Carpet dye and plastic matting

[backwoods_lex]

I've got a carpet dye job scheduled next week. Although it is rare for me to dye a carpet, I have used the SEM and high tech rattle can brands in the past. I've always gotten great results except for the vinyl/plastic non-removeable mat that is in the footing area on many vehicles.

I spray directly over the matting when dying entire carpets (of the train wreck kind) and it always looks like new except for the matte finish it leaves on the mat. I've found no way to cover this area and have the dye job be seamless.

Anyone know how to make this material take on a natural gloss? Thanks guys.

[Jakerooni]

What SEM products are you using? I use SEM exclusivly and I have never had a problem with any of them matching perfectly. And have always had a nice finish on the foot matt.

[backwoods_lex]

Just the general carpet/vinyl dye. Here is a link: http://d-a-p-i.com/sem.JPG

It doesn't finish badly. It always looks brand new except that it doesn't have that oem gloss that it originally had. It leaves a sort of flat and matte look with no shine.

In contrast, I was in a friends subaru not too long ago and it was obvious that part of her dash had been dyed as it had a super shiny "how could you not know this was refinished" type of gloss. It looked like it had been clear coated.

Thanks for the reply Jake.

[AppliedColors]

You could spray SEM's High Gloss Color Coat over the matting:
SEM - High Gloss Clear Finish

Don't know why it would be an issue, as those foot pads are covered by the floor mats.

[backwoods_lex]

Not a big issue, but the matte finish tends to scuff much more easily than the oem finish. Plus I'd rather just tell a customer "ta da!" rather than "it came out well but this plastic mat is a little off". But I guess that kind of comes with the nature of the repair.

I haven't used the gloss spray yet Jake, but I'm wondering if there is a way to avoid overspray on the carpeting. It would be nice if a manufacturer came out with templates/shields of different sized mats for guys that do this on a regular basis.

Thanks again for the replies guys.

[AppliedColors]

These Fedex envelopes work great for containing overspray near plastic panels, seat mounts, pedals, etc.:


Isopropyl alcohol does a good job of wiping off any overspray you can't contain.

[backwoods_lex]

Nice tip on the IPA. I was using magic erasers lubed with interior protectant but the IPA sounds more efficient.

Ah, now if I could only get the guys at rightlook to ship the order that I placed last week I might be able to mention how it turned out...sometime.

[friendgril]

Why would anyone need that much velcro? These guys sell it by the roll and is
hook and look and velcro the same thing?