated. This simulated heat often causes surface deterioration of the seat cover.
Pink Slip
A Yankee slang denoting vehicle Registration Certificate. The term is also related to road racing where the winner stakes claim to the loser’s vehicle as the winning trophy. However, the situation can be saved if the ‘Pink Slip’ does not change hands. Thus the popular catchphrase, “Don’t lose the Pink Slip”
UV or Ultra violet emission
Means discharge or radiation of the sun’s ultra violet ray that is harmful for human eyes and the skin. But experiments have proved its ill effects also on the automobile upholstery. It is particularly dangerous for leather upholstery as UV dries up the leather’s oil content, leaving the buckskin dry and lifeless. Fabric upholstery can also get damaged from prolonged exposure to the UV rays. |
