Hello Fellas, My 308's seats need a good re-conditioning as they are dried-out and stiff with the aforementioned cardboard feel. I have searched the forums and read alot of great things about Leatherique, Zymol, and Zaino. I know it's been posted here before, but I would like to hear a few more opinions before I place an order. Leatherique is the most expensive and seems to be alot more work than the others, but I will be happy to buy it if it is significantly better then the rest. What do you think....nothing is too good for Francesca. Caio Frank
Frank I can't speak about the others you mentioned except for Leatherique. Although my leather wasn't too dried out, it was worn and the coloration somewhat calico. I followed their instructions to the 'T' (stripping the original lacquer and dye w/ steel wool and lacquer thinner then wet sanding smooth, etc.). If you go this route, I would also recommend applying the new dye with an airbrush and I can assure you the results are impressive. Other than where some of the stiching has frayed, all of the leather on the seats and door panels look and feel new. Also if you use Leatherique and the dye you plan to use is Black (I used a small amount of black and then a seperate clear on the Momo wheel), be sure to order the black dye with clear already mixed. The rest of the leather in my car was Creme'.
best i ever used, and used A LOT of idfferent things, is Leatherique. Get it, use it per their instructions. Also works great on other leather items.
This may be an odd question, but does it change the smell of the leather? This is a big importance to me as I love the way the car smells when I get in it. thanks, Aaron
thanks for the comments! This raises another thought...should I use dye? My black seats are faded in places, so can I use a dye mixed in with the oil? It is above my level to do a complete strip of the seats and the fading dosen't bother me that much, but if I can mix dye with the oil, maybe i'll do it....again what do you think?
As long as you remove the lacquer top coat you can use a wash technique to even out the color on your seats. Do not mix the dye with the oil. After completing to RO and PC treatments you should wait at least 1 week until applying the dye. Don't forget the prep solution otherwise the dye will not absorb evenly. BTW when you're done your seat not only will look much better but will have the aroma of new leather.
I just did mine, including re-dye. 1977, original leather. I'll post some pics. I had to have a panel replaced and cannot tell the difference between the new leather and the old leather - except where there was significant cracking. It makes the leather feel soft and new, and the reconditioner does have a unique "new leather" smell". The re-upholstery guy that did the replacement was blown away by the look and feel of the conditioned leather. Don't get me wrong, it is by no means perfect, but it will buy me years before they get re-skinned. If your seats aren't really peeling dye / mismatched colour my thoughts are to start with a good recondition and clean. I was amazed by how much the rejuvinator restored the colour just by adding some moisture to the leather. One warning though, the seats have a laquer on them that may need to be stripped with laquer thinner to really get the oil in - at least that was my experience. There is a lot of advice on applying the product, I learned the hard way following leatheriques instructions. There is a post somewhere by a Mike on how to do that is pretty good.
This is the drivers seat. Unfortunately it is a little too far gone. As mentioned, not perfect but what a difference, particularly in the feel. I added a close up of some of the cracking that is evident. Adding the rejuv oil seems to be working though - like I say to buy some time. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
sorry for so many questions, but there is so much good info here. What are the steps to do the re-cond? What are the steps to do the re-cond AND re-dye? 308, I'd love to see the before and after pic's of your project!
the passenger seat was caught at the right time. I still have some buffing and touch up to do on the seats to get the finish right, but the snows off the road now so I had to get out and put a few miles on... Forgot to mention on the other post with the drivers seat, one of the panels is new replacement leather which was treated and dyed to match the other panels. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I learned through the process that that the quickest way to do the seat is as follows: 1. strip the seats with good laquer thinner and lots of paper towels. Some dye will come off at this point, lots of black will remain. 2. allow to dry - minimum overnight in a ventilated room or outside if you have a safe place. 3. oil the seats with rejuv 4. Allow to soak in overnight 5. Clean with prestine clean 6. Allow to dry half a day to overnight (don't really have to but I left lots of time between steps) 7. Re-oil, allow to soak in a few hours. 8. Re-oil. Allow to soak and decide if they are soft enough. If more is needed, give it a night to soak then re-oil. 9. Allow to soak in for a few days. This was where I realized this was a great winter project to space out over a few weeks and watch a lot of hockey. 10. Strip with the pre-treat / sand down if needed with a 600 grit (400 seemed to take the grain off when tested). Use the pre-treat generously but not to soak in. The sand paper may only be needed if the original dye is dry and flecking off. If not, you may be able to get away with cheese cloth to strip. 11. Allow to dry overnight (or longer if you can). 12. Dye the seats - you will likely need to thin the dye a bit as it starts thick - ask the experts!!! Be very patient with the dye, this was where I could have heeded a bit more of my own advice as I overdid it a bit. It is very hard to undo the dye as I learned. ***Point of note here - check the dye first. I bought the stock colour they recommend and it was not as black as I expected. Or, spend the extra money and get the matched dye 13. I allowed the dye to dry for a week then re-oiled. I read somewhere to re-oil, and somewhere else not to. I did re-oil a test spot and was happy with the way it blended the dye a bit and darkened the seats a bit more. 14. Let soak in yet again...wipe with a cheese cloth or other suitable cloth to massage the last of the oil in, and get some of the excess off. If I was simply re-oiling the seats I'd just spend a lot of time with the re-juv and the prestine clean. I did it on a chair I bought a few years ago, great results with minimal effort. You may even want to try this route first as the first application of rejuv is really impressive to see what it can do. I did the project over a month. It does not need to take this long, but the car was off the road anyway. Seats feel great, look pretty good (I could have done better) for 32 year old leather and do have a newish smell. If you are not satisfied with the current state of your seats I highly recommend it...
