Door upholstery - a new image of the "face" of the house

One of the most popular and effective ways of presenting an entrance is to upholster doors with special materials. Their correct selection allows you to get a completely new image of the "face" of a house or apartment. The event is not so difficult to master on your own. Sheathing is carried out not only in order to restore old doors, but also to change the design style of even new wooden and metal doors.

Why do door upholstery

Front door upholstery has a multifunctional meaning:

1. Change in appearance not only in color, but in texture and even shape. The soft upholstery makes it possible to carry out a three-dimensional pattern and decoration. A real masterpiece can be made from a simple or old door.
2. Insulation - materials with a low thermal conductivity are used for cladding. Moreover, both soft and sheet thermal insulation materials are applicable.
3. Soundproofing, because the materials used have excellent sound absorption characteristics. If necessary, specialized sound insulation can be applied.
4. Vibration and sound insulation. Metal and wooden doors without upholstery resonate strongly with any pop in the staircase and vibrate when closed, which is very annoying. Upholstery allows you to get rid of such manifestations. The material applied to the canvas perfectly absorbs vibrations and noise.

The layer-by-layer combination of sound insulation, insulation and decor allows you to get the maximum effect.

Features of upholstery for doors

Door cladding is performed using many technologies, and a number of important features can be distinguished:

1. Solid door cladding is made with both solid (MDF, plywood, veneer) and elastic materials (various vinyl films). A distinctive feature is the preservation of a solid surface with the main purpose of decoration, as well as insulation.
2. Soft cladding is distinguished by the use of only elastic and sealing materials, which makes it possible not only to carry out insulation, sound insulation, but to create an original volumetric pattern of the door.
3. The upholstery of a wooden door is somewhat different from the finish of a metal sheet. This is due to the peculiarity of the fastening, because it is impossible to drive a decorative furniture nail into the metal. Special self-tapping screws are used or the canvas is pasted over with durable glue with high adhesion ability.
4. The selection of materials, their required amount is based on a comprehensive idea, given that the overlaid layers of materials slightly increase the area of ​​the shelter. It is recommended that before performing door trimming, be sure to carefully study the technology, conditionally break down its stages and even draw up an operational map. This will allow you to get rid of alterations, damage to materials and, as a result, simplify the achievement of the desired result.
5. Nails for upholstery doors are selected special with a large, like a button, a head. The assortment usually includes hardware with decorative stamping and painting for gold, copper, black, white, which should also be taken into account when developing the design of an updated door leaf.

For the event, you will need a set of carpentry, measuring tools, super-strong glue "Liquid nails".

Features of upholstery door materials

The upholstery for the door is made of two similar materials, although they are often confused and called leatherette or dermantine:

1. The very first leatherette was dermantin, which is a woven base coated with nitrocellulose. The material has retained its popularity to the present day due to its fairly high UV resistance. Padding the door with dermantine is allowed even from the outside with direct access to the street. The material is resistant to chemical and biological effects, and also retains its properties at high temperature extremes.
2. Vinyl leather is a modern material, competitive in quality and price. Its technical characteristics are practically not inferior to expensive upholstery materials. It is a laminated sheet material with a layer of polyvinyl chloride, which is also resistant to chemical and biological influences. Depending on the quality, it reveals signs of aging and cracking under active exposure to ultraviolet radiation. It is recommended that the vinyl-leather door upholstery should not be exposed to prolonged exposure to sunlight.

It is advisable, when selecting and purchasing, to specify precisely the characteristics of the material, and not its variety.

Dermantin is practically not produced using the old technology, and all leatherette is very similar in production method with differences in the chemical composition of the polymer and the base, which is the reason for the difference in the price category and technical characteristics:

• the surface can be glossy or matte, ideally smooth, with a different texture and even porous;
• the surface can imitate various skin of animals and reptiles;
• the base of the leatherette is completely different from knitted and felt to polymer foam;
• upholstery is distinguished by the coefficient of thermal expansion, elasticity, ability to stretch and resistance to chemicals;
• dermantin for door upholstery does not require special care and can be easily cleaned using ordinary laundry soap, but active solvents can negatively affect the polymer and leave traces of exposure.

