Good girl that I was, I did the smart thing of testing out the directions in an inconspicuous spot on the bottom of my red chair’s matching ottoman. I was pleased to discover that my red vinyl was just about the same color as the basic tub of red, which meant no additional mixing would be necessary. I also found that the metal tool was completely useless, and that the best way to cure the repair goo compound was to use the tip of the iron itself.

Meanwhile, my repair didn’t look exactly seamless, but I figured that would get better with a little more practice. With test completed, it was time to attempt to start making those fixes.

Now, I’d love to report that it was smooth sailing from here and that my $15 investment really did provide the miracle cure I was hoping for, leaving me with a revamped chair that looked as pristine perfect as it did way back in its 70s heyday. But here’s what I discovered once I’d done a few of these patch jobs on the actual spots where there were noticeable tears.

The first was that for the long tears along the seat back itself, the repairs just weren’t strong enough to withstand the fact that seats – duh – get sat upon. The reason these tears had occurred in the first place was because of the pressure placed on them each time someone sat down; a couple of thin layers of cheap vinyl compound simply did not hold up to this strain.