re-dye leather seats?

[vintage_car]

Where can I obtain black dye for leather seats? I looked at my auto parts store and they have nothing.

[RayC911]

try http://www.leathermagic.com or http://www.leatherique.org. I have seen treads on both products on bimmerforum and it looks like great! I have the links saved at home when i get some time to do mine.

[m-racer]

Look at the Leatherique product. I assume they have a website. their phone is 1-877-395-3366. I know they make dye in a number of shades. I have not tried it but their other leather products are easily the best I have ever used.

[MichaelP]

try looking in the yellow pages under "automobile body shop equip & supplies." That's where the body shops, er.. shop. Leatherique is good and I've had success with SEM dyes.

[Jaycen_PNW2002]

http://www.colorplus.com/

[esty]

Where can I obtain black dye for leather seats? I looked at my auto parts store and they have nothing.

any vinyl/fabric dye at any auto parts store will also dye leather...key is cleaning...cleaning...cleaning...regardless of where you end up buying it or what brand you use

[K-Swiss]

Basically the main scary thing with the dye is that eventually it lifts when your sweaty body is against it. Its great for arm rests and dashboards(Esty's favourite!) but for seats shy away. I'm sure Al would say the same.

[esty]

Basically the main scary thing with the dye is that eventually it lifts when your sweaty body is against it. Its great for arm rests and dashboards(Esty's favourite!) but for seats shy away. I'm sure Al would say the same.

each to their own but i disagree...i have a set of dyed black buckets in a 76 civic that i've sweated in for years and never got out with a black butt or black back

if you properly prep and use the right stuff, dye penetrates the material instead of coating it like paint does

[K-Swiss]

In my eyes dye is a paint for objects that are made out of vinyl and the like. The thing would that would turn me away is the lifting qualitys or the fact that yeah its not really meant to stretch. To each thier own. your mileage may very... Just I trust the upholsterers more.

But if you want black seats and its a more of a "short term fix" go right ahead and enjoy it.

[slash02]

try looking in the yellow pages under "automobile body shop equip & supplies." That's where the body shops, er.. shop. Leatherique is good and I've had success with SEM dyes.

No one seems to answer my question regarding SEM.. If Sem's a dye, how come it scratches off?

[slash02]

Basically the main scary thing with the dye is that eventually it lifts when your sweaty body is against it. Its great for arm rests and dashboards(Esty's favourite!) but for seats shy away. I'm sure Al would say the same.

each to their own but i disagree...i have a set of dyed black buckets in a 76 civic that i've sweated in for years and never got out with a black butt or black back

if you properly prep and use the right stuff, dye penetrates the material instead of coating it like paint does

Agreed, Esty, I "SEM dyed" some stuff, it scratched off. that's paint, dont care what the can says. If you dye something, it sould not lift. it might bleed though. transfer onto clothing when wet (with water after drying?) or somehting, but shouldn't scrape off.

[esty]

Basically the main scary thing with the dye is that eventually it lifts when your sweaty body is against it. Its great for arm rests and dashboards(Esty's favourite!) but for seats shy away. I'm sure Al would say the same.

each to their own but i disagree...i have a set of dyed black buckets in a 76 civic that i've sweated in for years and never got out with a black butt or black back

if you properly prep and use the right stuff, dye penetrates the material instead of coating it like paint does

Agreed, Esty, I "SEM dyed" some stuff, it scratched off. that's paint, dont care what the can says. If you dye something, it sould not lift. it might bleed though. transfer onto clothing when wet (with water after drying?) or somehting, but shouldn't scrape off.

what do i know...i'm not a professional upholster...i don't charge for my services but fortunately in my 28+ years of dabblin with and restoring cars, i've never had a dye failure...i guess i've been lucky...

i concede, it might be possible for it to "scratch" off the substrate if it wasn't properly cleaned and prep'd, not allowing the dye to penetrate

i've also found over the years, especially with auto painters, it's easier for them to blame the paint and materials for a crap job than accept the fact they are in control of the paint and those materials

you guys are right...i'm certain, because of the many variables involved, it'll turn your butt black when you sweat on it....therefore everyone should use vinyl and leather dye at their own risk...but i'm not a professional upholsterer...so i don't know

[slash02]

what do i know...i'm not a professional upholster...i don't charge for my services but fortunately in my 28+ years of dabblin with and restoring cars, i've never had a dye failure...i guess i've been lucky...

Hey, 28 years is longer then i've been around That has to count for something.

i concede, it might be possible for it to "scratch" off the substrate if it wasn't properly cleaned and prep'd, not allowing the dye to penetrate

Ok. have you used Sem's product specifically. it gave me an exellent finish on my E28, however on one spot on the center console where my leg rubs sometimes it's coming off. could be user error (my dumb ass maybe didn't clean it well enough), could even be the type of vinyl i was dying.

you guys are right...i'm certain, because of the many variables involved, it'll turn your butt black when you sweat on it....therefore everyone should use vinyl and leather dye at their own risk...but i'm not a professional upholsterer...so i don't know

Me either which may account for my noting that it scratches off. The dye i used seemed so paintlike in application and such. If you've ever dyed clothing, I expected it to be more like that, drop the item in a vat of dye, not spray it on.

But whatever works in the end. I used 96% ethanol alcohol to clean my parts before dying... should be suffecient?

[esty]

Ok. have you used Sem's product specifically. it gave me an exellent finish on my E28, however on one spot on the center console where my leg rubs sometimes it's coming off. could be user error (my dumb ass maybe didn't clean it well enough), could even be the type of vinyl i was dying.

yes..i've specifically used sems and a host of other spray bomb dyes...i have a steering wheel skin in a 57 ford that i dyed with sems more than 20 years ago and i'd guess if anything would fail from handling and sweatie palms it would be that.. but it still looks as good today as it did when i sprayed it

things aren't always as they appear...some things we might think are vinyl are actually plastics or pvc...the best thing to do when using it on anything hard (unlike the pliable vinyl of a door panel, for example) is use a plastic primer after cleaning....

i recently used a plastic/pvc/etc primer then sprayed the rear, hard plastic ashtrays of my o2 with sem, gave it a couple of days, then scratched them fairly aggressively with my nails and nothing was removed..

another example of an abuse spot is my shifter knob in one of my cars...it's a t-shaped leather handle and has been dyed for at least 18 or more years and no failure

i suspect using sems or any similar product is like using anything else....you have to understand what it will do and it's limitations....then properly prepare the substrate with any necessary primers, etc

trying and failing is how we learn...

[Stevenhy92]

On 3/27/2006 at 6:03 PM, esty said:

any vinyl/fabric dye at any auto parts store will also dye leather...key is cleaning...cleaning...cleaning...regardless of where you end up buying it or what brand you use

Hi Esty,

 

I love reading a lot of your responses on here when I am researching anything that comes to mind. I can see you are very knowledgeable! So a vinyl/fabric dye will still work on real leather? Is there any additional prep that you would recommend or follow the same steps as if it was vinyl? I do understand that thorough prep is key so I will be spending a lot of time doing that. I've just read reviews about the dye peeling and cracking shortly after on real leather. I am retrofitting leather acura integra front seats because I got them for $30 and my stock seats are trashed, so I was just curious about that. Stock 02 seats are vinyl, right?

 

Thanks!