Calling All Leather Experts… Strange Peeling on Leather Seat (See pics).

Hello, on this 2018 Audi, I noticed a strange peeling on the passenger seat. It’s a very thin layer of black vinyl or rubbery substance. My first thought is that the seat has been repaired and this was dye. Since it’s my car, I started peeling it off but so far, there’s been no sign of repair. The leather underneath looks brand new.. so now I’m thinking I just peeled a topcoat off my leather :o. I spray water on the fresh surface to see if the water is absorbed or stain and it did not. Just looks and feels like fresh, new leather. My last thought is this was some kind of aftermarket protective coating but then would it be black?

I attached two pictures..The first pic shows where it’s peeling. In that picture, the left leather panel has already been peeled and the right panel hasn’t been peeled yet. The second pic shows the substance that was peeled off.

Any help or insight appreciated.

Sorry but no expert. My guess (and it is a guess) is modern leathers are protected by a film or coating. Could be that peeling off?


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Originally Posted by Coatings=crack

Sorry but no expert. My guess (and it is a guess) is modern leathers are protected by a film or coating. Could be that peeling off?


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That’s what I thought too… but I always thought factory leather coatings are clear. This substance is black and has a rubbery, vinyl feel. But who knows, maybe this is the coating.
Also worth noting, it isn’t on all the leather panels. My thought now is that something was repaired and the dye they used didn’t match the rest of the seat so they just put a thin later of dye on all the panels to make it match.

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Originally Posted by P Rock

That’s what I thought too… but I always thought factory leather coatings are clear. This substance is black and has a rubbery, vinyl feel. But who knows, maybe this is the coating.
Also worth noting, it isn’t on all the leather panels. My thought now is that something was repaired and the dye they used didn’t match the rest of the seat so they just put a thin later of dye on all the panels to make it match.

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Yeah that could be it.


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On a lot of cars the seating surface is leather or pleather and the sides are vinyl.

Update: In case anyone comes across the same type of peeling.
Looks like it was leather dye that was peeling away. When I was peeling the rest of it off, I started to notice why it was dyed... looks like the leather was repaired on one of the leather panels. They dyed neighboring panels to blend it because the color didn`t exactly match.
Now I need to re-dye this panel but I`d like to use the closest match to OEM and I`m researching the best dye for in terms of feel and texture. Any suggestions on where to get a high quality dye that feels like OEM fine nappa leather will be so helpful.
https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=37990&stc=1

Contact colourlock and they can match the color for you.

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Originally Posted by The Guz

Contact colourlock and they can match the color for you.

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If you have the standard black interior, tell them Audi Black for the leather color.. it will match. Sadly the US site has been down for several weeks.

You may need your car`s color code (found in either the owner`s manual or in the spare tire area on a sticker) to verify the actual factory color.

I’ve had good luck with Leatherique European Black dye. It matched my Audis reasonably well. I’ve done a steering wheel, shifter and quite a few seat repairs with it.

Also looks like there wasn’t much prep done to the leather in your repair area, probably a dealer lot guy repair and that’s why it failed so soon.