Reconditioning my leather seats
 

Hi everyone, I'm new here. Have a 97 boxster, outside looks new, interior is worn. I was going to order new leather to reupholster the seats, but that was going to cost between $850 and $1200. So I decided to recondition the leather myself and fix all the creases and cracks. I am in the process now, almost finished and the seats are looking great.
I will post before and after pics at the end of this week.

Looking forward to it.

Very much looking forward to your post. My seats are still on ok condition, nothing like new and I'd like to breathe new life into them.

Standing by for progress updates and pictures. What product(s) are you using?

I don't know what products op is using, but I have heard good things about lexol, leatherique, and leather honey. Now, which one is the best?

The seats are almost done, and looking great. I purchased my products from leatherworldtech.com. I used 5 of their products to restore my seats:
*Color Prep & Cleaner
*Leather Filler
*Finish Filler
*Leather Dye
*Protectant Cream
Cost less than $100 to restore my seats from cracked and terrible to looking new.
Just a bit time consuming to do it right, but it's worth it!!
I'll have pics up as soon as I'm finished (probably end of this week)

Oh, another thing about that website.. they actually have an automotive section for exact color matching, for all makes including Porsche. It was easy to use and find the year and model and the dye color does match perfectly. Happy so far.

leatherworldtech affiliate?

lol, no, I'm not associated with them, just shopped around on the internet and found they had what I was looking for.
Seats are finished now, just letting them cure for the next 24 hours, then I'll put up some pics.

I think the next thing I'm going to do is work on the carpet. I have red interior, but the carpets are faded to a dull pinkish-red. Was going to replace the carpet but it would also be expensive and time consuming, so I decided to redo the carpet myself. Going to vacuum, then degrease with rubbing alcohol, then redye.
I'll take some before and after pics of that to post as well.

would be very interested in how you do your carpets.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if the center panels of the Boxster seats are removable? This thread just gave me the idea of having Tu-tone seats. Keeping the Savanah Beige on the out side and a Dark Blue insert to go with the exterior. Just a thought.

dbansal, Dupli color actually makes a paint for automotive fabric and vinyl - it's specifically for repainting dashboards, cloth seats and carpet, but surfaces have to be cleaned and degreased, which is easy to do with alcohol.
For my carpet, first vacuumed it, then need to degrease and clean it. For that I used 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, I was amazed at how much oil and dirt it removed with alcohol and paper towels. Next step will be taping and covering everything in the interior I don't want painted, and then last step will be using the paint. When painting I got a soft brissle brush to rub and work the paint into the carpet fibers. I tried a small patch already for test under the passenger seat (which I removed from the car) and it looks and feels like new. Still soft to the touch, not stiff, so the paint seems to work well.

eichelpd,
yes, they are removable but its a lot of work

Reconditioned Leather Seats BEFORE and AFTER
 

Here is a before and after pic. The colors are the same, just look different because of lighting in my garage and no flash on the camera on the after. I know the colors look different, but trust me, the dye matched exactly to the old seats, it's just the flash.

Very nice indeed. How do they feel? It's been a long time since I had any leather seats refreshed and back then they'd look good for a while but feel almost like vinyl and then start flaking after a few months.

At that time it was really just something done to add value for resale but I understand the technology has vastly improved now.

So far so good. I will post an update in the future to let everyone know how they're doing.

I ordered a graphite grey kit from leatherworld technologies and it appears that the graphite grey on their site is not a direct match. It's a shade or two too dark. I'm hoping they'll take back the one they sent and do a color match.

Jc986, did you sand the leather much? Did it absorb the color readily? I tried to color my old handbrake and it didn't seem to take too well. I'm thinking its due to It being a handbrake and soaked with oils from being handled all the time.

Reconditioning my leather seats
 

Yes, let's hear some more about the process. I know professionals will actually spray the color/dye, but what process did you use? I don't have compressed air nor a spray gun and was wondering if the brush/sponge process does well.
Looks great so far!

Ckrikos, No I didn't sand it too much. The sanding is only intended to smooth the surface, so just sand lightly, you're not going to sand out the cracks and creases. Those defects you will fill in with the leather filler. When the leather filler is dry, you can resand with 400 or 600 grit sand paper until its smooth.
As for the dye not matching, did you use their automotive section and match your car to the chart they have? Sorry to hear it's not matching. Mine matched quite well. I did notice that the dyed areas look just a touch darker but I think that's because my seats may have been faded (along with the carpet) from sun exposure.
I'm not sure the handbrake will take that dye, unless it's actually covered in real leather (vs. a vinyl type material) But Yes, you definitely need to remove ALL oils from the surface before repainting or dying anything. You can buy degreasers in the automotive stores, or do what I did and just use rubbing alcohol.
Good luck and let us know how it goes from here.

Jeffm, I didn't use spray either, just sponge. Here are the basic steps I followed:

1. removed seats from car, and wiped down with rubbing alcohol to remove oil/dirt
2. lightly sanded all areas with cracks and creases with 400 grit sand paper
3. wiped down again with alcohol to remove dust and any residual oils
4. applied leather filler to cracks/creases, allow to dry. Did this in multiple layers as recommended by the product manufacturer. HINT: the filler is white and will be hard to cover up with the dye later, so you can mix some of the dye with the filler to color it. It's actually fine to do this and they suggest doing it to make it easier to cover and blend in.
5. Once dry, resanded with 400 grit sand paper until smooth and no surface defects could be seen or felt.
6. wiped down again with alcohol and lint free cloth, let dry
7. applied the color dye Prep product as directed
8. applied several coats of the dye with the sponge provided in their kit, and let dry the recommended 4 to 6 hours between each coat. It took many coats to cover over the white filler. I did add some dye to the filler in the last layers, which helped a lot with blending. Another HINT: when applying the dye from sponge, I started dabbing heavily over the areas that need it most, and let it sit for about 1 minute - as it started to dry, I then smoothed it out evenly with several light strokes using the sponge edge. This is what worked best for me.
REMEMBER to let the dye dry at least 4 to 6 hours between coats. This is what makes it take several days to complete. Be patient, you will start to see results as you go.
Once the seats looked the way I wanted them to, I applied a final protectant coat and resinstalled them.
Also got some Lexol leather conditioner I'm going to use to keep the leather soft and flexible.
Good luck, if you have any questions I'd be glad to try and help.

