Restoring leather seats

[Deleted]

I had an old set of rover seats to practice on,they had been painted and were cracked and very stiff.

I used a paint stripper then cleaned and scrubbed the seats over and over again using very fine wet and dry paper.

The front panels were also bad,they needed sanding untill almost all the original finish was removed to get them smooth.I found they needed scrubbing many times before no more finish was removed with a cleaner. The leather saw very much more supple after cleaning etc.

Some very deep scratches and other damage would not sand or polish out. I was advised to use a water based filler that sets semi hard,it's normally used for repairing pipes.This was built up in thin layers,rubbed hard into the cracks it keyed very well.

I rubbed dye hard into all the cracks,this was repeated three or more times on the bad areas with 24 hours drying time between each application.Then a very fine coat of dye was sprayed on,left for 24 hours and repeated.

[guidedog]

Looking very good Kev. Will watch this thread with bated breath.Will be doing mine at some stage.

[norvin]

What brand did you use?

[Deleted]

I used a kit from Woolies. I spent a lot of time experimenting on some old scrap seats (given to me by David Green a long time ago) and then some spare ones I bought. I found a lot of time spent rubbing the dye into the scatches and creases well worth it and also it was important to scrub and wash the seats untill a white rag didn't pick up any dirt or stains. I sewed up split seams using a curved sail makers needle,the leather was wetted first to soften it and the sail makers twine rubbed with a candle so it slid through the existing holes easily.
I was advised by a saddlemaker to let everything dry naturally and not use a hairdrier so that the leather did not dry out too much and it is now supple without being treated with anything,I also found my air brush wouldn't spray the dye for the final coats and used a gravity fed gun instead (set very fine).The Woolies colour match (from a bit of material under the seat was first class.

This shows the sort of damage on the sides of the seats.
This is the same section after rubbing in a couple of coats into the scratches.

I found using a ball of rolled up cloth the best way to rub the dye in. I was told to use as little as possible and to avoid flooding the leather at all costs,as a result I had plenty of material left over and will be doing the vinyl with it,I have some damaged door cards to practice on.

[norvin]

I use Woolies also on my P4 and P5B and found it very good, Furniture Clinic is water based like Woolies and they also have a repair kit but I have not tried it myself, your repair work looks excellent.

[Deleted]

Thanks,I used the Woolies kit only because I have used the firm before and they are always helpful,to be honest the more I read about the kits available the more difficult I found it to make a choice.Each claims to be pretty much the best,I expect people will have had equally good results from other kits.

[Welsh Warlock]

I have a friend who works for Woolies.

Most of the kits are bought from one manufacturer who is local to us. Don't ask me how I know.

[newboy]

I used a kit fro furniture clinic.co.uk in Newcastle area. Great job and easy as pie. They have detailed videos you can watch on you tube on the 3 stage process and are incredibly helpful. Results can be seen on photos of my car on here.

[norvin]

Apr 21, 2014 19:23:06 GMT newboy said:

I used a kit fro furniture clinic.co.uk in Newcastle area. Great job and easy as pie. They have detailed videos you can watch on you tube on the 3 stage process and are incredibly helpful. Results can be seen on photos of my car on here.

Did you use the leather repair kit they do if so was it any good.

[newboy]

Yes Norvin, I used the repair kit to patch/fill 2 holes then the recolouring kit to renovate.

[norvin]

Apr 21, 2014 20:58:03 GMT newboy said:

Yes Norvin, I used the repair kit to patch/fill 2 holes then the recolouring kit to renovate.

Thanks would you say that it made a good job of it and easy to use were you pleased with the result?

[newboy]

Hi Norvin, yes and not only was I pleased with the results but I've subsequently been asked to do the interiors of half a dozen other classics the worst being a moth eaten supposedly beyond salvaging red leather interior from P4.

[Deleted]

I've yet to have a queue of people wanting their interiors done,but I'm pleased with the final result.

[mh007]

Hi Kev

I think your seats turned out very nice !

I have to repair a split in my front passenger seat & some of the seams have burst apart.

Thanks for telling us which needle & thread/twine you used.

I'm assuming you managed to stitch the seats without stripping them down ?

[Deleted]

I did these without taking them apart. I wet the leather to soften it and used a small curved needle.I practiced on a scrap seat I used the existing holes I found it was the thread that had rotted the leather was OK.

[mh007]

Apr 22, 2014 18:46:53 GMT @kevbacon said:

I found it was the thread that had rotted the leather was OK.

This is the same with mine, apart from a split in the seat elsewhere, the actual leather around the seams is fine.

