How the heck can I fix this?

June 29, 2015 7:32 AM

I need to repair a bean bag chair that has ripped vinyl edges (some of the "beans") are coming out. What is the best way to fix this? Picture inside.

Here is a photo of the damage.

I was thinking of getting a vinyl repair kit, but I'm not sure if that's the best. I've also thought about possibly sewing it. Are there any other methods I'm missing? Is there a way of fixing it with the least margin of error?

This doesn't personally belong to me and getting a new one isn't really option, but I need to fix it (one way or another)!

posted by modesty.blaise to Grab Bag (12 answers total)

the traditional method I recall from the college years is to use a bunch of that super thick super sticky silver duct tape.
posted by poffin boffin at 7:38 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, agreeing with poffin boffin. My understanding is that your two choices for bean bag repair are duct tape or new bean bag chair.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:42 AM on June 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

Nthing duct tape. We do this at day care/school and it holds up really well. Plus duct tape has so many colours now you can find one that matches the chair so the repair isn't super obvious.
posted by Lay Off The Books at 7:51 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice, so far, but I forgot to mention that my boss thinks duct tape will look ugly! Unfortunately, that isn't an option. (If I had my way, I would soooo use duct tape.)
posted by modesty.blaise at 8:05 AM on June 29, 2015

Best answer: We used multiple strips of a clear tape designed for vinyl repairs. Googling shows a number of non-duct tape options along these lines, including colored and textured, and also some glue based options. But for beanbag chairs, I'd probably stay with a tape. Also, if you do the taped repair large enough/funky enough, it can look like a deliberate design choice rather than a one off repair.
posted by beaning at 8:10 AM on June 29, 2015

Best answer: OMG - this is what Sugru is made for.
posted by juniperesque at 8:11 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

I agree with beaning (eponymical!) Plus duct tape comes in lots of different colors and patterns so you can definitely make this look like a deliberate choice vs. a repair.
posted by mmascolino at 8:13 AM on June 29, 2015

If you're going to tape, you should plan to tape all the way around that seam. You can get duct tape in plaid, leopard, holographic glitter, and all kinds of solid colors - I'd say buy a bunch and tape a square or parallelogram or heart shape or something over that whole end piece.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:18 AM on June 29, 2015

Best answer: If both the tears are on the same side of the bag, you can do it with a similarly colored tape and then that side is just the bottom side from now on. There's also that Gorilla tape which is pretty strong but it's also clear and therefore shiny, which will show up as a taped up spot just like the regular tape, although not as noticeably. I don't know if putting the vinyl repair thing OVER the tape would work but it might help blend the color to make it less obvious.

I would try to tape up as much of it from the inside as possible (stick the heavy silver tape onto the upper lip of the tear with the sticky side facing outwards and the silver side facing the bean filling) and then carefully line up the lower lip to match the rip as closely as possible. Then you put the clear tape over that on the outside of the rip, and you have the best of both tape worlds. You have to be really careful and precise while doing this because peeling the vinyl off the tape to re-line it up will likely damage the vinyl.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:23 AM on June 29, 2015

OMG - this is what Sugru is made for.

Hey, suggesting Sugru is my thing!

(Use Sugru!)
posted by Room 641-A at 9:09 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is just a side comment: if you fix the leak and the bag needs more stuffing, I just added a Bag of Beans to my beanbag chair and it made a huge difference in comfort.
posted by freecellwizard at 10:12 AM on June 29, 2015

When I was a kid and our shitty vinyl bean bag chairs had this issue, my mom emptied all the beans into a garbage bag, ripped out the seams on the existing chair and traced the pieces to make new ones out of denim that lasted for YEARS. You may not be crafty enough to pull this off, but I'd bet you could contract this out. Whether it's worth it is entirely another issue, of course.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:54 AM on June 29, 2015