View Full Version : My first try at restoring leather.
I have always been interested in trying out leather dye. I have used Leatherique in the past and liked their products for very dry leather. My new to me S4 had some damage on the steering wheel and gear shifter. It appeared to be chemical related as the shifter and a spot on the right side of the wheel were affected in certain spots. I emailed Leatherique for some recommendations. George was very helpful, he recommended their steering wheel kit in euro black, but what blew my mind was the recommendation for using Liquid Nails for Bathrooms. I actually couldn`t find it, so I used another brand of bathroom adhesive for the filling part.
I used the cleaner and then filled with the bathroom adhesive. I sanded the surface and then applied 2 coats of euro black dye with a sponge, then smoothed the suface with 0000 steel wool and did two coats of clear, again with a sponge. Below are the pics:
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter1.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter2.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter3.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter4.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter5.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter6.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter7.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter8.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter9.JPG
http://datasmuggler.com/images/projects4/s4_shifter10.JPG
Anyway, that`s the shifter, I touched up the steering wheel, its good enough for now, but I`ll get back to it after I get some mechanical stuff sorted out.
Thomas Dekany
05-11-2010, 10:26 AM
That is cool info!:xyxthumbs
Yeah, it sure beat paying $150 for a new part. I was amazed at how easy it is to do. Time will tell how long the repair lasts though.
RaskyR1
05-12-2010, 09:53 AM
Looks great! :2thumbs:
While my experience with interior repairs have been mainly with used cars, they have seemed to be more short term fixes....good for selling used cars though! :D
Keep up posted on how it holds up. :)
Rasky
K1NGSPAD3
05-12-2010, 06:29 PM
Thats awesome thanks for sharing.
Very nice! So how much was the total for the fix?
This just may work on fixing the wifes steering wheel. The back of the steering wheel has seen a lot of wear from her placing her hand on the same spot all the time and her ring tearing it up.
Very nice! So how much was the total for the fix?
This just may work on fixing the wifes steering wheel. The back of the steering wheel has seen a lot of wear from her placing her hand on the same spot all the time and her ring tearing it up.
The kit was around $30 and should easily do a steering wheel and shifter, and maybe some other stuff. It really goes a long way.
metalwax
05-13-2010, 01:45 PM
that turned out nice. :cooleek:
jopa489
05-13-2010, 08:06 PM
Wow, very well done! Thanks for sharing.
peterp
05-14-2010, 05:01 AM
Thank looks unbelievably great -- thanks for sharing.
One question -- how did you get the matching grain back after applying the adhesive?
I`m thinking of trying your adhesive approach to repair the crack from a rip in the seat on a vintage car which has been repaired but has a deep seam where the rip was fixed. I tried this vinyl repair kit from Eastwood (Vinyl And Dashboard Repair System (http://www.eastwood.com/vinyl-and-dashboard-repair-system.html)) -- this is a great concept and it looked great initially but they vinyl repair does not hold up after you sit in it. I`m thinking your adhesive approach might be more durable, but not sure how to get the grain to match.
Barry Theal
05-14-2010, 05:40 AM
Yakky looks great. Please keep us updated on the durability of product. I`m with rasky here I have seen and done lots of dyes and usally most don`t hold up over time. I never seen this kit. Looking foward to it.
Thank looks unbelievably great -- thanks for sharing.
One question -- how did you get the matching grain back after applying the adhesive?
I`m thinking of trying your adhesive approach to repair the crack from a rip in the seat on a vintage car which has been repaired but has a deep seam where the rip was fixed. I tried this vinyl repair kit from Eastwood (Vinyl And Dashboard Repair System (http://www.eastwood.com/vinyl-and-dashboard-repair-system.html)) -- this is a great concept and it looked great initially but they vinyl repair does not hold up after you sit in it. I`m thinking your adhesive approach might be more durable, but not sure how to get the grain to match.
What`s pretty funny about the whole thing is that this knob was actually very smooth as you can see in the first pictures. To create a more leather like texture, I used a regular dish sponge (the kind without the scrubby side). I cut it into small squares just slightly larger than the bottle opening. I used those to dab on the dye. You can really vary the grain pattern by your application method. Then I used steel wool a few days after each coat dried to knock down any really high spots. The last coat of clear was left as is.
As far as repairing real holes, I think you need to use a big piece of backing material for strength.
Yakky looks great. Please keep us updated on the durability of product. I`m with rasky here I have seen and done lots of dyes and usally most don`t hold up over time. I never seen this kit. Looking foward to it.
Yeah, the kits I have seen either don`t last, look like crap, or both. Leatherique makes some nice stuff, so we`ll see. I`ll keep this thread updated, assume all is well until further notice.