Redye - grain dissapears?

Are you spraying it with an airbrush or brushing it on?

What product are you using?

 

I re dyed my interior the original color 2.5 yrs ago. I followed the Leatherique strip-condition-prep program and used an airbrush.

3 light coats on a 70 degree day with low humidity.

Here are two photo from my Iphone I took 10 minutes ago. The color doesn't look this washed out in person. It is uniform and even, but the Iphone flash messes with it.

Anyways, you can clearly see the grain in the leather even after 3 LIGHT coats.

-Pat

Here is a photo of the seats before and after. FCA graded the upholstery a "B" and deducted 1.0 point at the Concorso Italiano show in 2012.
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The side bolster has some clear on it to help with wear. That is why it is shiny.

Yep...lacquer strip, condition, and then prep. Letting it dry after prep for 3 days before spraying the dye.

It really doesn't look painted in person. If it did, FCA would have deducted more that one point. They are a picky bunch, believe me.

 

The Iphone pictures make it look painted for some reason.

Feel free to have your guy call me if he wants. Just PM me for my phone #.
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Very nice job.


Bob:

Your interior guy is probably just trying to cover his ass. I would worry/wonder that he's going to try to re-dye the leather in one or two heavy coats, rather than multiple, light mist coats with a drying period in between. BTW, a piece of cheesecloth used in a circular motion is a great application method and, although far more labor intensive and time consuming, really does a great job of enhancing the grain pattern. It can also be used (lightly) just before the dye is dry to enhance the grain.

If you like the current color, you can send a headrest, shirft boot, or other leather item/piece that has been weathered to, e.g., Leatherique and they will perform and EXACT color match. They're really good at this. Best of luck.

 

Before I sprayed the dye, I cut in all of the folds and tight areas with an artist's brush.
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I also wanted to keep the original leather.

Take your time and enjoy the project. If I can be of any assistance, shoot me a pm.

 

Post some pics if you have time. Good luck.

 

I used Leatherique and the first shot I used a touych-up gun and the seats looked like plastic. The second time around I used a rag and just gave it a couple of thin coats and the result was more natural. just sayin, Lost

 

I redyed my 89 Porsche seats. I recommend not using an airbrush. I used a cotton cloth and rubbed the dye on. it is easier to control the amount you put on. You than immediately F/U with another dry cloth to rub the leather after putting the dye on. That way you can control the amount of dye on the leather. You can rub off the dye if you put too much easier to control since most of the dyes are water based.

 

I purchased half a hide from GAHH, LLC 11128 Gault street Hollywood CA . I gave them the car information and a sample piece. It cost $227.12 and they sourced it out of Italy and it matched perfectly With grain and I did not Need to dye again. I used it for the dash but on the seats that were worn with some cracks I used some crack filler, sanded and dyed and it turned out great. I also used the terry cloth approach To dying leather.

tom

 

Bob, I think the company you are talking about in Pennsylvania is ColorPlus:

:: Color Plus ::

I used their products on my '84 Mondial seats, and it was great. It did not eliminate the grain in the leather. I followed their instructions, and it worked fine. The only place it did effect the grain was in a section that was worn, where I had to sand it down to eliminate the "saude" surface that had been created by wear. Otherwise, the grain survived just fine. I did not spray the dye on, I wiped it on per their instructions.

I've used both Leatherique and ColorPlus, and they are both good. ColorPlus is a little easier for the DIYers, IMHO.

 

Color plus is what I used to dye my seats in 89 Porsche. It is water based so you can remove it before it dries. Also you can keep layering it till you match the correct color. It works great. They use a spectrophometer to match the color if you send them a small swatch which you can get from underneath the seat which has not faded.

 

Color Plus is great stuff. Their "Soffener" product (their spelling not mine) is great at restoring suppleness in dried out leather.

 

Did anyone compare Color Plus' "Soffener" to Leatherique's "Rejuvenator"?

 

I have used both, but not side-by-side on the same project, so I can't give a direct comparison. I used to use Leatherique, but I feel like Soffener works better. The person I bought Soffener from said that Color Plus resulted from a split-up of personnel within Leatherique a while ago. According to him, after the split happened, Leatherique focused on marketing the original formula and Color Plus has been more focused on continuing development of the formulas. I have no idea if this is true, I'm just relaying what I was told, but I do like the Color Plus products.

 

Thank you, Peter! At the risk of highjacking this thread for a moment: My car has a black interior, it seems to be original leather judging from the workmanship. I have removed the hard plastic stuff on top with lacquer thinner and restored the suppleness with Leatherique's rejuvenator with good result. However my car's original interior color is dark red 3171. Here my question: Can I redeye the black to dark red with any reasonable result?
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That is what I have done as well. And then every 6 moths or so I treat it with Rejuvenator. Interested to know if Color Plus is compatible with Leatherique.