I did use their auto color chart. They had colors for most porsche interiors. I would recommend color matching for anyone looking to dye their seats.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Reconditioning my leather seats
 

Nice!
I purchased the Leatherique products and plan to try that first. Depending on those results, this may be an option.

LWT is going to replace my bottle of dye. Did you get low or medium gloss. I originally got low, but may change that to medium.

Also is the dye permanent, i was able to rub it off the handbrake with a bunch of lexol. It did require lots of elbow grease, now i didnt let it dry much and was about half an hour after originally applying it.

Ill also add that it doesn't appear to color the vinyl very well. Ill keep you guys posted when i get the replacement.


Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Ckrikos, please keep us posted on what color ends up matching Graphite Grey. Thanks!

I used the low gloss, but I think if I were to do it again I would go with the medium gloss. I did apply Lexol conditioner today and that added a nice shine to the leather. The dye is supposed to be permanent. Not sure about the handbrake. If it's leather, before dying, make sure you go over it lightly with a scuff pad. Be careful not to scratch the surface. LWT sells the right kind of scuff pad for that (they're similar to scotch brite pads but not as abraisive

I tried the handbrake leather because I had it sitting around and needed to test the dye on something. I bought the dye to repair the driver seat bolster as they are worn and the tops of my rear seats as they faded and just need to be dyed. I'll let you guys know how it works out.

raising up this thread from the dead.
i think 2 years later, its a good timing to follow up with the results.
so how is it holding up for you guys?

Pleeeeease!

Good idea! How did they hold up?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Spill the beanz!

JC86 appears to have not been online since Nov. 2nd.
May be waiting a while for a response.

yes.
but Ckrikos is around :D
let's go Ckrikos let's go :dance:

I'm still here, turns out my second bottle was not a perfect match either, but good for spot corrections in the leather. I did test the dye on a black rear seat and can post pics of you guys have any interest. It came out well just not a perfect match.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Definitely post pics! How is the initial application holding up?

Still holding up well
 

Hi guys, sorry, haven't been on here for a while. Just got back from a trip to Asia. Well, the seats are still in good shape, but now having a problem with the convertible top mechanism, haha. Always something to work on.:cool:

I'll tell you what.
Post some pics and I'll help you fix the top :D
Unfortunately, I become an expert on that.

Leather Magic results
 

I purchased the Leather Magic Deluxe Repair Kit and reconditioned the seats in my 2003 Box.

https://leathermagic.com/leather-repair-kits/#!/Deluxe-Leather-Repair-Kit/p/49974297/category=13262202

I have no affiliation with them whatsoever, but am satisfied with the results. Basically you clean the leather, prep the leather, clean again, sand, fill, sand, fill again, sand and clean a final time. Dry with a blow dryer after each cleaning. Then you apply the coloring agent (the Deluxe kit has the pre-mixed Porsche factory colors - Savanna Beige for me) with a foam brush into the nooks and crannies. Dry with a hair dryer. Then apply VERY light coats with the aerosol sprayer. This was a little tricky. I found short, quick bursts worked better then a continual side to side method. You should practice a little before this step. Light spray, blow dry, repeat. I did "re-perforate" with a small nail some of the perforated holes that were covered where I sprayed a little too heavily - fixed 'em nicely.

Here is the passenger side before (note the nasty spot which was caused by yours truly when I over-rubbed some cleaner trying to get a small spot removed):

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/a...psou8gu5tj.jpg

Here is the passenger side after:
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/a...pspaxvf6tu.jpg

Drivers side before (note this was after the "leather prep" stage - it wasn't quite this bad to start, but the prep stage does remove some original color and makes one think "there is no turning back now"):

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf7aaaj6e.jpg

Drivers side after:
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/a...psxyykbggm.jpg

I am going to let them cure for 48 hours (as recommended) and then apply the conditioner to soften them up a bit.

Not perfect, but I think they came out great and I can live with this - provided they hold up. Only time will tell!

The seats look great in the pictures, but even if they aren't perfect in person they at least appear much better than what was there.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Thanks! Yeah, the before pics look really crappy! Not quite as bad in person, as I think the flash/lighting on my cell phone camera made them appear worse. But, clearly, these 12 year old seats needed a refresh in a big way. I don't believe the original owner treated them with too much love, but I will from now on!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...76a14f323f.jpg


Here is a picture of a supple leather seat that I repainted from black to Gray. The color is off a little from the center console cover below, but not bad. I bought the coloring to repain one of my drivers side bolsters that is wearing. I also want to try it with an airbrush to see the results. To date I am happy using it for spot touch ups on plastic and leather.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Nice! Wow, it really covers well.

Next up for me may be a carpet re-dye. My Box has Graphite Grey carpets. Fairly unusual with a Savanna Beige interior, as most I see have beige. I'll have to decide to keep the GG or go to beige. Either way, there's a lot of sun fade that went on in this old FL car.