Tools You Will Need
- 8 ounces of Rejuvenator Oil
- 8 ounces of Prestine Clean
- 8 ounces of Prepping Agent
- 2 ounce jar of Crack Filler
- 8 ounces of Custom Color dye – cut a snippet of leather
from under the seat and mail with your order. The dye match on
my car was perfect.
You can order all the above from Leatherique.
- 1 spray bottle
- Small tube or bottle of Super Glue
- Soft leather for patching
- One sheet of 400 wet/dry sandpaper
- Cotton terry hand towels and wash cloths
- 2-inch brush for applying the color
- Tear Mender fabric & leather repair adhesive
Go to www.tearmender.com/WhereToBuy.htm
- Contact cement
*Note – Use Tear Mender if you plan on doing the leather repair
with the covers on the seats. Use Contact Cement if you plan on removing
the leather covers.
Let's Get Started
Remove the seats – or not
In this repair the driver’s seat was removed and the passenger’s
was not. Removal is straightforward; four bolts and unplug the electric
harnesses from the seat motors.
It is easier to work on seats on a workbench but I wouldn’t have
removed the seat if I hadn’t planned on removing the covers and
repairing them from the underside.
Clean and prep the leather
Vacuum seats and brush all dirt and crumbs, etc. from the seams. Clean
seats thoroughly with hot water and dry with a towel, then let air dry.
Scrub the leather with lacquer thinner and medium steel wool or a Scotch
pad. This will remove silicone and deteriorated dye. Working on a bright
day provided lots of good light, which you need. Do not abrade the leather.
Remember that lacquer thinner is combustible. Keep it away from drop-lights
or anything that could cause the fumes to explode. Leave the engine and
radio OFF.
Thoroughly wet-sand with 400. Removing most of the original finish will
make the leather permeable and permit rejuvenator oil to soak in freely.
The permeable surface will also allow new dye to go on smoother and adhere
better. Completely sand the entire seat. Don’t skip over areas
that are in good condition. Don't try to sand out scratches. They must
be filled. Clean the leather with damp towels and allow to dry. Allow
24 hours in warm, dry weather.
Apply rejuvenating oil
Apply Leatherique Rejuvenating Oil liberally and rub it in with your
hands. Squirt it onto the leather from the bottle, quickly smearing the
heavy liquid before it can run. Where it quickly soaks into worn spots,
apply more during this first application.
If rejuvenator oil is still sitting on the surface in places after the
rest has soaked in, give those places another good wet sanding. Work
quickly and keep wipe up water as you go so the leather won’t become
saturated. Wipe it clean, allow it to dry an hour and re oil.
Park in the sun, cover the seats with plastic trash bags and let it cook
for 24 hours before going to the next step.
Clean with Leatherique Prestine Clean
I put the cleaner in a spray bottle but you can squirt it on if you like.
Spray liberally and scrub surfaces thoroughly with a cloth wet with Prestine
Clean. Follow as you go with a damp towel. Rinse the cloth often and
wring thoroughly.
You can use Prestine Clean on vinyl and plastic, too. Clean the steering
wheel while you’re at it.
Wait two days before proceeding to
prepping the surface!
Prepping the surface
Apply prepping agent to a cloth and to remove any remaining silicones,
waxes or other contaminants. Wash cloth frequently. Buff prepped leather
with a dry towel. No need to wait for the next step.
Repairing cuts
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A
cut or hole in the leather must be
repaired with a patch on the underside.
Any place where the leather is weakened
should be patched. Slice through
with a razor blade to gain access
to the underside.
Get a thin scrap
of leather from Tandy, The Leather
Factory, a craft shop or other source.
I purchased a leather coat from The
Salvation Army for $5.00. The leather
was very soft and the coat was in
bad shape. Now it’s in pieces.
The patch must be larger than the
cut, of course. Work the patch into
the hole so it can be glued to the
underside of the seat leather, fuzzy
sides together. Use Fabric Mender
if you are patching from the top. |
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Do not use contact cement because
it adheres
instantly when the two surfaces touch and what will
happen is so bad you don’t even want to think about it.
I had intended to repair this seat
from the bottom but encountered stitched on padding when I started
taking it off. If I had it to do over I would cut through the padding,
apply the patch using contact cement, and then use contact cement to
re-apply the padding.
Holding up the seat leather, work the patch into place with tweezers
or a knife blade and apply the glue to the underside edges of the hole.
A finger can do a good smear job. Then press the two pieces together.
The glue sets up quickly so if it isn’t right, pull it away and
start over. After the glue is dry put a small bead of Super Glue in
the seam (spreading it with your fingers) and then push the seam together.
Super Glue was originally invented to close flesh and internal wounds
without stitching. Fill the repaired cut with filler as described below.
Important: Remove any excess glue using a razor blade; pull it away
from the leather using tweezers and cut it off. Dye will not cover
contact cement or Fabric Mender.
Fill cracks and scratches with crack filler
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For
large cracks, apply flexible filler
inside the crack, then level with
a spatula made from a credit card
or hotel key card cut lengthwise.
Use very little filler. Repeat
this process until the surface
is smooth. Using a damp rag, remove
filler on the surface outside
the crack before it dries. Allow
to dry a half hour and sand, wet,
with 400 sandpaper.
Even light scratches and roughened
areas will take more than one application.
Dye will not fill any surface imperfections,
not even faint spider-web cracks.
so fill and sand.
Allow the filler to dry overnight
before sitting on a seat that has
been filled. Let dry two days before
dyeing.
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Dyeing the leather
Wipe all surfaces with a damp towel to remove dust. Shake the dye thoroughly
and strain into a small plastic container. Refill the bottle and shake
again . Then pour about 2 ounces into the plastic container. I found
that the dye went on smoother when thinned with about 2 ounces of water
to the 8 ounces of dye.
