Seat Covers Research Guide

Why Should I Buy Seat Covers?
One of the great on-the-road ironies is that while you're sitting comfortably in your car seat, the seat itself is having to stand up to a tremendous amount of abuse. Yes, though you may not be aware of it, but the fact remains that, slowly the original factory fitted upholstery is getting damaged. And it can be caused due to many reasons such as dirty clothes, wet swimsuits, spilt drinks, kids snacking in the backseat, slobbering pets, seat friction and harsh sunlight. All these wear out the upholstery. And if something terrible has befallen your interior, a complete reupholster will cost you dearly.

You can finally relieve yourself from worrying about permanently staining your car seats or of being embarrassed by ripped, tattered and unkempt upholstery are close to being over. With the right set of seat covers, you'll be able to:

Now protect your upholstery from the various hazards

Cover over existing damage rather than having to reupholster your seats
Make over your interior to suit your tastes and lifestyle

Seat Cover Protection Reference
While the only surefire way to safeguard your seats is to stop driving your vehicle, that solution just isn't practical. Dressing your seats with a pair of exact-fitting, protective seat covers is just as good, and this solution won't force you into riding public transportation either.
Your car seats face a number of perils, including:

Moisture
Whether you're driving home from an outing at the local pool, a kayaking trip or an endless summer's day of surfing, the moisture in your clothing can lead to serious problems for your upholstery. There are zone which are moisture prone and moisture is particularly problematic for residents of the drizzly Pacific Northwest and several other wet zones. You must be extra cautious if you leather upholstery as leather's worst enemy is water. When it gets wet, it can become quite damaging. Cloth seating is also prone to damage from moisture. When water seeps into factory-installed fabrics, it can fester and grow into ugly, stinky, disgusting mold. Never fear; our seat covers come in a wide selection of materials with varying degrees of water resistance to protect your interior.

Kids and Pets
Nothing's quite as adorable as a kid, but it pains when the same kid grabs chunks of chocolate cake by the fist-full and smears it all over. It becomes a huge hassle when it happens on the seat. The same goes for your furry, four-legged co-pilot. There can be saliva stains, and hair  too clings on to the surface. Pets can rip and tear the upholstery. However, the right set of seat covers will shield your seats from all this mess.

Friction
The simple action of getting in and out of the car cause a lot a stress to the delicate upholstery. In effect it puts a lot of stress. Like sandpaper on a jagged block of wood, the texture of your clothing grates against the texture of the upholstery (leather and cloth alike). This constant friction between your body and your seat steadily grinds away at your upholstery. As time passes, the strength of the leather or the fabric starts to wane, and it will eventually start becoming threadbare, torn and split. Of course, this pitiful fate can easily be avoided with a quality set of seat covers.

UV Damage
Just because every form of life on Earth is dependent on the sun for its existence doesn't mean that solar rays aren't a mixed blessing. Seat covers gets damaged with harmful Ultra Violet rays.  Too much sun exposure is harmful to our upholstery. Leather is especially susceptible to sun damage because UV radiation dries out the natural oils in the leather. Without these oils keeping things moist, the leather will eventually start to crack. Cloth upholstery is also in danger. Direct sunlight on your fabrics has a bleaching effect. Where once your seats were dark blue or black, an overdose of ultra violet radiation will leave your seats looking purple or ashen. Since you can't always park in the shade, you can give yourself year-round protection with a snazzy set of seat covers.

A Guide to Covering Your Damaged Seats
Sometimes bad things happen to good upholstery.  Even tough upholstery can get shabby if the interior of your vehicle has suffered some cruel twist of fate. A leaky pen left lying in the backseat, or a torn seam that's threatening to unravel completely can destroy your original seat covers completely. You can now rejuvenate your vehicle's seats without having to go through the hassle of a complete reupholster job. Instead of calling up your dealer and shelling out an arm and a leg for new seats, you can simply slide a new set of seat covers directly over the old ones. No muss, no fuss-just great looking seat covers that fit like a glove.

There are three different fitting seat covers - Custom fit, Semi-custom fit and Universal fit. Let's take a closer look and find out what is the best of them all.

Custom Fit Seat Covers
Just as an Armani suit is properly measured, cut and stitched to fit the unique shapes and contours of the wearer, so too is a custom fit seat cover meticulously designed for a precise fit over your seats. No part of your particular vehicle's seat is forgotten or overlooked - not the position of the head rest, nor the location of the seat's ergonomic controls, nor even where your seatbelts are mounted. Everything is taken into consideration, and these made-to-measure seat covers will fit like they were factory-installed. Moreover, custom-fit seat covers will not obstruct your seat's side-impact airbags, so you'll be just as secure as before, only with better looking and better protected upholstery.

Semi-Custom Fit Seat Covers
While a tailor-made suit fits your body to a T, off-the-rack clothing still looks and feels great, and you usually have enough left over for a matching shirt and tie. The Semi-custom fit seat covers are the economical alternative to the tailored suit. But the Semi Custom seat cover can never compete with the Custom cover because the fit is never as precise. But these covers are still better than the Universal variety.

Universal Seat Covers
These automobile seat covers are made up of a two or three standard sizes such as Big, Medium and Small. Universal seat covers fit any high-back and low-back bucket seat, regardless of your year, make or model. The fact is, you need to be extremely lucky to have a Universal seat cover that fits well. Mostly they are either too tight or too loose.

Tips On Making Over Your Interior
Your vehicle is more than just a means of transportation. It is an extension of your identity, your personality and your uniqueness. This is why you must look for customized car seat covers which can be an extension of your taste and your prefernces. You want your vehicle to mirror yourself, and the right set of seat covers is an excellent way to personalize the interior. And, with all the different colors, patterns and materials at your disposal, you have an almost limitless array of ways to customize your car seats. Here are the basics:
Colors and Designs