What this really is, is when the leather turns a blue color where your back, butt, or arm rests on the wet leather and the dye from your clothing is then transferred to the leather.

The dye from your clothing is actually dyeing the leather in your car. The leather soaks it up like a sponge, like I’ve always said “What you put on leather stays in leather”, and as you see it’s true.

Whats really bad about this is there’s is no cleaner to remove this from the leather without damaging the leather or the leather’s original dye, at least not one that I know about. Your only solution to this is to have the seats, armrests, ect. resurfaced or dyed to bring it back to it’s original color.

I’d have to say the cars that I see this on the most are Lexus, Toyota, and Infinity, all have light interiors with a soft leather that just soaks it up.

I worked on and Infinity G35 today that had it bad, the door panel all the way down was blue not just where the guys arm was. It dyed the plastic part below the leather wrapped armrest, that was pretty surprising to me. Usually it’s the leather seats, armrests, and console lids are what gets the most damage.

This is one problem that there’s not an easy quick solution too, other then maybe using a towel to sit on when your out in the rain or if your out on a hot day.

When your leather seat turns blue from the dye in your clothing don’t try to remove it with solvents or harsh cleaners, all this will do is make a bad thing worse. All solvents will do is remove the original dye from the seat along with blue color and dry the leather out, causing it to crack later. Remember “what you put on leather stays in leather”. Just call your local automotive interior professional, like myself The Interior Guy, and have the leather seats, armrests, console lids, ect. dyed back to it’s original color and luster. This will not only save you time but money too. Why replace when you can resurface!

Talk to ya soon,

Mike – The Interior Guy

• Prep products: I’ve used several types of cleaners, but I’ve found that rubbing alcohol, acetone, ammonia and TSP substitute mixed with water is the best. Sometimes if an area is really dirty I will clean it first with an all-purpose cleaner then follow up with the alcohol mix. I’ve found that the alcohol mix removes dirt, grease, grime, and silicone and actually works in your favor with waterborne dyes. When used with sandpaper or a scotch brite pad it breaks down the edge of your repair to help feather edge the area to be repaired, it works a lot like Sem Sand Free.
• Prep the surface: Mix your solution in 1/5′s into a spray bottle.  Spray the entire area needed painted, if your spraying a bolster on a seat back, clean and prep the entire seat back, this when you blend your repair it will stick and won’t come off when you finish your repair.  Using a scotch brite pad (I use the red pad, it’s a little more abrasive then the green ones you get at the super market) scrub the areas needed while wet and then wipe with a lint free rag, and follow with a tack cloth. This process will clean and scuff the surface just enough that the dyes will stay put.
• Primers: Depending on the surface you are painting will depend on your choice of primer. Most of the products I use are waterborne, so of course I use waterborne primers. Primers are a part of prep, so the selection of products is critical for a long lasting repair. I use the “Sticky Primer” as much as I can, it creates a great bond between your paint and repair surface. If your dying leather mix the sticky primer with your flex additive to give you flex and adhesion.

Preparation of the area you are repairing is definitely needed for a good repair. If you don’t prep then what is the point, your repair won’t last and we all know we can’t make money doing re-do’s. So make sure you prep your project and have success in painting. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me on Paint Prep for Success.