a thought on leather seats

[S. Mack]

I've read the previous posts regarding Toyota Leather seats.

It is a fact that the original leather has a paint surface applied to it.... they are not like boat shoes.

Spraying the seats, historically, wears off and quickly. If you clean the seat and examine it closely, you will see that you have large areas of painted surface divided by cracks going down to raw leather through that surface. Looks like hell.

From my experience in restoring other things, I think a good way to, visually, restore leather in that situation would be to take a thick paint/pigment in that color, apply it to the seat surface & then burnish it out with a clean cloth.

The paint would be absorbed into the cracks & rubbed off of the painted surface.
It's a visual repair, it doesn't make new leather.

Has anybody tried this approach?

- Steve

 

[photogod]

I stopped by my local leather repair shop last week and had a long talk about the same subject with the tech and he suggested a Melitonian shoe spray in a can that is what you talk about. It is a color restore/paint that sinks into the leather and cracks. He suggested a spot remover cleaning and spraying this stuff on in small arias and wiping it in with a soft towle. You would be amazed at the crap that comes off the seats. makes you gag!. The temp for this stuff needs to be 70 so I am going to pull off the arm rest and test that first inside as it is only going to be 45 here today. Ill report back if it works at all.

 

[wob]

leatherique.com

 

[C6H12O6]

I recently had a bunch of scrapes/cracks in my steering wheel cover and you could see/feel the gouges through the painted finish into the leather. I had to drive after applying Nokona brand baseball glove conditioner to a couple gloves and I had the leather conditioner all over my hands, so I rubbed it into the steering wheel as I drove. The next day, all the gouges and scratches had softened up and were hardly visible, except where the paint was gone.

I haven't tried the conditioner on the seats yet, but at $2.99 a tube, this stuff is super cheap and very effective. This stuff goes a LONG way ~ one tube would easily do the whole truck and then some.

 

[lathamb]

Leatherique

Speaking of leatherique, has anyone had the later model (1996 in my case) gray leather custom matched by them, or will the standard lt. gray dye be a close enough match?

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Check it out in the FAQ;

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=12774

 

[Tuner]

My seats were cleaned when I got the vehicle but the leather was hard and dry to the touch....no cracks yet but they can't be far away. Anyone ever tried Griot's leather restorer..I ordered some before I read this....