scuffed leather seat bolster - how well can it be fixed?
Discussion
Hi,
Please forgive the newbie question, but how well can a badly scuffed leather seat bolster be repaired? I've seen a 1994 993 that I quite like the look of, but the driver's seat (pale grey leather) seems quite badly scuffed to my admittedly inexperienced eye. So my worry is, if the surface of the leather is quite worn, would it be a big/expensive job to repair, and how well would it look afterwards?
Cheers,
Jonathan.
Please forgive the newbie question, but how well can a badly scuffed leather seat bolster be repaired? I've seen a 1994 993 that I quite like the look of, but the driver's seat (pale grey leather) seems quite badly scuffed to my admittedly inexperienced eye. So my worry is, if the surface of the leather is quite worn, would it be a big/expensive job to repair, and how well would it look afterwards?
Cheers,
Jonathan.
how bad is the seat ?
Here are some examples of seats that have been re-coloured by myself , did not need to remove seats and can be done quite easly by alot of detailers , smart repairers etc , also does not cost the earth .
Before jag seat
jag seat after
bmw z4 seat before
bmw z4 after
bmw m3 seat before
bmw after
This jag seat should of had the more expensive removal of seat and re-coloured with a slightly different process but the cost factor meant using the same tech as bolster ware repair , so up very close you can see the cracks still but this is UP VERY CLOSE .
Jag seat before
Jag seat after
For bad cracks and ware then removing the seats and re-colouring is the best bet ,
80's rolls royce seats
Before
during
and after
Kelly
Here are some examples of seats that have been re-coloured by myself , did not need to remove seats and can be done quite easly by alot of detailers , smart repairers etc , also does not cost the earth .
Before jag seat
jag seat after
bmw z4 seat before
bmw z4 after
bmw m3 seat before
bmw after
This jag seat should of had the more expensive removal of seat and re-coloured with a slightly different process but the cost factor meant using the same tech as bolster ware repair , so up very close you can see the cracks still but this is UP VERY CLOSE .
Jag seat before
Jag seat after
For bad cracks and ware then removing the seats and re-colouring is the best bet ,
80's rolls royce seats
Before
during
and after
Kelly
Edited by kds keltec on Saturday 19th December 10:26
Edited by kds keltec on Saturday 19th December 10:28
Edited by kds keltec on Saturday 19th December 10:29
Akela,
it's a common problem on a 993. My car with a light grey interior had the same problem. I had the seats recoloured shortly after buying it. I found that the recolouring looks superb shortly after it is done but is not as hard wearing as the original and the scuffing will return. One thing you can do with a 993 is swap the seat backrest between the driver and passenger seats. This means that the outer bolster becomes the inner bolster and is subject to less wear.
Good luck.
pp
it's a common problem on a 993. My car with a light grey interior had the same problem. I had the seats recoloured shortly after buying it. I found that the recolouring looks superb shortly after it is done but is not as hard wearing as the original and the scuffing will return. One thing you can do with a 993 is swap the seat backrest between the driver and passenger seats. This means that the outer bolster becomes the inner bolster and is subject to less wear.
Good luck.
pp
Pickled Piper said:
Akela,
it's a common problem on a 993. My car with a light grey interior had the same problem. I had the seats recoloured shortly after buying it. I found that the recolouring looks superb shortly after it is done but is not as hard wearing as the original and the scuffing will return. One thing you can do with a 993 is swap the seat backrest between the driver and passenger seats. This means that the outer bolster becomes the inner bolster and is subject to less wear.
Good luck.
pp
I bet you will find the prep work and way it was applied caused this to happen , it's a common problem on a 993. My car with a light grey interior had the same problem. I had the seats recoloured shortly after buying it. I found that the recolouring looks superb shortly after it is done but is not as hard wearing as the original and the scuffing will return. One thing you can do with a 993 is swap the seat backrest between the driver and passenger seats. This means that the outer bolster becomes the inner bolster and is subject to less wear.
Good luck.
pp
With a scuff not going into all the cleaning and prep part , the colour should be diluted down alot and then dabbed in with a very fine sponge first for alt least 2-3 times and more if time allows . This way the colour acts like a dye and will soak into the leather and not sit on the top which is what you get from using tiny spray gun / air brush kits .
Its all about time factor i do lose some customers who ask me to recolour their seats due to the fact i will and only carry out such process over a couple of days and not same day turn around .
Lots of fully dried very light coats soaked in are much better than one heavy quick coat sitting on the surface of the leather .
Most dyes say not to sit on the leather for at least 24 hours after application so i do just that .
I Have a Jag XKR which has been done before in with me through the holiday period for similar thing , its been done before and all the cracks are showing due to the wrong technique being using .
Kelly
Thanks for the really useful info. Looks like it's possible to do a very nice job as long as it's done properly. Assuming I'm reluctant to take on the task myself, is this an expensive job?
I'll go back and have a look at the car again, esp. as I'm worried the leather might be nearly worn through. I presume it's a big deal if the leather gets worn away entirely.
Cheers,
Jonathan.
I'll go back and have a look at the car again, esp. as I'm worried the leather might be nearly worn through. I presume it's a big deal if the leather gets worn away entirely.
Cheers,
Jonathan.
I have touched up the interior (light grey) in my car a few times. Just cut a small piece of excess leather off and either sent it to Gliptone or LTT for a colour match.