Furio, If you don't need to redye and the leather just needs reconditioning, Surflex makes a fine reconditioner. I've used this on my interior with nice results. It won't change the color or stain the stitching. Barry
After reading all the posts on this chat list and others, I went the Leatherique route. My seats were basically hard as cardboard and worn out. As stated above, I used laquer, even mineral thinner, sanded, and did MANY applications of Rejuvinator and Pristine clean. The leather became slightly softer, but they did look worn. So I did the redye. Bullfighter is right, re-dye lookes like a re-dye. The whole project was about 3 months, almost 1 gallon of Rejuvinator and about 1/2 gallon Pristine clean. I ordered 1 pint of dye and used only 1/10th of the bottle. The more dye I used, the better the color, but it started looking like paint. The seats look pretty much like the pictures above, except mine are red. I was happy with the results. I then met with Brian Harper. He uses Lexol in his GT4. His seats were softer than mine! I then tried Lexol on my Land Cruisers. They became softer than with Leatherique! So, I used Lexol softener and Lexol cleaner in the Mondial. The seats now are now MUCH softer than with Leatherique. That is 2 applications of Lexol, used only 1/3 bottle. Compared to about 1 gallon of Rejuvinator over 3 months. The draw back I see with Lexol is that it leaves the seats shiny, like Armour All. Leatherique has a more natural leather look. I am now usig Leatherique Rejuvinator to "sweat out" the dirt, Lexol to soften and clean it and Pristine clean as a final touch for a natural feel. The tough project is the steering wheel. I keep cleaning it with Rejuvinator, Pristine Clean, Lexol , but the threads are still not white and there is still goo coming off the leather.
I have tried leatherique on my F-car as well as some of my other cars and came to the conclusion that their prioduct doesn't work any better than Lexol or my connolly hide food(yes I still have a container of this left believe or not) I have never stripped/redyed my seats. I imagine that if I were to be in a position to strip/redye my seats, leatherique may work better, however if you are just trying to get your seats softer with the existing dye on them, I dont think their product works as well as they/some people claim, not to mention its is a bit on the expensive side.
I've restored my seats with a surprisingly reasonably priced restoration kit from these people and heartily recommend it / them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rhDRpe76A They're based in Englandshire and they make all their own products. I'm very happy with the results. It's a re-dye but it doesn't look it. It looks great. It's the same principal as the product that you guys recommend: removal of all the old sealers and paint, reapply them. Pics aren't that good because it's a crappy camera with a powerful flash but you get the general idea. http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Colourant_Kit.htm Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I would try Concorso Leather Soft. It has been the product I have found to work on older leathers. It is easy to use and leaves no oily or waxy residue. It also has no smell to overcome the beautiful natural Ferrrari leather smell. Kurt www.concorcowax.com
link does not work.....is this the one you mean: http://www.concorsowax.com/ Concorso leather soft 8 oz. Concorso Leather Soft is a one of a kind all natural solvent and water free leather conditioner developed to replenish lost oils to ad softness while maintaining resiliencey. Leather Soft has no added fragrance or color. Leather Soft combines all natural ingredients like coconut oil, Lanolin and Cetyl Esters(derived from coconuts)to nourish your leather without caking up. Leather Soft applies easily and absorbs completely into the leather leaving no sticky or oily residue. If your looking for a leather treatment that leaves your leather in it's original matte finish and natural fragrance Concorso Leather Soft is for you! Your individual 8 oz tub will be mixed when you place your order to insure the finest quality, purity and freshness. $75.00 That is the most expensive leather softener I have seen to date. For that kind of money it should come with a guarantee that it will soften tree bark.
Concorso Leather Soft is $75? "Your individual tub will be hand formulated when you place your order".......hhhhmmmm, that just means some guy in a back office is mixing a little coconut oil with some lanolin and a thickener agent - a grand total of $4.28 in ingredient costs......and it costs $75 to the consumer? That's some healthy product margin.
I used Leatherique extensively and have been well pleased. I've used the "Soffner" from ColorPlus with outstanding results too. Thread here - starting on about page 3 - of a complete redye/recolor using rejuvinator, dye, and prep from Leatherique. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237990&page=3 Hope this helps.
