How to Repair a Grommet

Grommets are brass or plastic eyelets set in a thin material to allow you to put pressure or weight on the material without tearing it. Ideally, if the weight or pressure is too great, it will damage the grommet rather than the material. Repairing a grommet means replacing it. Grommets are set with a punch and a die. Replacing them is not time consuming nor physically demanding as long as the fabric beneath the damaged grommet is in good condition.

Things You'll Need

  • Tin snips
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Replacement grommets
  • Grommet punch
  • Grommet die
  • Hand mallet
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Instructions

    • 1

      Slide the tin snips between the damaged grommet and the material for which it serves as an eyelet. Clap down on the snips and cut the grommet. Work your way around the entire grommet snipping 1/8-inch cuts around its perimeter. Snip a damaged grommet five or six times. This will destroy the structural integrity of it and allow you to bend it for removal.

    • 2

      Put the grommet in the pliers, squeeze and bend the grommet. Pull the grommet out of the hole in the material with the pliers. Inspect the hole in the material after you remove the grommet. Repair the material if it is damaged.

    • 3

      Place the bottom of your replacement grommet on the grommet die. The bottom of a grommet looks like a bolt washer with a raised center. The top looks similar, but has teeth. Lay the material over the grommet die and center the hole in the material over the bottom of the grommet. Center the top of the grommet over the bottom, the material sandwiched in between.

    • 4

      Put the punch inside the grommet hole and whack it three times with your mallet. Inspect the grommet. The teeth of the top of the grommet should bent around the underside of the bottom of the grommet. If the teeth are not set, punch the grommet a few more times. Be careful, however, because if you beat the grommet too many times, you will crack it.