Painted leather, what to do?

[imported_Devilsown]

I got my wife a 97 M3, the leather on it was carboard hard but I knew it could restore it with leatherique, well I did... Thats when I found parts of all the seats have been what appers to be painted. The leatheriqe oil worked great on the un painted parts, but not so hot on the unpainted parts. Is there anything I can do to fix this with out having the seats re done? I plan on doing that in a few years anyways but would like to postpone that as long as I can. Anyhelp would be great thanks.

[Showroom Shine]

I did a training seminar this year at Detailking. There was a man named Thad,who was an expert on leather and vinyl repair and painting.His kit was $1600, I could not afford to buy it. He actually repaired a cigarette burn in leather. If I had not seen it,I would not have believed there had been a hole. The coloring he used was SEM colors. You can purchase small quantities too. Google leather repair. I`m sure you`ll see a pic of Thad and his wife with their kit. This guy repairs aircraft seats. He`s probably one of the best in the business,and he knows what he is doing. Also he can show you how it`s done. Best trainig I`ve had for $159.

[wascallyrabbit]

Home (http://www.refinishcoatings.com/home.html) can help. you`ll most likely need to strip the paint off and reapply a new top coat. i just bought a audi and the previous owner must have the seat done some where along the way because some of the seats had been painted and cardboard hard. i`m in the process of redoing the seats. i have a little more work because some spots have worn of the color. i`ll be color matching the factory color as well as re-coloring all the seats after striping, color coat, then top coating.

[judyb]

Most leather interiors have been `painted` that is what the top coat is on finished leather. Most people refer to it as pigment rather than paint as it sounds better. It is a specilaist flexible coating produced specifically for leather finishing (not the same as vinyl).



If parts are missing on your seats then you will need to have them recoloured and refinished but having used rejuvenating oils on them there might now be an adhesion problem.



There are DIY kits for doing this work but the best results would be to leave it to a qualified leather technician who can do a professional job with professional products.

[percynjpn]

Most leather interiors have been `painted` that is what the top coat is on finished leather. Most people refer to it as pigment rather than paint as it sounds better. It is a specilaist flexible coating produced specifically for leather finishing (not the same as vinyl).



If parts are missing on your seats then you will need to have them recoloured and refinished but having used rejuvenating oils on them there might now be an adhesion problem.



There are DIY kits for doing this work but the best results would be to leave it to a qualified leather technician who can do a professional job with professional products.



Yes, car interior leather is painted, and oils are not going to fix the paint. I think judyb`s advice is spot on.

[Quality Leather]

Showroom,

Yes, Thad is a great guy and pretty knowledgeable when it comes to leather repair. I hope he saved up his money, because they just lost their gravy train which was Carmax.



Wascally,

Did you get Refinish Coatings from me?:) If you buy their stuff and get them to do a color match at their place, then make them pigment and correct the base coat and top coat.

[wascallyrabbit]

[/QUOTE]

Wascally,

Did you get Refinish Coatings from me?:) If you buy their stuff and get them to do a color match at their place, then make them pigment and correct the base coat and top coat.[/QUOTE]



no, i`m local to them and go right to their shop. was originally thinking of changing colors but after talking with the owner i`m just going to use a different color gray, now thinking of color matching the current gray. either way the leather will be gray. have seen their color matching system its pretty neat system.