Auto Upholstery: Car Interiors, Electric Equipment and Airbags

It is a far cry from chalk on asphalt and paper lists to the systems that control a modern saddle maker's work. Today's auto saddle maker still works with leather fabric and upholstery but also with heated seats electric adjustment motors memory settings — and not least with components that are directly life-critical in an accident: airbags and seatbelt pretensioners. Understanding and respecting these systems is a fixed part of the trade.

§Electric-driven equipment in seats and interior.

Many cars today have electrical seat adjustment, seat heating, ventilation and massage function built into the upholstery itself. If you need to re-upholster or repair such a seat, wires, heating mats and motors must be removed, stored and reinstalled correctly so the function works afterward and so there is no risk of short circuit or fire. It requires you to be able to operate, troubleshoot and adjust the equipment that is part of modern car interiors — not just sew and upholster around it.

§Airbags and seat belt tensioners: pyrotechnic components

Airbags and seat belt tensioners (also called seat belt pretensioners) are not ordinary mechanical parts. They contain a pyrotechnic charge — a small, controlled explosive charge — that is triggered by the car's control unit in fractions of a second in a collision. The belt tensioner tightens the belt against your body before the airbag deploys, so you are held correctly in your seat. Because both parts are explosive components, they must be treated with the same respect as other pyrotechnic material.

• 01Always disconnect the car's battery and wait the time the manufacturer prescribes before working on seats steering wheel or dashboard with airbags
• 02Never perform resistance measurements directly on airbag or seat belt tensioner connectors — this can trigger the charge
• 03Store removed airbags and seatbelt tensioners separately, with igniter facing downward and away from heat, impact and open flame
• 04A seatbelt buckle or airbag that is deployed must be replaced — it cannot be reused or repaired
• 05Spent or removed units must be disposed of according to the manufacturer's instructions—never in ordinary waste.

§Why it is part of the residential installation trade

As an auto upholsterer you come into contact with these components when you reupholster or repair seats, steering wheel or dashboard where airbags and seatbelt pretensioners are built in. Although you do not yourself repair the electronic airbag system you must be able to disassemble and reassemble correctly and handle the components correctly throughout without endangering yourself, your colleagues or the customer. It is one of the competencies the main course requires for the auto upholsterer specialty.

§Ceiling and wall cladding in vehicles

Beyond seats the upholsterer works with ceiling and wall coverings in cars buses and other vehicles. Here the material must both follow the vehicle's curved shapes withstand temperature fluctuations and meet fire safety requirements while also looking neat and uniform after installation. It is work that resembles furniture upholstery in technique but differs in the material requirements that apply to vehicle interiors.

§Advice and documentation

As an auto upholsterer you advise the customer on material choice and on the use and maintenance of the interior. If you have worked with safety components it must also be clearly documented to the customer or workshop which parts have been disassembled and reassembled so there is no doubt later whether an airbag or seatbelt pretensioner is original, replaced or still functional.

“An airbag looks like a pillow — but it must be treated as what it is: an explosive charge that one day might save a life.”