Features of self-upholstery doors with leatherette

When preparing for independent door upholstery, you have to independently choose both material, insulation, and decorative elements.

Features of the selection of upholstery materials

Pay attention:

1. For soft upholstery, an elastic and "springy" material is advisable, then sagging and unwanted folds will not be found during temperature fluctuations. For a flat rigid cladding, it is advisable to select a material with a lower shrinkage and elasticity coefficient. This will ensure a tight fit of the leatherette during temperature changes, which means that the fastening will be less disturbed.
2. The upholstery of wooden doors for a secure attachment of dermantin requires fairly frequent fixing points. You can only use nails with a special head (about 1 cm in diameter). In cases of hidden fixing methods, the use of mounting brackets is permissible. The fixing step is selected from the leatherette tension, the amount of lining and the design format - it is from 2 to 7 cm.
3. In order to beautifully and neatly sheathe the door with dermantine, it is necessary to choose the right materials, position them precisely and fix them correctly. It is recommended to use only polymeric materials as a lining material. They do not lose their properties over time and do not support the development of any biological forms. Foam rubber sheets or synthetic winterizer are popular and suitable. The layer thickness is selected from 2 to 5 cm, and multilayer is allowed.
4. To strengthen the fixation and formation of the original pattern, tapes or twine made of a similar polymer, as well as a stainless steel cable, are used.Reinforcing tapes can be made independently with long cuts with a hem in the edging.
5. Simple drawings are formed by geometric shapes in strict accordance with the recommended step-by-step technology. The creation of a pattern can be carried out both with the help of ribbons, cords, and only with nails or by a combination of methods.

To create very complex patterns, some craftsmen use a special furniture technology of layered curly laying of the material.

The lower layers are stacked in segments, forming the bumps of the pattern, and on top a single "enveloping blanket" is created with a material with a thickness of about 1 cm.

Technological features of door upholstery

Stages of work:

1. Soft volumetric options for door upholstery with dermantine require more skill and accurate calculation of the tensile force of the upholstery material. At low tension, sagging and skewing of the pattern will be detected. If excessive, there is a possibility of material rupture at the attachment points. It is worth considering that the larger the volume of the lining material, the larger the pattern will be. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the degree of tension of the leatherette, the size of the “blank” segment with a large margin, as well as the appearance of additional folds, which should be part of the conceived design. It is for these reasons that beginners are not advised to use thick liners.
2. Before sheathing the door with dermantine, each stage of fixation and methods of forming a pattern are thought out. Upholstery material “does not forgive” mistakes and it is impossible to remake already punched material without “used signs”. It also takes into account the possibility of fixing around the perimeter of the insulating edging, which covers the technological gap between the door and the door frame.
3. It is recommended to mark the pattern of door upholstery with dermantine even before fixing. You will need a dry bar of soap or contrasting wax crayon. Pre-markup simplifies the visualization of the project and makes it possible to measure the drawing itself with the size of the door.
4. The fastenings of the lining materials are necessarily thought out, because they affect the effect of springing with dips in the fasteners. To simplify this point, the lining is glued to the door.
5. The upholstery of wooden doors for the formation of a pattern is carried out by fixing from the center in four directions with uniform effort and control of the absence of distortions. Dermantin is pulled in several stages only from the center. Take into account the tension of the material when installing the lock and door handle, which are removed before the upholstery.
6. The upholstery of metal doors with vinyl leather is somewhat different due to the impossibility of performing a large number of fixing points. The formation of the pattern is carried out by stitching leatherette and lining with buttons according to the principle of a quilt. Fastening of the already formed "blanket" is carried out along the perimeter on self-tapping screws.

It is very difficult to perform all actions when the door is overhang. Therefore, to simplify and accurately form the pattern, the door leaf is dismantled and placed on chairs, stools.

Video instruction for upholstery of a wooden door