Yet another seat thread - my reconditioning project w/pics
#1
04-26-2013, 11:54 AM
Yet another seat thread - my reconditioning project w/pics
Hey all
Just wanted to show anyone interested what I did to my KR seats.
some of you may think this is blasphemy but mine were pretty faded but otherwise in good shape for a truck 10 years old, so I decided to dye my leather. This is after multiple attempts of using leather conditioner to restore the luster of the seats.
I readily admit the seats are not what they looked like from the factory, however since they didn't look like factory after 10 years anyways, I decided to throw chance into the wind and take a shot.
This is the leather dye I purchased
Here is what my seats looked like before
couple of tips if you are motivated to do this - wrap the seat belts and console in plastic however goof-off does a very good job of removing any dye. also take note to not drip any dye on the seat without immediately wiping it up and take caution to not do it at all if you can help it - the saturation of the dye causes it to stain unevenly. I had a couple of spots that I really had to work at to blend in.
Use a q-tip for the seams and creases (in the pics you see I haven't done that yet)
Ok, here is the after
again your mileage may vary. I'm happy with the results.
Just wanted to show anyone interested what I did to my KR seats.
some of you may think this is blasphemy but mine were pretty faded but otherwise in good shape for a truck 10 years old, so I decided to dye my leather. This is after multiple attempts of using leather conditioner to restore the luster of the seats.
I readily admit the seats are not what they looked like from the factory, however since they didn't look like factory after 10 years anyways, I decided to throw chance into the wind and take a shot.
This is the leather dye I purchased
Here is what my seats looked like before
couple of tips if you are motivated to do this - wrap the seat belts and console in plastic however goof-off does a very good job of removing any dye. also take note to not drip any dye on the seat without immediately wiping it up and take caution to not do it at all if you can help it - the saturation of the dye causes it to stain unevenly. I had a couple of spots that I really had to work at to blend in.
Use a q-tip for the seams and creases (in the pics you see I haven't done that yet)
Ok, here is the after
again your mileage may vary. I'm happy with the results.
#6
05-06-2013, 09:22 AM
It took less than 3 hours including the initial cleaning, cleaning after the dye and putting on the conditioner.
I bought a quart of the dye at a Tandy Leather shop, and it was $29. I can't remember what I paid for the cleaner and conditioners - I bought them many weeks ago but I probably didn't pay more than $10 a bottle for each one.
if you wanted to have the dye more closely resemble the seats, instead of light brown I'd buy the tan and just apply it a couple of times.
I applied the light brown twice, with the second time being a pretty liberal amount to let it soak in to the cracks and folds. So all told I guess this process, while only taking about 3 hours took 2 days. One day with a 4 hour gap between applications, then the second day for cleaning and conditioning.
I bought a quart of the dye at a Tandy Leather shop, and it was $29. I can't remember what I paid for the cleaner and conditioners - I bought them many weeks ago but I probably didn't pay more than $10 a bottle for each one.
if you wanted to have the dye more closely resemble the seats, instead of light brown I'd buy the tan and just apply it a couple of times.
I applied the light brown twice, with the second time being a pretty liberal amount to let it soak in to the cracks and folds. So all told I guess this process, while only taking about 3 hours took 2 days. One day with a 4 hour gap between applications, then the second day for cleaning and conditioning.
#7
05-06-2013, 09:24 AM