Thoughts on this DIY trick?

[TheHogRing]

The following video shows an upholsterer using an ordinary microwave in place of a professional upholstery steamer. He says that it works just as well in removing unwanted wrinkles: http://tinyurl.com/6geum77

Thoughts? Have trimmers on a budget been doing this for a while?

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[sofadoc]

During the fleeting nanteenth of a second that the camera allowed me to fixate my eyes on the finished product, I still saw a few wrinkles. I guess the microwave trick is better than no trick at all, but I'd stop short of saying that it works "as well" as a steamer.

[Peppy]

I would find it hard to get something like a bucket seat or pontoon furniture into the microwave. And I tend to need to work the skin longer than the 8 seconds it would stay hot. Probably better to microwave a pot of water and pour it over the skin. At least that way you could focus the heat where you need it.

[JuneC]

Before I went with that method, for the DIY'er, I'd get a hair blow dryer on HOT and a few chilled bottles of water.  Heat the vinyl till just barely touchable (do try not to leave fingerprints, then roll the cold water over the surface (spritzing with ice water is better).  If using the bottle as a roller, make sure the vinyl isn't so hot as to leave an impression.  Shrink's em up pretty well.  May require several iterations. 

June

[gene]

A young guy saying "...back in the day..." and he's referring to using Microwaves. LOL

Back in MY day, there were no microwaves.

I would think the steam from my iron would work better than his trick, but it is a good trick to know about.

Here's another trick: The batteries on my camera were dead and I needed to take some pics of furniture in my studio. I put a bowl of water in the microwave, got it really, really hot, and put the batteries in the hot water for a few minutes. I dried the batteries (they were hot to the touch) and put them in my camera, and voila! The batteries had enough juice to take the pics.
   BE CAREFUL boys and girls. Those batteries could explode if they get too hot. I would never put batteries in the microwave, only in hot water.

And another tip: If you just washed your little doggie and you don't want to take all that time drying her/him with towels... (Just kidding.)

gene

[timtheboatguy]

Did he make the seat to match his hat?  :P  I paid fifty bucks for my steamer on sale but have seen them as low as twenty bucks. Perhaps I can get a microwave for my shop now :) All kidding a side, anything that works could prove useful down the road!