DanL993

I have a small abrasion on my driver's seat bolster and have purchased the Leatherique kit to resurface and redye that bolster. I have also talked to the Leatherique folks on exact process steps to follow. However, I am having a problem screwing up my courage to actually do it--sand paper the bolster to prep the sruface for redye and then apply the dye; it all seems very technique-drivin and to a large extent an art form.

I am OK doing a number of DIYs on the car, but this one has me spooked due to the possible negative result if I f*#k it up.

Do any of you have expereince in using this product and process? Would love to hear war stories, good and bad, please. Thanks.

levtron

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techman1

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sbarracl

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Cincy_Ron

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JPP

It's not a difficult process but you are right, to do a professional job that will last, it's a craft and takes time and expertise for a quality result. If I needed this done, I'd take it to a leather upholstery shop that has someone that does that type of restoration work. It's a small community and one shop will know others that they can recommend .. I'd advise just calling around to a few of them and asking about it. It's not that expensive ...

mike cap

Dan,

Follow the instructions and you'll be fine. I assume you are using the large (fine hair) brush from the vendor? It is very easy and will come out looking fine, The bolster has a 'break point' top and bottom so do the whole area. The product applied with their brush will come out a bit matte looking but will be a big improvement over the worn look now. I did my Classic Gray a few years ago and it still looks perfect.

Stealth 993

CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN! Then clean it again. It has to be really clean.

Yes, you need to sand it, not a ton, just enough to remove some of the color, & give the patch something to stick to.

It will come out about the same, if you take 1hr or 10hours to finish. However, 6months down the road, the 1hr fix will start to fall apart, & the 10hr will still look new.

axl911

Two things to point out when doing this.

1. Test a small spot somewhere to make sure the color matches. Often it may be just slightly off.

2. Just sand lightly. Enough for the Leatherique to bite. Sand too much and you will sand off the texture of the leather surface.

e9stibi

I just re-did my driver side bolsters after 4 years of good results with colorplus Produkts. It is just so easy after you have done it once to re-do the heavy traffic areas with the rest of the paint. It came out great as 4 years ago. Cleaning and prep is key as mentioned before. I successfully used a cosmetig sponge to dab the color on. Work it in thin layers rather than one thick layer. it will look strange after the first layer but you will get to it!

mrsullivan

i agree with JPP. There are upholsters that are artists with this. Its not that expensive. They will clean, sand dye just right, etc. Had this done on a bolster with a previous car. Came out perfect. Was a couple hundred total. Maybe even a little less.

goofballdeluxe

PICS!

JimPA

Relax, follow the above suggestions, use light applications and you'll be fine. Did my Classic Grey front seats, vinyl airbag cover, end of the handbrake and center console with ColorPlus last summer. It worked great and looks good, with perfect color match. This is usually a warm weather or indoor job though. Sand very lightly, just scuffing the surface to improve adhesion.

ColorPlus recommends using a leather softening product first. Leatherique probably has something similar. If you apply the dye with a brush, work with a lot of light so you can remove, before everything dries, any bristles that are lost.

DanL993

Thanks to everyone! I guess if I take is slowly, and carefully, and use a light touch after thoroughly cleaning, this will work. I'd like to make it work.

And I guess if I'm not happy I can go to a pro for a fix up.

Thanks again.