I'm thinking about replacing my worn out leather with cloth, and I want something really abrasion resistant. I'm going to have to have a shop repair some of the foam on my passenger's seat anyways, so I'll probably turn the whole job over to a professional. Maybe I'm going a little over the top on abrasion resistance here, but I was thinking something like ballistics fabric. I've noticed alot of the new sporty cars that have come to market have a similar heavy-duty fabric, dunno if it's Cordura or ballistics material or what, but I really like the idea of having tough, breathable seats.
denverfabrics.com has a modest selection of these types of fabrics under their 'Outdoor Fabrics' section. This is the best I've found so far, plus most of their samples are either $1 or free--which is the only way to tell what you'd be buying, since their sample photos are teh sux. I can take pics of the samples they sent me if anyone's interested. I ordered a sample of the Cordura 1000 Denier, Sr. Ballistics 1680 Denier, Tough Tek, and Neoprene.
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=14163&Category_Code=BALLI&Product_Count=2
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=14164&Category_Code=BALLI&Product_Count=1
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=14167&Category_Code=CORD&Product_Count=6
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=001&Product_Code=14910&Product_Count=&Category_Code=
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=13524&Category_Code=TUFTEK&Product_Count=0
Their prices seem reasonable, and the ballistic and Cordura samples aren't too rough against the skin while still providing excellent resistance to abrasion. A minute of rubbing the edge of a quarter vigorously on the surface did nothing. The Tough Tek was a little too rubbery (would probably pull hair...) and the Neoprene seemed like it'd be a little warm here in Florida, but who knows. Anyone who's used Wet Okole's Neoprene seatcovers, I'd love to hear how you liked them in the summer months.
Has anyone gone a similar route with their interior? Any suggestions? If I'm headed in the wrong direction here, please help me! I want seats that are tough but still comfortable, and I'm no fabrics expert...
Strangely enough, the one thing that sparked my interest in doing this type of cloth was a pair of adidas shoes I have that have a red-and-black pattern fabric on them reminiscent of the Recaro Jersey Black-Red fabric:
http://www.capitalseating.co.uk/productdetail.asp?pid=336&type=s&appgrpid=&appid=&rid=63
However, that fabric is rather pricey...if anyone knows where to find something similar to the Recaro fabric, I'd definitely be interested...
denverfabrics.com has a modest selection of these types of fabrics under their 'Outdoor Fabrics' section. This is the best I've found so far, plus most of their samples are either $1 or free--which is the only way to tell what you'd be buying, since their sample photos are teh sux. I can take pics of the samples they sent me if anyone's interested. I ordered a sample of the Cordura 1000 Denier, Sr. Ballistics 1680 Denier, Tough Tek, and Neoprene.
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=14163&Category_Code=BALLI&Product_Count=2
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=14164&Category_Code=BALLI&Product_Count=1
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=14167&Category_Code=CORD&Product_Count=6
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=001&Product_Code=14910&Product_Count=&Category_Code=
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=13524&Category_Code=TUFTEK&Product_Count=0
Their prices seem reasonable, and the ballistic and Cordura samples aren't too rough against the skin while still providing excellent resistance to abrasion. A minute of rubbing the edge of a quarter vigorously on the surface did nothing. The Tough Tek was a little too rubbery (would probably pull hair...) and the Neoprene seemed like it'd be a little warm here in Florida, but who knows. Anyone who's used Wet Okole's Neoprene seatcovers, I'd love to hear how you liked them in the summer months.
Has anyone gone a similar route with their interior? Any suggestions? If I'm headed in the wrong direction here, please help me! I want seats that are tough but still comfortable, and I'm no fabrics expert...
Strangely enough, the one thing that sparked my interest in doing this type of cloth was a pair of adidas shoes I have that have a red-and-black pattern fabric on them reminiscent of the Recaro Jersey Black-Red fabric:
http://www.capitalseating.co.uk/productdetail.asp?pid=336&type=s&appgrpid=&appid=&rid=63
However, that fabric is rather pricey...if anyone knows where to find something similar to the Recaro fabric, I'd definitely be interested...