As KDS says, just dilute it down and dab on with a small piece of clean sponge and gradually build up.
Its looks as good as new when finished.
As KDS says, just dilute it down and dab on with a small piece of clean sponge and gradually build up.
Its looks as good as new when finished.
belleair302 said:
For under £500 you could get the whole set recovered in original leather with any repairs done to the padding and it would last for ages if properly cared for and protected with the correct solvents. I would cough up and go for a re-trim.
Can you expand on this?Where from? and pictures of the finished work?
pp
kds keltec said:
Pickled Piper said:
Akela,
it's a common problem on a 993. My car with a light grey interior had the same problem. I had the seats recoloured shortly after buying it. I found that the recolouring looks superb shortly after it is done but is not as hard wearing as the original and the scuffing will return. One thing you can do with a 993 is swap the seat backrest between the driver and passenger seats. This means that the outer bolster becomes the inner bolster and is subject to less wear.
Good luck.
pp
I bet you will find the prep work and way it was applied caused this to happen , it's a common problem on a 993. My car with a light grey interior had the same problem. I had the seats recoloured shortly after buying it. I found that the recolouring looks superb shortly after it is done but is not as hard wearing as the original and the scuffing will return. One thing you can do with a 993 is swap the seat backrest between the driver and passenger seats. This means that the outer bolster becomes the inner bolster and is subject to less wear.
Good luck.
pp
With a scuff not going into all the cleaning and prep part , the colour should be diluted down alot and then dabbed in with a very fine sponge first for alt least 2-3 times and more if time allows . This way the colour acts like a dye and will soak into the leather and not sit on the top which is what you get from using tiny spray gun / air brush kits .
Its all about time factor i do lose some customers who ask me to recolour their seats due to the fact i will and only carry out such process over a couple of days and not same day turn around .
Lots of fully dried very light coats soaked in are much better than one heavy quick coat sitting on the surface of the leather .
Most dyes say not to sit on the leather for at least 24 hours after application so i do just that .
I Have a Jag XKR which has been done before in with me through the holiday period for similar thing , its been done before and all the cracks are showing due to the wrong technique being using .
Kelly
Just saw this thread again.
Yes, judging by the overspray the colour was sprayed onto my seats.
I may give it a go by hand. Any other tips?
pp
Pickled Piper said:
belleair302 said:
For under £500 you could get the whole set recovered in original leather with any repairs done to the padding and it would last for ages if properly cared for and protected with the correct solvents. I would cough up and go for a re-trim.
Can you expand on this?Where from? and pictures of the finished work?
pp
ATD Coventry
Priory Mill
Charter Avenue
Coventry
Warwickshire
CV4 8AF
Tel: +44 2476 695 150
Fox- said:
Does anyone have any before and after pictures of the results on black leather? I notice all the excellent results above are cream...
yep before this is not cleaning prodcuts etc but actual staining from someones leather re-colour
after
before on porsche 964
during , and shows the seats have been done before in the wrong colour (before any cleaning carried out by use)
difference between the 2 seats
so decided to undo by removing all traces of recolour from before and shows how far out the colour match was
and then all old re-colour removed and re-coloured in correct colour
job done and now match the rest of the interior
i think the porsche seats would of been left alone with a few tiny scuffs for a 20 year old car than someone to colour them the completely wrong colour .
Kelly
Edited by kds keltec on Wednesday 17th March 12:54
I have a pretty good half black leather interior in my Griff, but it has the odd light mark where the colour has been worn by belts etc, is Gliptone the best product to use to "re-colur" these marks?
I have yellow sitching and yellow leather bound edges to the carpets, given the car is 14 years old some of the stitching has faded and carpet edges discoloured is there a dye that Gliptone or someone else makes that I could use to re colour these areas?
Cheers
I have yellow sitching and yellow leather bound edges to the carpets, given the car is 14 years old some of the stitching has faded and carpet edges discoloured is there a dye that Gliptone or someone else makes that I could use to re colour these areas?
Cheers
T5GRF said:
I have a pretty good half black leather interior in my Griff, but it has the odd light mark where the colour has been worn by belts etc, is Gliptone the best product to use to "re-colur" these marks?
I have yellow sitching and yellow leather bound edges to the carpets, given the car is 14 years old some of the stitching has faded and carpet edges discoloured is there a dye that Gliptone or someone else makes that I could use to re colour these areas?
Cheers
Last one for today must get on with my work I have yellow sitching and yellow leather bound edges to the carpets, given the car is 14 years old some of the stitching has faded and carpet edges discoloured is there a dye that Gliptone or someone else makes that I could use to re colour these areas?
Cheers
Not sure on stiching , LTT and Gliptone are fine , gliptone do scuff mater and flexi coat dyes .
With regards to your stiching question ,
here is a Lambo seat (black with yellow stiching) before
and after
I use fineline masking tape along one side of the stiching re-colour one half of the bolster then remove masking tape, re-tape along other edge of stiching and re-colour other side of bolster .
this way leaves No dye on the stiching , but for colouring stiching best ask Gliptone or LTT when changing colour, guess it will be ok thou as when some people re-colour seats (same colour)and the stiching also gets re-coloured and never noticed any problems like with porsche seats above
Kelly
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