[Guus]

Hi Kevbacon, did you really use paint stripper (the aggressive type)? Didn't you damage the leather with that? Regrds Guus

Verstuurd vanaf mijn JY-G5 met Tapatalk

[Welsh Warlock]

I have replaced all of the crumbling foam in all of the seats and stripped the colour off using cellulose thiners.

Its fine as long as you don't soak the lather and you feed it well afterwards.

Another local member reckons the leather on my seats is now as soft as kid gloves after much feeding.

As soon as I have finished the mechanical work (see the thread about balancing cranskshafts and pistons) I will be cleaning the leather again,feeding it some more and recolouring it again back to mulberry.

There are 2 types of colourant: Water based and spirit based.

The water based stuff will fade over time.

Both are produced by the same Company and Woolies and several others buy them in from them and put heir label on them.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Removing the "paint" off the original leather with thinners is "messy" but fine use a course Scotchbrite to help, it will dry it out obviously, so you have to put the oil back into the leather.
Just a word of warning as you have treated the bare leather with a oil based softener it might be nice and floppy BUT don't use a water based dye it will not take! even if you leave it for weeks before applying! I tried Furniture Clinic with that result Woolies went on fine but still give the surface a QUICK wipe with a degreaser like Industrial Alcohol before applying the colour

[Welsh Warlock]

Thanks John,

I used Woolies water based dye the last time I did the seats about 14 years ago.

After much reserach, including speaking to two local car finishers and and well respected upholsterers, I decided to use the spirit based colourant which I have already acquired and is sitting waiting for time to strip out the whole interior.

It might have to wait until much later in the year now.

[mh007]

Apr 30, 2014 8:30:51 GMT Welsh Warlock said:

Thanks John,

I used Woolies water based dye the last time I did the seats about 14 years ago.

After much reserach, including speaking to two local car finishers and and well respected upholsterers, I decided to use the spirit based colourant which I have already acquired and is sitting waiting for time to strip out the whole interior.

It might have to wait until much later in the year now.

Hi

I would be interested to know which colourant you have please as I have Mulberry interior too & would like to do mine in the very near future (as far as I recall, suppliers usually go by a code number)

Can you also tell me where you bought yours from please ?

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Apr 30, 2014 9:39:50 GMT mh007 said:

Apr 30, 2014 8:30:51 GMT Welsh Warlock said:

Thanks John,

I used Woolies water based dye the last time I did the seats about 14 years ago.

After much reserach, including speaking to two local car finishers and and well respected upholsterers, I decided to use the spirit based colourant which I have already acquired and is sitting waiting for time to strip out the whole interior.

It might have to wait until much later in the year now.

Hi

I would be interested to know which colourant you have please as I have Mulberry interior too & would like to do mine in the very near future (as far as I recall, suppliers usually go by a code number)

Can you also tell me where you bought yours from please ?

I would be interested in the spirit based dye suppliers Alan I was under the impression they are now banned

[Deleted]

I used a cellulose thinner,my seats had been painted and the paint was thick and hard. It was messy as John suggests but I did not allow the leather to become saturated with it. I sought advice before starting from a saddler who advised that either a solvent based system or a water based one could be used depending on preference. I used the water based one and was pleased with the result.
I'm told that it's possible to use a leather feed after the seats have been treated with water based dye,I'll try on some scrap dyed leather to see how it works.

[Welsh Warlock]

Apr 30, 2014 11:13:26 GMT @kevbacon said:

I used a cellulose thinner,my seats had been painted and the paint was thick and hard. It was messy as John suggests but I did not allow the leather to become saturated with it. I sought advice before starting from a saddler who advised that either a solvent based system or a water based one could be used depending on preference. I used the water based one and was pleased with the result.
I'm told that it's possible to use a leather feed after the seats have been treated with water based dye,I'll try on some scrap dyed leather to see how it works.

Kev, you won't necessarily destroy the leather if it becomes saturated but it is more likely to dry it out and it is harder to make it supple again.
I was pleased with the result when I did the seats the first time but as I said it faded and wore off over 14 years although the car was dark/cool stored and had relatively little use (25K-30K miles ish). I am told that the spirit based dye will last much better as it binds better to the leather.

Whichever dye is used it is important that the dye is put on in this coats as if out on in thick layers it clogs the grain of the leather and taken on a plasticky look - Ask me how I know!

The issue with the spirit based colourant is transport as lots of companies won't transport 'hazardous substances'. This is why Woolies will only sell the water based dye and probably many others the same.

I will PM John and mh007 with the supplier details.

[mh007]

Hi Alan

Thank you for the PM & details
I have replied via PM.

Regards,

Mike