Reconditioning my leather seats

[jc986]

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.

[eicheldp]

Looking forward to it.

[Jamesp]

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.

[dghii]

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

[Kenny Boxster]

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?

[jc986]

Originally Posted by dghii

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

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.

[dbansal]

leatherworldtech affiliate?

[jc986]

Originally Posted by dbansal

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.

[dbansal]

would be very interested in how you do your carpets.

[eicheldp]

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.

[jc986]

Originally Posted by dbansal

would be very interested in how you do your carpets.

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.

[jc986]

Originally Posted by eicheldp

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.

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

[jc986]

Originally Posted by dghii

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

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.

[Obertelli]

Originally Posted by jc986

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.

[jc986]

Originally Posted by Obertelli

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.

[Ckrikos]

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.

[jeffm]

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!

[jc986]

Originally Posted by Ckrikos

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.

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.

[jc986]

Originally Posted by jeffm

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!

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.

[Ckrikos]

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.

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