Hi All, When redying leather, is it possible to go from a darker colour to a lighter one? For example, could you go from black to something like brown or saddle tan or red? Has anyone done this? Basically I dont know if the old colour gets stripped off first. If so I'd imagine any colour is possible except for maybe the lightest shades. Thanks
In this case you use an opaque (presumably acrylic) PAINT with lots of plasticisers (for flexibility). This does not last for years unfortunately. A proper DYE requires to strip the original colour. There are some strippers based on acetone that manage to remove the bulk of the colour, but these require lots of patience. Also you cannot fully remove the original dye, as there are some limits to the amount of acetone the leather can accept without a significant loss of quality. A bit of leather trim was repurposed (with paint) in my car, when removing the upholstery I could clearly sea the it was originally green. I stripped the "cracked" black paint and applied a proper black dye, but during the stripping process the stripper was actually "spreading" the paint, which was quite nice in my case as I wanted to use the same colour anyway, but it would have required hours to fully remove the paint colour (or a professional service).
You cannot redye a darker leather to change to a lighter color. However, it can be recoated to obtain a lighter color. Get products made by SEM. It's a 3 step process. First, the leather has to be thourghly cleaned. Second, you apply a primer. Finally, you apply the new color coating. This can be a DIY project, but it is best left to a professional interior shop.
And my experience is that leather dye is more like paint than dye and that it usually shows damage much easier than vat dyed leather. On an old 328 that I had the seat bolster was worked on several times and the more we worked on it the more often it needed a repair.
I did it on my Mondial (black > guards red) with products from Joanne Rice (Color-Plus). Fantastic results but proper preparation required.
I think it also depends on the leather - older 348 and older cars - used painted on -stain... the newer cars have vat dyed and the color is through the entire hide. I did my 308 and 328 seats, and they both came out good, but i stayed with the original colors. If you have an older car, you can remove the stain - paint, use acetone and green scrubby... but you have to be really gentle, so you dont make suede. if the seats are original the color comes off pretty well, you will get down to a greyish brown of the hide. then you fix all the wear issues - crack filler, sand it down smooth it out etc... then prime it and then seal it and then apply color, then seal again. the double sealing helps keep the grain from tearing and wearing, but the way the seats are built dictates the toughness of the leather. 308 seats were pretty stiff, to begin with so they will re crack again. you can always tell seats that have been redone as the thread stitching is also the same color ... when original it was slightly darker or lighter than the leather. Piping is a nightmare Newer cars 2000 to new - use leather that is both thicker and impregnated with color so I think a color change is possible but would be much more about sealing off the old color , prime it and paint with new color. perforated leather I have no idea how you keep the perforated look ....
