Leather Restoration

[Mark89114]

Has anybody had their leather redyed (redied??, stained, painted, etc and whatever)  to get a little more life out of it?

My interior leather is basically probably just super dirty and worn in dirt over 17 years.  No cracks or anything enough to make me want to replace it yet.

Hoping to do just do something to buy some time and squander my resources on other things.....like leaky tanks, ADSB, KI-256, the usual....

Asking here before I go into the wide world of the internet.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[KSMooniac]

Has anybody had their leather redyed (redied??, stained, painted, etc and whatever)  to get a little more life out of it?
My interior leather is basically probably just super dirty and worn in dirt over 17 years.  No cracks or anything enough to make me want to replace it yet.
Hoping to do just do something to buy some time and squander my resources on other things.....like leaky tanks, ADSB, KI-256, the usual....
Asking here before I go into the wide world of the internet.
Thanks,
Mark
 

Get a Leatherique cleaning kit and you'll breathe new life into the old leather. Warmer weather helps with the process, though.

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[Yetti]

Start with saddle soap and a good scrubbing

[Oldguy]

35 minutes ago, Yetti said:

Start with saddle soap and a good scrubbing

Followed with a good rub down of Lexol.

All can be found at a good boot store like a Cavenders or something similar.

[LANCECASPER]

I've always had great results with a bar (not the liquid) of Ivory soap and water with a sponge - be careful with a brush or anything abrasive since it can wear away the top coat. Then after letting it dry for a day I put on Connolly Hide Care - you can buy it on Ebay or at a Jaguar or RR dealer. Goop this stuff on and work it in with your hands and be generous with it let it soak in overnight and then take a brand new soft microfiber and rub off any excess. It's great in the summer to leave it out in the sun with the doors closed. (I had a hard time getting Hide care a few years ago and used Eucerin moisturizer and had similar results).

[Pasturepilot]

Excuse me for breathing some life back into this thread. 

My front seat bottoms are looking a bit tired. Looking to replace the seat bottom foram (and maybe the backs) with Confor (Temperfoam), but was weighing various methods to care for aging leather. 

Can anyone here give a PIREP for how the Leatherique holds up a few years after application? I'm hoping I can push a full interior re-do for 5-7 years. Gonna tag @KSMooniac for good measure here. 

Thanks, friends. 

[GeeBee]

I had my seats refinished by Fibrenew. (Fibrenew.com) About 400/seat. I am happy with the results as an interim solution until a new interior refit.

Here is the before and after. Sorry about the orientation, I cannot get them to flip.

[Nick Pilotte]

33 minutes ago, Pasturepilot said:

Excuse me for breathing some life back into this thread. 

My front seat bottoms are looking a bit tired. Looking to replace the seat bottom foram (and maybe the backs) with Confor (Temperfoam), but was weighing various methods to care for aging leather. 

Can anyone here give a PIREP for how the Leatherique holds up a few years after application? I'm hoping I can push a full interior re-do for 5-7 years. Gonna tag @KSMooniac for good measure here. 

Thanks, friends. 

I’ve used it in cars for better part of a decade and I’m happy with it.  It is NOT a quick process though.  Don’t start and expect to fly that night.  It isn’t a restoration process, rather a deep conditioning and cleaning.  If I were to guess, your leather is not vat dyed but has a sprayed finish.  A quick way to tell, does a drop of water bead or soak into a smooth leather surface?  If not, it’s got a sprayed finish. If it soaks in, then your odds of rejuvenation looking good go up.  Leatherique will help that type but it will never look brand new if the sprayed finish is worn/cracked.  There are videos on YouTube and reviews on a site called DetailedImage.com.  

[Danb]

1 hour ago, GeeBee said:

I had my seats refinished by Fibrenew. (Fibrenew.com) About 400/seat. I am happy with the results as an interim solution until a new interior refit.

Here is the before and after. Sorry about the orientation, I cannot get them to flip.

Nice hard to believe how beautiful the outcome was.

[Missile=Awesome]

Beautiful transformation.  Well done sir.

[Mark89114]

Since i started this thread i guess i should respond.   I used a product called rub n restore.  I have only done the back seats, as they were easiest and the least worn.  The pictures arent very helpful but there was improvement.   When i do the front seats, which are badly worn will be the litmus test.  I think this is a redyed seat and original. The back seats werent bad.

[Schllc]

I have never had it done, but I have owned cars that the previous owner did this too. 
visually it looks like new, but the leather is no longer supple, it’s hard and uncomfortable. 
im not sure what the proper name for this is, some call it dying or refurbishing, but to me it looks like the leather is painted. 
the paint is not long lasting (a year or two in my experience) and when it starts to delaminate, it looks much worse than it did before. 
I would clean and condition as others have advised before I painted them. 

[Mark89114]

The rub and restore has the consistency of water, I genuinely believe it is dyeing not paint the leather.  Unfamiliar with other product.

[carusoam]

Flipping crazy...

-a-

[Pasturepilot]

Thanks for chiming in, everyone. Our back seats look beautiful considering the interior is 25-30 years old. The seat backs up front are okay, but the front seat bottoms are showing their age. So is the foam. 

I'm headed to Spruce in the morning (Atlanta has its drawbacks but driving to Aircraft Spruce ain't one of them) to buy some Confor foam to rebuild the seat bottoms. If I can get that to where I'm happy, I'll combine the experiences here to come up with a plan.. 

A year into ownership, I'm still chipping away at bigger issues but if I can get the seats a little more comfortable and better looking for a couple hundred bucks, I can afford that detour. 

Thanks again, y'all. Love the brain trust we have going here. 

[irishpilot]

Thanks for chiming in, everyone. Our back seats look beautiful considering the interior is 25-30 years old. The seat backs up front are okay, but the front seat bottoms are showing their age. So is the foam. 
I'm headed to Spruce in the morning (Atlanta has its drawbacks but driving to Aircraft Spruce ain't one of them) to buy some Confor foam to rebuild the seat bottoms. If I can get that to where I'm happy, I'll combine the experiences here to come up with a plan.. 
A year into ownership, I'm still chipping away at bigger issues but if I can get the seats a little more comfortable and better looking for a couple hundred bucks, I can afford that detour. 
Thanks again, y'all. Love the brain trust we have going here. 

Please let us know how your upgrade goes! Many of us are in a similar interior state.

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[steingar]

I took some cheap leather cleaner to my seats and they look brand new.  Don't forget the conditioner, leather needs it regularly and will dry out if neglected.  I took the same cheap cleaner to my oldest nastiest leather jacket that I was ready to give away.  Mrs. Steingar thought I'd bought a new jacket.

[Pasturepilot]

6 minutes ago, irishpilot said:

Please let us know how your upgrade goes! Many of us are in a similar interior state.

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I started to work up a progress report, but realizing there’s still plenty of time for this to go south and become a “don’t do this” saga, I put a pin in it. I’ll update once it’s finished. Waiting on some adhesive to show up that I couldn’t find locally.