Recondition leather seats

[w1lde1]

Hi

Anyone had experience of trying to repair their leather seats and if so what products did you use please?

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[Corranga]

Yes (but not in a Maserati).
I used Gliptone products to clean, condition and re-dye from http://www.liquidleather.com/ on my 152,000 miles 27 year old Porsche 944 interior to great effect.

Here is a before. It wasn't as dried out and cracked as yours, but I think the solution is that you need to treat the leather more to make it more supple first
DSC_1010 by corranga, on Flickr
Note the white on the left was after I repaired and filled a hole, and sanded it back to the right sort of shape.

and the final job..
DSC_1168 by corranga, on Flickr

I used:
GT12 INTENSIVE CLEANER
GT11 LEATHER CONDITIONER - I gather this is the step you might have to repeat.
then GT12 again.
GT14 SAFETY SOLVENT CLEANER
then some alcohol based cleaner I bought on eBay - they recommend their GT18 but being flamable, it needed £30 couriering to me as their courier thinks I live in the Highlands! :S
and finally SCUFFMASTER DYE in the correct colour for my seats.
Total cost was about 90 quid, and I bought 1 litre of the dye which is enough to do a full interior (4 seats) plus I'd say.

I don't know how well it holds up, but have spoken to others in car clubs who say 4-5 years, which I think is very reasonable for the price.

I've also used it on the vinyl pull handles on the Porsche to great effect.
I emailed them a couple of times prior to purchase and they were really helpful.

Chris

 

[CatmanV2]

Very impressive!

C

 

[highlander]

That is superb work!

 

[Corranga]

They haven't made it back into the car yet though, still sitting in the living room

 

[w1lde1]

That's a great job, thanks


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[mjheathcote]

Liquid leather is great stuff.
I'm always rubbing in their conditioner into my leather seats.
I bought their scuffmaster kit too to keep on top of things.

 

[EnzoMC]

impressive results Chris, I did similar in the mas and worked out well but being tiny bit ocd the feel didn't seem right. what was it like on these - seemed more like a painted surface than leather

 

[Corranga]

Sure, I'd say it's like a flexible painted surface rather than identical to leather, but it's 90 percent there, and I think you'd be looking at maybe £1000, or more for a pair of retrimmed seats, and even then they wouldn't be identical to factory. For less than 1/10th you can make it look like a much newer seat. I'm happy with the results. The conditioner smells quite nice too...

If you're ocd enough that you think it would bother you, I don't think there is any way around it, it will always bother you, even if it was 99.9 percent, you won't be happy until the seats were done properly.

Chris

 

[GeoffCapes]

Very impressive. Wanna do mine?

 

[Andyk]

Chris, that looks amazing......Superb job.

 

[zagatoes30]

Looks very good, I might have a go at mine over the summer

 

[redsonnylee]

Be using Gliptone products for years on all my cars, the scuff master did a great job on restoring the colour on the 3200.

 

[CatmanV2]

Anyone know if the arm rest on the doors of the GT are leather or vinyl? The corners of mine could do with some TLC

C

 

[Felonious Crud]

Not sure, C. I treat mine as leather. Much of the interior is very thin vinyl, which tends to unpeel in some location, but it's an easy fix. You'll find Evo-stickery to be a regular part of your maintenance regime with the GT

 

[drewf]

I repaired this on the Spyder:






That was using a Leather Colourant Kit from Furniture Clinic. I also did the seat base too, but for some reason I can't find the photos right now.

Extremely satisfying process and results - I sanded back the leather (which was even worse on the seat base edge, stripped the sealer and colour, sprayed the leather colour on (exact match by sending them a sample snipped from under the seat), then sealed it with the top coat (several times). The result was superb, and I've have no hesitation in doing another if I bought a car with damaged seats. So long as there isn't actually a hole in the leather, it should come out looking like new.

 

[CatmanV2]

Not sure, C. I treat mine as leather. Much of the interior is very thin vinyl, which tends to unpeel in some location, but it's an easy fix. You'll find Evo-stickery to be a regular part of your maintenance regime with the GT

I love the smell of solvent in the morning!

C

 

[mjheathcote]

Anyone know if the arm rest on the doors of the GT are leather or vinyl? The corners of mine could do with some TLC

C

Just look at the pattern of the leather/vinyl.
If random it has come from an animal, if uniform repeatable, its man made!

 

[jluis]

I repaired this on the Spyder:

View attachment 36638

View attachment 36639


That was using a Leather Colourant Kit from Furniture Clinic. I also did the seat base too, but for some reason I can't find the photos right now.

Extremely satisfying process and results - I sanded back the leather (which was even worse on the seat base edge, stripped the sealer and colour, sprayed the leather colour on (exact match by sending them a sample snipped from under the seat), then sealed it with the top coat (several times). The result was superb, and I've have no hesitation in doing another if I bought a car with damaged seats. So long as there isn't actually a hole in the leather, it should come out looking like new.

I did the same as you and with the same brand and color matching service on an old Volvo, some pics here:
http://www.sportsmaserati.com/showthread.php/20757-Seat-colour/page2

The color looks very good, and after I got some practice the crack repair was also good (the one visible in the picture is the worst one)
However, I could not get the sealant right. Always had a bit too much and caused some localized running of the liquid
After dry when the light hits in a certain angle I can see some differences in gloss due to this (I know ... OCD ...)
Did you manage to get yours right?

Also, how does your leather feel after the job? Same as before?

 

[VMSRTI]

I repaired this on the Spyder:

View attachment 36638

View attachment 36639


That was using a Leather Colourant Kit from Furniture Clinic. I also did the seat base too, but for some reason I can't find the photos right now.

Extremely satisfying process and results - I sanded back the leather (which was even worse on the seat base edge, stripped the sealer and colour, sprayed the leather colour on (exact match by sending them a sample snipped from under the seat), then sealed it with the top coat (several times). The result was superb, and I've have no hesitation in doing another if I bought a car with damaged seats. So long as there isn't actually a hole in the leather, it should come out looking like new.

That looks sensational Drew.